David W. Doyle (7 May 1924 – 19 February 2014) was a British-born American author, United States Army Veteran, and former
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
officer.
Born at
Harrow, in
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
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, Doyle was the son of Donald and Joyce Doyle (née Kennedy). The family moved to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, the capital of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, in 1925 and returned to London in 1932, and it was there that Doyle began to attend
Colet Court
St Paul's Juniors (formerly Colet Court) is an independent preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 in Barnes, London. It forms the preparatory department of St Paul's School, to which most Juniors pupils progress at the age of 13.
The School w ...
, a
prep school. In 1938 he went to
Gresham's School
Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. In 1942 he enlisted in the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
, then in April 1943 transferred to the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, serving in the
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
as a driver and interpreter. In 1945 he was part of an OSS unit attached to the
18th Airborne Corps and at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was discharged at
Fort Logan
Fort Logan was a military installation located eight miles southwest of Denver, Colorado. It was established in October 1887, when the first soldiers camped on the land, and lasted until 1946, when it was closed following the end of World War I ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
.
Doyle then attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, graduating in 1949. He joined the CIA in March 1949 and was in its Domestic Operations Division (Aliens Branch) until 1950, followed by two years in the
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
Office. He then joined the Directorate for Plans (now the
Directorate of Operations) and the Foreign Intelligence Staff, Projects Branch. In 1955 he transferred to the Far Eastern Division and from 1960 to 1961 was posted to the breakaway African state of
Katanga, followed by two years in
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
. In 1963 he became
chief of station at
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
,
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, where he remained until 1967, then was with the CIA's Soviet Bloc Division until a posting to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
(1969-1971) and then to the Africa Division. He retired from the CIA in 1972 and was awarded the
Intelligence Commendation Medal
The Intelligence Commendation Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for the performance of especially commendable service or for an act or achievement significantly above normal duties which results in an important contribution to th ...
in 1975.
In retirement Doyle became an energy consultant with the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
and also an author. He lived in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
from 1980 up until his death. In 1960 he had been rescued from drowning off
Waikiki Beach
Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...
by a life guard, which inspired him to write to his book ''Rescue in Paradise'' (2001). He spoke five languages, and his fluency in
French was an especially significant influence on his career.
His book ''Inside Intelligence / True Men and Traitors'' argues the continuing need for the CIA in an uncertain world. It gives a firsthand account of his own active service, including his time as chief of station in the
Congo when
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...
was assassinated, revealing exactly what happened and who the killers were. The word 'traitors' in the book's title refers to a section on a number of those who betrayed the CIA, including
Aldrich Ames
Aldrich Hazen "Rick" Ames (; born May 26, 1941) is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer turned KGB double agent, who was convicted of espionage in 1994. He is serving a life sentence, without the possibility of parole, in the Federa ...
.
Selected publications
*''An Accurate Watch'' (William Morrow & Co., 1990)
*''Bazhanov and the Damnation of Stalin'' (Ohio University Press, 1990; transl. and ed. from
French of
Boris Bazhanov
Boris Georgiyevich Bazhanov (russian: Бори́с Гео́ргиевич Бажа́нов; 9 August 1900 – 30 December 1982) was a Soviet secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who defected from the Soviet Un ...
)
David W. Doyle
at Ohio University Press
*''Inside Espionage: A Memoir of True Men and Traitors'' (2000, )
*''Rescue in Paradise: Oahu's Beaches & Their Guardians'' (Island Heritage, 2001)
Notes
External links
David W. Doyle
at openlibrary.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, David W.
1924 births
2014 deaths
British Army personnel of World War II
Princeton University alumni
People educated at Colet Court
People educated at Gresham's School
British writers
People of the Central Intelligence Agency
People of the Office of Strategic Services
Members of the United States Army Special Forces
Recipients of the Intelligence Commendation Medal
British emigrants to the United States