69 - MERMOZ, Jean

MERMOZ, Jean Los Angeles, Palmyre, March 15 [1922], to his “Dearest Mom”; 6 pages, in-8. Account of an incident. While returning from dropping a message over Homs with his observer lieutenant, they were caught in bad weather. “We flew for four hours until we ran completely out of fuel, finally landing about 180 km from Palmyra in the countryside. We landed near two tribes, one friendly, the other hostile. The lieutenant set off on a camel to alert Palmyra and have fuel sent to me. For four days I stayed to guard the aircraft with two Bedouins because the enemy tribe wanted to destroy the ‘tayera’ (the plane). I slept under the wings in my fur-lined flight suit, living on couscous (it’s famous, you know), camel milk, and figs. […] I was beginning to lose hope […] Finally, on the fifth day, my mechanic arrived with a guide, camel riders, and fuel. With a full tank, we took off, and I headed for Palmyra. Once I reached the mountains, from where I could begin to see Palmyra, my engine started to lose power, overheat, and flames shot out—then it stopped. I was at 1,800 meters; I spotted a clearing, descended with the propeller locked in place; and finally touched down. Naturally, the breakdown was beyond repair. Moreover, it was impossible to fix the plane, since we were deep in the mountains. I hadn’t drunk any water for three days, and I was feeling a bit thirsty. I got my bearings, and we started by leaving the now-useless taxi behind. Setting out with my mechanic at 3:00 p.m., walking almost all night, navigating as best I could, we arrived exhausted the next day at 1:00 a.m. in Palmyre after walking about 60 km—40 of them through the mountains all night and 20 through the countryside. “As you can see, with determination, you can always make it through”… Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down through the family