Paul Badré (May 22, 1906 – August 10, 2000) was a French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

. He was a member of the Resistance and the Intelligence service of the French Air Force during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Biography

Paul Badré was the elder brother of

Jean Badré Jean-Marie-Clément Badré (17 October 1913 – 17 September 2001) was a French Catholic bishop of the twentieth century. Badré was born on 17 October 1913 in Arbois, to Louis Badré, Inspector General of Water and Forests, and Mrs. Claire Ma ...

, bishop of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. After graduating from Polytechnique in 1928, he joined the French Air Force and obtained his pilot's license the following year.. In 1935, he became a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

at the Villacoublay Air Base. After the French defeat in June 1940, he flew to Algeria. He returned to France in August and was assigned to the armistice commission until January 1941. He then moved with his family to

Bellerive-sur-Allier Bellerive-sur-Allier (; oc, Vaissa) is a commune in the Allier department in central France. Known as Vesse or Vaisse, it was renamed Bellerive-sur-Allier in 1903. Population Geography Location Bellerive-sur-Allier was member of Ganna ...

(a village near

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of V ...

), where he worked for an underground intelligence service set up by Colonel Ronin. A link with England was established through

Wilfred Dunderdale Commander Wilfred Albert "Biffy" Dunderdale, (24 December 1899 – 13 November 1990) was a British spy and intelligence officer.John Bruce Lockhart, "Dunderdale, Wilfred Albert (1899-1990)", rev., ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxfor ...

and

F. W. Winterbotham Frederick William Winterbotham (16 April 1897 – 28 January 1990) was a British Royal Air Force officer (latterly a Group Captain) who during World War II supervised the distribution of Ultra intelligence. His book ''The Ultra Secret'' was ...

. Badré passed on information by radio. He was known by the pseudonym Beard (an anagram of his name). Between 1941 and 1942, he collected and transmitted information from Paris, where engineer Robert Keller was able to spy on telephone communications of

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

and

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...

high-ranking officials. Beard sent information about

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

to the Allies. Threatened by the Gestapo, he flew to Algeria after Operation Torch. Robert Keller was arrested in December 1942, being denounced to the Nazis by French police chief

René Bousquet René Bousquet (; 11 May 1909 – 8 June 1993) was a high-ranking French political appointee who served as secretary general to the Vichy French police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943. For personal heroism, he had become a protégé of promine ...

. Badré was sent to London in February 1943, where he worked for six months with

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intellige ...

and

colonel Passy Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

's BCRA. He returned to Algeria in July and commanded a French air force bombing squadron in the Mediterranean until the summer of 1944. On August 1, 1945, after the

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, he was the first Frenchman to fly a jet aircraft (a german

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Procellariidae, Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produc ...

) on national territory, during the inauguration of the

Brétigny-sur-Orge Brétigny-sur-Orge (, literally ''Brétigny on Orge'') is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, from the city center. Origin of the city name The name of the settlement is attested as ''Britiniacum'' in 1146, as ''Bretigniacum' ...

flight test center. He left the army in 1946 and became an executive for the aeronautics industry (as director of production at Sud-Ouest in the 1950s and technical advisor to the president of

Sud Aviation Sud Aviation (, ''Southern Aviation'') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est ( SNCASE, or ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est'') and Sud-Ouest ( SNCASO or ''Sociét� ...

in the 1960s). He was an honorary member of the French Air and Space Academy.

Awards

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

Medaille de la Resistance avec rosette ribbon

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on ...

Aeronautical Medal The Aeronautical Medal (french: "Médaille de l'Aéronautique") is a state decoration of France established by the decree of February 14, 1945. It is awarded to both military personnel and civilians for outstanding accomplishments related to t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badré, Paul French test pilots French Resistance members French military aviators French World War II pilots French military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Commanders of the Legion of Honour École Polytechnique alumni 1906 births 2000 deaths