Today’s story is about one of the most daring people North Dakota has ever produced: Hilaire du Berrier – soldier, daredevil, artist, stunt pilot, writer and spy. His parents were among the founders of Flasher, where, in November 1906, he became the first white child born in that town. His Huguenot parents gave him the name Harold – a name he hated; he went by Hal.

Albert Wind-Did-Blow and his wife were friends of the Berriers, and at Harold’s birth, Mrs. Wind-Did-Blow put a pair of tiny beaded moccasins on him and uttered a prayer that the boy would grow to be a great warrior. Whether it can be attributed to that prayer or not, Hal became quite a handful. His many escapades included selling coyote pups as “baby police dogs.”

When he was only 11, Hal’s parents sent him to military school to get straightened out. He lasted until a month before graduation. Aviation had captured his imagination, and the only thing he wanted to do was fly. But his mother sent him to art school instead. He complied and worked as a commercial artist in Chicago for a while, but one day when he was 20, he threw it all away and joined a group of barnstormers.

So daring was he that he performed a loop-de-loop before he learned how to land his plane. Soon, he formed “Du Berrier’s Flying Circus” and traveled the country, performing audacious feats high above the ground – walking out on plane wings, jumping from one plane to another and hanging by his toes from a rope ladder. But even this wasn’t adventurous enough for him.

In the late 1920s, Berrier’s uncle, Charles Burke, became a U.S. representative to a commission in Paris, and Hal went along. He needed a resident’s permit, something he was entitled to because of his French name; but officials wanted to know if his father was born in France. If so, they could draft Berrier into the French military. Hal, who wanted to fly for France in Morocco, had to say no, his father was born in Iowa. When the permit was issued, the original form of his last name, du Berrier, was reinstated. The name Hal, however, had to go. By law, French children had to be named after saints – and St. Hal, well. . . They changed his name to Hilaire, which suited him fine. Berrier was a fan of Napoleon, and St. Hilaire was one of Napoleon’s generals.

Du Berrier’s three-months abroad stretched into 16 years and included four wars. It started when he learned Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie needed aviators to fend off an invasion by Mussolini’s Italian forces. Du Berrier had loved the idea of monarchies since the age of nine and was eager help His Majesty any way he could.
Unfortunately, Selassie’s air force consisted of only four planes, and in 1936, du Berrier found himself a prisoner on board an Italian truck entering Addis Abba, Ethiopia. Luckily, the newsreel-filmmakers had trouble with their camera shots, and the victorious Italians had to reenter the capital three times. In the midst of all the commotion, du Berrier escaped and hopped a train.

Back in Europe, du Berrier learned the Spanish military was organizing to restore to the throne another of his heroes, King Alfonso XIII. Du Berrier hopped onto another train and ran straight into trouble. Gen. Francisco Franco was getting help from the Italians, who had put escaped prisoner, Hilaire du Berrier, on their bad-guy list.

Undaunted, du Berrier signed a 1-month contract to spy for the loyalists. Flying secret missions, he made notes on the various aircraft being supplied by the Soviet Union. Again he was caught, and this time he was to be shot. But when his name was called, officers decided it was a bad idea to shoot an American, and he was allowed to escape on the overnight train.

Tune in tomorrow for more on the life of Hilaire du Berrier.

Source: Scott, Otto. A Conversation with Hilaire du Berrier (Recorded in Brussels September 1998 and Released January 1999). The-Compass.com <http://www.the-compass.com/points_titles4.htm>
Lucier, James P. “Hilaire du Berrier: Spy From North Dakota.” Insight on the News. 4 Jan, 1999.
Flasher Family History: 87-88.

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