Roald Dahl

Who would have thought that a kid who did horribly in private school, always was in trouble with his teachers, and hated writing essays would grow up to be one the best authors and screenwriters ever? Roald Dahl was sent to a private school in England, as a kid he hated school, especially writing essays. To his and everyone's surprise he became one of the best authors and screenwriters ever.

After he served in World War 2, he became an author and wrote many children’s and adult books which brought him fame. Roald Dahl is known mostly for just being an amazing author and screenwriter but some who have read his book “Going Solo”, may know of him also as a wartime aviator. Important places in Roald’s life are mostly where he was born because most of his life he was traveling around from place to place because of war and him being an extremely famous author. "Educated privately, he joined the Shell Company as a management trainee in 1934. Two years later, Shell sent him to Dar es Salaam in the British colonial territory of Tanganyika (now Tanzania), where he relished the adventurous lifestyle and ventured on regular and sometimes dangerous safaris into the bush. He made his last operational flight on June 23. (1961).”(O’Connor).

Roald Dahl had many important events in his life, including when he joined the British Airforce, when he got injured and couldn’t fly again, and when he published his first book, ”James and the Giant Peach.” A hero must possess respectfulness and honesty, they also put others before themselves and have or are willing to risk their life to save others. The opposite of a hero is a person who wants to do terrible things to society or other people. These two things are always in a constant battle with each other. Luckily in this world there are more heroes than villains. Roald Dahl was one of the best authors ever.  He risked his life to save others in WW2 as a pilot in the Royal Air Force and as an “Assistant air attache” in Washington D.C. and he was determined to write books even when people doubted him because of how he did in school, but he kept going, not caring about what they had to say to him.

Roald Dahl did not like school but he did just about enough to graduate. As soon as he graduated from high school he was determined to achieve his life goal/ dream to travel the world. When Dahl graduated, he went straight to work at a job that would take him far away from where he lived in England: “After his education, Dahl worked for an oil company for the opportunity of traveling to faraway places. In 1939, he joined the Royal Air Force training squadron in Nairobi, Kenya, then fought German forces in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1942 to work for the British Embassy. It was here that D. wrote his first story for publication, somewhat by chance.”(Horton)

After he graduated high school, Dahl wanted to do something he had always wanted to do since childhood, travel far from England and explore. So he got a job at an oil company; he worked there for around 7 years. At that time WW2 was arising in Europe, Dahl joined the  Royal Air Force/ British Air force in 1939. He did this so he could first help protect his country from the Germans and so he could also again achieve his dream to travel around the world. When Dahl joined the Royal Air Force and finished training, he was stationed in Egypt and patrolled around it until his squadron got the order to help fight in the Battle of Greece against the Germans. In that fight Dahl was in a “dog fight” for one hour straight and he and one other person in his squadron made it out alive. When the squadron got stationed in Greece they had one extra pilot that wasn’t needed. Everyone wanted to not go but Dahl was the first to accept and fly to Greece out of his squadron.

Before and After the Battle of Greece Dahl had suffered two head injuries and a exception of others. A military doctor checked him out after the second head injury and said he wasn’t healthy enough to fly again. So Dahl decided to stay in the military and travel a new place that he hadn’t been to before, The United States Of America. Where Dahl would be stationed as a British Spy to try and get the U.S.A into helping them in WW2.  

“When his old injuries began to take their toll, Dahl was sent home to England on the disabled list, then soon reassigned to Washington, D.C., as Britain's assistant air attaché. It was in Washington that he embarked on a second career.When Dahl arrived in Washington, his exciting war experiences made him a sought-after figure in diplomatic circles. The renowned author C.S. Forester came to interview him over lunch, but found that he couldn't take notes. Dahl offered to scribble some details to flesh out the interview. "When I'd finished … I'd found I'd actually written a story. I called it 'A Piece of Cake'." He sent it right off.”(Biography Today: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED390725.pdf ).

As soon as he couldn’t serve his country in action because of injuries, Dahl felt that he couldn’t travel anymore with his new job in Washington. He decided to take on a hobby of his which was writing. He did so because his friends encouraged him to because of his skill at story-telling. He did so and found that he had a gift for it, so his friends set him up with a well known author. Dahl was supposed to take notes but instead wrote a story. The author absolutely loved it and wanted Dahl to write more.When Dahl was a Assistant Air Attache/ British Spy in Washington D.C. he decided to pursue writing because of his friends there telling him he should try it because he had such a skill in storytelling. He did and it took him on a road no one, not even him, would have imagined. Even when Dahl couldn’t serve Britain in action protecting them from the Germans, he still work super hard to become a Assistant Air Attache in Washington D.C. he couldn’t really travel anymore because of that job. So he took on writing as a pastime when he wasn’t at work. Soon his new dream wasn’t so much to travel the world but to become a published and famous author. He worked every day on writing stories and writing about his experiences in war and soon he became one of the best children’s book authors and screenwriters ever.

