Hilaire du Berrier

Hilaire du Berrier (1905 – October 12, 2002) was a pioneer American pilot, barnstormer, and spy.

Biography

He was born as Hal du Berrier in 1905 in Flasher, North Dakota.

He worked as a commercial artist in Chicago, Illinois in 1925 then joined a flying circus. He moved to France he took the name Hilaire. In Paris, he learned that Haile Selassie was hiring mercenary pilots to fight against the Italian occupation and in 1936 went to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From 1936 to 1937 he joined the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Loyalists, but was arrested as a spy for the Fascists.[1][2]

He worked for the Office of Strategic Services briefly, as an informant, in Shanghai after the Japanese surrender in 1945.

He worked as a journalist in Vietnam, and wrote a strongly anti-communist article in American Mercury in 1958.

He died on October 12, 2002 in Monaco.[3]

References

  1. ↑ James P. Lucier (January 4, 1999). "Hilaire du Berrier: Spy From North Dakota". Retrieved 2008-11-03. Hilaire du Berrier is a pioneer aviator, daredevil, adventurer, writer, monarchist and spy who has seen more of this century than most of the rest of us and experienced it more deeply. What is more, he still is at work, looking forward toward the millennium.
  2. ↑ "Hilaire du Berrier". Prairie Public (radio). Archived from the original on 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  3. ↑ "Passing of a patriot: Hilaire du Berrier -- daredevil pilot, intelligence operative, and hard-hitting journalist -- was literally on the front lines of the freedom fight around the world.". The New American. November 18, 2002. Retrieved 2008-11-03.