RETURNED FROM FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2500, 29 June 1915, Page 4

RETURNED FROM FRANCE

INTERVIEW WITH DR. MARTIN. (By Telegraph.—Presß Association.) Auckland, June 28. Dr. Arthur Martin, of Paluierston North, has now returned to New land for a brief rest to recuperate after his trying experiences in France and Flanders. ittico lii's gallant conduct on the battlefield has been mentioned in dispatches, but of the circumstances attacking to these incidents Dr. ilartin. declined to speak. Speaking of Tommy .Atkins as lie found him. Dr. Martin said that tho .British soldier was splendid. He was very cheerful; he was not afraid to die; he could march 011, although he knew that march led to certain death. Tho only thing that really upset him was the gas, and that was because ho did not understand it. The British Army was now supplied with masks, but these were not Quito effective, although very near it. There was a ureat deal of doubt as to what tho gas consisted of. Some supposed it to be a mixture of chlorine and bromine, but a famous Swiss scientist was of tho opinion that it was azotic acid, made from ammonia, and that the Germans could produco any quantity of it very cheaply. Ho saw several ot the men die from poisoning, and it was one of the most terrible sights coimected with even a military, hospital. "It is just as thouch ail asthma sufferer, while in bis worst paroxysm, were strangled by a cord," said the doctor. "Most of the sufferers had died, and the survivors would be crippled for life." . . Dr. Martin spoke appreciatively of tho macniQcent work of the famous French 76th Battery, and of tie reputation won by General Davis, the only, New Zealand General in France.