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MERMOZ, Jean 11 letters (one incomplete), February–December 1921, to his grandparents, the GILLETs, in Mainbressy; 36 pages, in-8 or small in-4 format, including a postcard with an address on Istres School letterhead. An interesting collection of letters covering the end of his military pilot training and his posting to the Levant Air Force. Istres, 17 February: he recounts the trials and tribulations he faced in obtaining his pilot’s licence: ‘On my first flight, just as I was about to land at Nîmes, an engine failure forced me to descend […]. I slid along the wing and tumbled down. The aircraft was wrecked, and I broke a tooth’; the next day, a mistral; on the second flight, engine failure, and the troubles continued: a gust of wind, the aircraft rearing up, appalling weather, etc. (the end is missing). Metz-Frescaty, 22 May. He left Istres and is now a ‘Corporal Pilot in the 11th Bomber Regiment, 7th Squadron’… ‘Great disappointments awaited me here: I have none of the advantages I thought I’d have. I hardly fly at all; we’re not held in any regard. I eat with the recruits […] On top of that, it’s the military – it’s all about duty; just think, there are 32 regiments in Metz at the moment. […] I might be off to the East before long. It’s not in my interest to stay, because even if I wanted to remain in civil aviation, I’d need a minimum of 200 to 300 flying hours. Yet here, it would take me 10 years to clock them up”… Pont Saint-Esprit, 19 August. He is about to set sail from Marseille for Beirut: ‘I still feel just as brave about going there; the unknown does not frighten me and, in fact, is not at all daunting’… Beirut, 19 September. He recounts his sea voyage and his arrival in Beirut: it is very hot but he is enjoying himself there: “I do not regret my decision, far from it; so far I have not been disillusioned, because I had no illusions to begin with”… Saïda. – 25 September. He is waiting to go and ‘identify the dangerous and non-dangerous areas; from there I shall set off for the theatres of war. We must carry out one or two missions and succeed in them before being appointed non-commissioned officers. […] This is the countryside: rocks and scorched thistles everywhere. From time to time, we catch a glimpse of a caravan of camels making its way slowly towards Saint-Jean d’Acre or Jerusalem”… – 20 October. He has finished his training and is due to leave for Palmyra: ‘I now have my aeroplane all to myself, along with my mechanic; I’m pleased about this as it marks the beginning of personal freedom’… – 5 November. “My ‘taxi’ is fully kitted out and armed from head to toe; it, too, is waiting philosophically for events to unfold. In the meantime, as I’m here on my own, I fly for three hours a day. I’ve already flown over Tyre and Saint-Jean d’Acre; in short, I’m absolutely delighted”; he was able to attend a Maronite wedding in the mountains… Palmyra. – 4 December. It was impossible to fly as the weather was so bad; he has just had his ‘fourth carafe forty kilometres from Palmyra; the engine caught fire; fortunately, I managed to land safely. […] I managed to alert the squadron by carrier pigeon, but I spent that fateful night in the countryside” and they came to fetch him… – 5 December. ‘Many admire us, but it’s really just a matter of training, habit and a bit of composure and energy, to tell the truth. You don’t even give a moment’s thought to the possibility of an accident. You climb into it just as you would a bicycle.” In bad weather, “it’s a real wrestling match between the pilot and the aeroplane. You always manage to get the better of it.” They are waging a guerrilla war: ‘Our job as pilots is to flush out gatherings of Bedouins, strafe them, protect the moving convoys, liaise between these convoys, and bomb villages and caravans. Such is the war in the East.’ They sleep rough, eat camel meat, and everything is covered in sand… – 12 December. He is flying less and is due to return to France in 72 days; he has been posted “to Nancy for night bombing in a Goliath and a twin-engine Farman. ‘I’m pleased about that’… Damascus, 24 December. An affectionate letter of good wishes, before taking Christmas Eve dinner to his comrades… Enclosed is a postcard showing the *Styria* – an inter-Allied liner – sent to send his grandparents his love as he was leaving, 9 September (in pencil). Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down through the family
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About the sale Historical Memories
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Auction time 11/03/2026 at 11:00 AM
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