The Pittsburgh Press (January 8, 1943)
Axis radio ‘identifies’ Darlan’s assassin
London, England (UP) –
Axis broadcasts tonight identified the assassin of Adm. Jean François Darlan as Bonnier de La Chapelle, a 20-year-old student follower of Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Fighting French.
After Berlin had set the propaganda pace, the Paris and Vichy radios fell in line on the purported identification, giving the first name as Bonnier instead of Berlin’s Dornier.
The later broadcasts credited the information to reports from Tangier:
…emanating from quarters in contact with the British Secret Service.
Darlan, High Commissioner of French Africa, was shot to death in Algiers on Christmas Eve. His assassin, never identified in official reports, was executed two days later.
The name of Chapelle, among others, has been mentioned frequently in unofficial circles speculating on the identity of the assassin. Nazi broadcast of the name drew no comment from officials here.
There was no evidence to link the assassin with Bonnier de la Chapelle, a cousin by marriage of the French author, Drieu La Rochelle.