Monday, November 2, 2009

Roald Dahl RAF flyer solo 1942










http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/2009/05/going-solo-roald-dahl.html
http://modern-british-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/roald_dahl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_dahl



Non-fiction by Roal Dahl
The Mildenhall
Treasure
(1946, 1977, 1999)
Boy – Tales of Childhood
(1984) Recollections up to the age of 20, looking particularly at schooling in
Britain in the early part
of the 20th century.
Going Solo (1986)
Continuation of his autobiography, in which he goes to work for
Shell and spends some
time working in
Tanzania before joining the war
effort and becoming one of the last
Allied pilots to withdraw from Greece during the German invasion.
Measles, a Dangerous Illness (1986)
[28]
Memories
with Food at Gipsy House
(1991)
Roald
Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety
(1991)
My Year (1993)
Roald Dahl's
Revolting Recipes by Felicity Dahl, et al. (1994), a collection of recipes based
on and inspired by food in Dahl's books, created by Roald & Felicity Dahl,
and Josie Fison
Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes by Felicity Dahl,
et al. (2001)









Dahl was a very brave RAF pilot and bravado and adventure as a matter of course were in his veins.The backdrop was the battle of Britain and Britain was fighting for her life and won the last battle by the skin of her teeth. He felt a sense of failure after his wounds in battle and was trained as an RAF fighter later. To sit it out til the end of the war was unendurable for him. He had worked for Shell Oil in Africa prior to his training as an RAF pilot in Kenya. He was too tall to fit in the cockpit ,like a foetus when squished into the cockpit. Dahl was not deterred. He was trained and was a consummate flier . He thought of himself as a failure and wanted redemption. In April 41,he was charted for flying in Greece for the RAF.Landing near Athens, he learned the horrid truth of the doomed RAF defeated beyond returning by the NAZIS in the battle of Athens. They were wiped out, just as at Dunkirk. Again, he donned the role of the RAF pilot officer and headed for Libya to fight the Italians. