Bert Hall (1885–1948) was a film director, actor, writer and military aviator. Hall was one of America's first combat aviators, who flew with the famed Lafayette Escadrille in France, before the U.S. entered World War I. He has been given the honorable title "Soldier of Fortune"[1] due to his distinguished career. Perhaps this title also reflects that a leave of absence from fighting may have contributed to saving his life. Survival of these combat aviators was extremely low, since many of them were shot down after only a few weeks. Hall was known to be boastful,[2] but he put his words into action through writing and movie making:
Bert Hall gave live presentations, for his 1919 Romance of the Air movie, in the theaters.[3]
There is an entirely different version o this man's life (ref: theaerodrome.com). Dennis Gordon wrote a book called "Autobiographies of the Lafayette Escadrille" published by the Doughboy Historical Society - POB 3912 Missoula, MT 59806. Biography 13 tells the story of Weston Birch Hall, a.k.a. "Bert Hall". According to this book, Bert Hall was a four-flusher, a liar, and a deserter. He did get four confirmed kills in the LS and several medals and was the sqdn. adjutant. But he was a liar and a good poker player who could read his opponents. and usually cleaned the table. In civilian life he was a con man, and you'll enjoy his capers...
He once obtained $20,000 or so from the Chinese Government with the assurance that he would buy surplus planes from the U.S. Government and return to China to set up an air service for them. He spent the money on other things and was charged and sent to prison by the U.S. Bert Hall was released from McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary in May 1936 and lived in Seattle for a few months before heading to Hollywood to work for Twentieth Century Fox studios. Weary of Hollywood, in 1940 he moved to Dayton, Ohio and in 1944 settled in Castalia, Ohio where he started the Sturdy Toy Factory. On December 6, 1948 he died of a massive heart attack while driving down the highway near Fremont, Ohio. His ashes were scattered over his hometown of Higginsville, Missouri on January 20, 1950.
Hall wrote books about being a "Flyboy" in the Lafayette Escadrille:[4]
A few movies have been made about Bert Hall and his fellow combat aviators, including the 1958 Lafayette Escadrille film, with Tab Hunter, and the 2006 film Flyboys.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/1999/7548-bert-hall.html