Brereton, Lewis Hyde, born on 21-06-1890 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the second son of William Brereton and Helen, born Hyde. The family moved to Annapolis, Maryland, while Brereton’s older brother William Jr, was a midshipman at the Naval Academy. His father was a succesful ming engineer and a 4th generation Irish-American Academy, Hisfather was a succesful ming engineer and a 4th generation Irish-American. His mother was English and Epicscopalian by birth. At the age of eight, Brereton suffered a recurring infection of the middle ear, purulent otitis media, which proved impossible to treat in the pre-antibiotics era. His personality charcteristics were said to be “cool and thoughtful”, able to “think rapipidly on his feet”, with a “quick, analytical mind”. However, he was also said to have an ” appropriate temper”and “able to swear in three or four languages”, a “party-loving streak”, and when referring to himself to use the third person.He had a reputation, especially among critics, for being hedonistic. General. Omar Nelson Bradley, who intensely disliked Brereton, was quoted by a biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower as saying that Brereton was “marginally competent … (and) more interested in living in the biggest French chateau”. However, from July 1942 to the end of the war, Brereton had a close association with and was well-regarded by Royal Air Force Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham,
who found in him not just a fellow bon vivant but an effective air commander on whom he could rely for efficient and competent cooperation. Sir Coningham disappeared on 30-01-1948, age 53, when the airliner G-AHNP Star Tiger
in which he was travelling to Bermuda was lost off the east coast of the United States.
A 1911 graduate of the United States Naval Academy
, Brereton began his military career as a United States Army officer in the Coast Artillery Corps
prior to World War I, but spent the remainder of his service as a career aviator. He went overseas in October 1917 and the following March was placed in command of the 12th Aero Squadron
, one of the first American flying units on the front. During this time he carried out extensive operations in both the Toul and Luneville sectors. After the armistice, he was appointed Chief of Staff, Third Army Air Service, under Pershing, Pershing died on 15-11-1948, on 19-11-1918,
















Death and burial ground of Brereton, Lewis Hyde.









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