After Dahl had been working at a oil company in East Africa, World War 2 was on the rise with the Germans planning to invade and take over all of Europe. Dahl decided to join the Royal Air Force (a.k.a the British Air Force). He was in the British military from 1939-1941 as a pilot and as a assistant air attache. This proves that Dahl risked his life for others in WW2. When WW2 was on the rise Dahl decided he will give back to his country and its people and join the Royal Air Force. “He was commissioned a pilot officer (second lieutenant) three months later, after further training on Airspeed Oxfords and Fairey Gordons. By then he had more than 156 hours in his logbook and had been awarded a "special distinction." He went to Washington, D.C., in 1941 as an “assistant air attaché,”.”(O’Connor).

Roald risked his life when he was in the British Airforce. He flew longer in battle than anyone at the time in the British Airforce. After he sustained 2 head injuries and 1 back injury from a crash landing. He couldn't fly because of the injuries so his friends in the Washington got him a job as a assistant air attache. In that job he worked as a British spy trying to get and interest the U.S. to help Britain in WW2. Even when Dahl couldn’t fly anymore, he still joined a different part of the British Military. He couldn’t serve in action anymore so with his job as an assistant air attache, he helped the British get the U.S. to help them fight the Germans in WW2. World War 2 was coming and Dahl knew it. He decided to leave his stable job in East Africa and joined the Royal Air Force ...“then to East Africa, where he worked for an oil company until the outbreak of World War Two. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force at 23 years old.”(The Roald Dahl Story Company Limited).

When Dahl was 23 years old he had a stable job at a oil company in East Africa. He could have stayed there and let others fight the war for him but instead, being the hero that he is, he decided to join the British Royal Air Force. That must have taken a lot of courage going to war at such a young age only to serve and protect the country to protect them from the most dangerous and hostile country at the time. That’s why he is a hero. Dahl instead of staying at his job at an oil company in East Africa he decided to do the right thing and join the British military and serve his country in World War 2. He had flown around 156 hours when he had to stop flying because of multiple injuries. When Dahl had a stable job where he could travel around the world with his oil company, he decided to do the right thing and risk his dream of traveling the world and life, so that others could live theirs. Roald Dahl, one of the best screenwriters and children's authors ever, served as a British Pilot In World War 2 , and also served as a  assistant air attache in World War 2. He risked his life in World War 2, fighting in multiple huge air battles, including the Battle of Greece, risked his life for others and risked his dream of traveling the world. He was determined to write books even when people doubted him because of how he did in school, but he kept going not caring about what they had to say to him. Roald Dahl was determined in life, when he graduated high school he went straight to his dream of traveling the world. When Britain needed more pilots for WW2 he “stepped up to the plate” and joined the Royal Air Force risking his life and dream so others could live theirs in peace.

"His first book for children, The Gremlins, published in 1943, was a fanciful tale of little gnomes who sabotaged the planes on wartime flying missions, causing all the crashes. Dahl is widely credited with inventing the name "gremlins," but their mythical existence had been a subject of folklore since the beginning of the war in Europe.”(https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED390725.pdf)

This quote is inspirational to me because, even though Roald Dahl saw some terrible things in his time serving with the Royal Air Force, he still wrote and shared his experiences with people. I think that would be pretty hard to share with millions of people once he became a famous and published author. The books he wrote about his war adventures and experiences was in “Gremlins” and “Going Solo”.

“The impact fractured his skull, smashed his nose, knocked out several teeth and left him temporarily blinded. Somehow he managed to grope his way clear of the burning wreckage before the gasoline tanks and ammunition exploded. Rescued by patrolling British infantry, he spent the next six months recovering in an Alexandria hospital, where he was told he would probably never fly again.” (https://www.historynet.com/roald-dahls-wartime-adventures.htm)

Personally for me this is pretty inspiring because he got lied to about a fuel station being in the desert. The captain ordered him to fly to 50 minutes to a fuel station then fly to Libya. So Roald listened to his commander and did so. When he got to the spot where they told him the fueling station should be, it wasn’t there. He had no radio, the sun was setting, and he was low on fuel so he decided to risk landing in the desert. All of his luck left him and the he crashed, fracturing his skull, knocking several teeth out, and being temporarily blind he crawled out of the plane right before all of the ammunition and fuel tanks exploded. Yet suffering all the injuries and not being able to fly for six months he still came back and flew with the same captain and fought in multiple battles with him. Roald Dahl was and still is a inspiration to millions of people across the world, with all of his great books he wrote for children and some adult. He served and risked his life as a WW2 pilot and when he was a assistant air attache/ British spy. When most people find out that he was all of these things they usually don’t believe it, but when they find out that he actually did do it they describe it as “heroic”. They are true with that statement. Roald Dahl is heroic with how much he risked and how much work he put in to get his fame. He deserves the title of a Hero.

 Works Consulted Page

Hathcock B. Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl (9781429814539). August 2017:1. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=15317094&site=ehost-live. Accessed January 16, 2019.   

(Horton N. DAHL, Roald. Continuum Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature. January 2003:216.                            https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=18748843&site=ehost-live. Accessed January 17, 2019.  

O’Connor D. Roald Dahl’s Wartime Adventures. Aviation History. 2009;19(3):44-49.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=35649529&site=ehost-live. Accessed January 16, 2019.

Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl (Biography Today). January 2010:1. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=34912878&site=ehost-live. Accessed January 17, 2019.

Ten Memorable Roald Dahl Quotes, www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/about.