91 - MERMOZ, Jean

MERMOZ, Jean 5 letters “Mermoz” (2 “Jean”), July–October 1925, to his grandparents, the GILLETs; 6½ pages in-4 format, with letterheads from the Café Inglès in Málaga, the Pension Zaragoza in Alicante, and 2 from the Nueva Pensión Frascati in Barcelona), and 2 pages in-8 format. On the Spanish rail lines. Málaga, July 4. He is waiting for his leave to go see them. “Always traveling nonstop. Still happy and enthusiastic, though I’m feeling a bit tired right now. This intense work, combined with the heat, is a bit depressing. I just flew 7½ hours today and will fly the same amount tomorrow to return. The other day, I went to Toulouse—a 10½-hour flight in a single day—and that’s fairly common”… Alicante, July 23. His leave has been postponed: “So, there’s no need to worry about it in advance. And thank God! Accidents aren’t that common in commercial aviation!”… Barcelona, August 26. “I’ve returned to Barcelona for good. I don’t think I’ll be going to Dakar now, and I might join the International Air Navigation Company this winter—Paris–Strasbourg–Prague, etc. My visit went as well as could be hoped, and I was able to see quite a few people at Le Bourget. I’ve been back at work for a few days now—and I’m actually enjoying it. […] I spend my days off at the swimming and gymnastics club I belong to. I’m still getting sunburned on my shoulder blades and sides—well, it’s the ideal life, just a little far from France”…. – September 13. “Still working. I’m going to get more done this month than I have so far; there’s still a staff shortage; fortunately, I’ll have some satisfaction at the end of the month. The bad weather has come to remind us that our leisure trips will soon come to an end. We’re having terrible storms—almost cyclones at times—and we’re back to the aerial foxtrots and tangos of bad weather days. It’s a habit we have to get back into, and we’ll have to make it second nature again—something we’d gladly do without, but which we can’t avoid in our line of work. […] You know, aviation is always a source of incidents—we know their significance because we’ve lived through them, but they don’t always interest the layperson […] I left the boarding house where I was staying; I’m now living in a private home, I have my own room, I eat with my landlords, and we speak only Spanish there, which allows me to learn it a little better. I spend my days off at the club; I’m now fairly well-known there for my athletic performance and have also made some good friends there”… Alicante, October 12. He is suffering from an “abscess on his right hand caused by a spider bite. I went five nights without being able to sleep, but I continued my work nonetheless, with my arm in a sling and flying with my left hand. There was no one to replace me; the mail still had to be delivered. […] There are only two of us in Barcelona, which means I’m the one taking off every day. There’s a shortage of pilots […] We have up to five hundred kilograms of mail alone every day; passenger traffic has been suspended, and our aircraft will soon no longer be sufficient for such a heavy load if it continues to increase at this rate"... He learned of "the deaths of many of my former comrades and officers among the Riffians"... Correspondence, Nos. 59, 63, 65, 68. Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down through the family