Nevertheless he got the job and began flying over the Pyrenees between Toulouse and Barcelona, a challenging route for the planes of the period. “I don’t need circus artists, but bus drivers,” said Daurat. He started work for them as a mechanic, and then flew a check ride in order to work as a pilot, but was severely reprimanded for flying aerobatics instead of the circuits demanded. Read more: Magnificent men – and women – in their flying machines He was saved from his situation in September 1924 by a proposition from Didier Daurat, the director of Lignes Latécoère, a brand new airmail service between Toulouse and France’s overseas territories. He did a day’s work as a stunt pilot for a film, but apart from that, he did not fly at all. He worked as a sweeper, a night guardian, a labourer, a car washer, and a scribe addressing envelopes for mass mailouts. His exploits in the Middle East had already earned him a name as a hero and as a top pilot, but outside the armed forces there were no jobs for pilots. He remained in reserve, however, and in 1930, he was sent to Toulouse as a reservist officer. He was finally demobilised in 1924, having made lifelong friends with many of the other pilots. He was off sick for many months before he was fit enough to join a new unit in June. The struggle was part of the division of territory that had been the Ottoman Empire, and the French won. The Franco-Syrian War of 1920 was fought between France and the Hashemite rulers of the newly established Arab Kingdom of Syria. Flew perilous missions in Franco-Syrian WarĪssigned to the 7th squadron of the 11th bombing regiment of Metz-Frescaty, he was sent to Syria and Beirut and earned a reputation for volunteering for the most perilous missions.
He finally passed his test in 1921 and acquired the rank of corporal. Another attempt resulted in a crash landing. He was disgusted how recruits were abused to deter them from flying and when the engine of his plane stalled on take-off, and he crashed into a tree, breaking his leg and his jaw. Mermoz learned to fly at the Istres Military School although his talent was not immediately apparent. In 1920, at the age of 19, he enrolled in the army and ticked the box marked ‘aviation’ on the advice of a friend of his mother’s.
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