72 - MERMOZ, Jean

MERMOZ, Jean 9 letters, Palmyra, Homs, and Thionville, March 1922–November 1923, to his grandparents, the GILLETs; 38 pages, in-8. End of his assignment in the Levant, and return to France. Palmyra. – March 28. He thinks nostalgically of his grandparents’ cider, having been forced to drink stagnant water for six days: “I think thirst is worse than hunger; on the last day of our odyssey […] I have never felt such a terrible sense of distress as when I heard the hollow sound of my canteen, in which not a single drop of water remained”; they walked until a troop of camel riders came upon them; his aircraft is beyond repair and is to be destroyed; he did not want “to witness the agony and death of my old plane, which had carried me faithfully for eighty hours and on which I had flown nearly twenty missions; I had grown attached to it like a sailor to his ship; that lifeless thing lived only through the reflexes of my brain—how could I not have grown fond of it?” – [July 13]. “I’m still flying a lot. I’ve long since passed the 200-hour mark, and I’m calmly heading toward 300 hours”… – [August], there is talk of a total evacuation from Syria; he may go to Jerusalem: he was told that “it’s remarkably filthy, and visiting those places gives rise to a veritable trade. […] I’ve crisscrossed Syria in every direction—or rather, flown over it. […] The day before yesterday, we had a visit from the big boss of the Levant Air Command. He simply said to me, ‘Good job, Mermoz.’ That’s the best compliment he can give a pilot. Anyway, things are moving along”… – September 26. He recounts in detail a new odyssey in a pickup truck: setting out from Lebanon to reach Palmyra with 10 people, the tires go flat, the radiator runs out of water, they lose the trail, camped out, set off again, got stuck in the sand, and ended up traveling 40 km on camelback… He reflects on his return to civilian life: “My daily concern is the path I must carve out for myself. I will find it. I went through terrible moments that felt like centuries, when my very life was at the mercy of the slightest weakness of will, the slightest momentary lack of decisiveness—in the blink of an eye—and I emerged from it safe and sound”… – October 24: He plans to return to France in March, but may delay his departure, preferring to wait for warmer weather. – December 16: A holiday greeting letter; on his hard bed in the tent, he thinks “of my grandmother who used to tuck me in at night, making my warm, cozy bed with loving kisses and kind words”; he has “six missions, each 400 km long, among the Bedouin tribes.” January 18, 1923: He is about to leave Palmyra with regret and has observed the “aviator’s halo,” an optical phenomenon “caused by a sunbeam illuminating the propeller’s reflection in the fog.” Homs, February 10. He received “the Croix de Guerre with a first citation in the division’s order of merit” and is preparing to return to France, taking with him “unforgettable memories”; perhaps he will return? “Especially if, by chance, I were to stay in civil aviation: an airline is currently being established, and chance might bring me back there one day”… Assigned to Thionville (November 27), he resumed his “duties as barracks adjutant” after eight days of confinement for “inappropriate behavior in front of young recruits,” and is hoping for leave for Christmas… Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down through the family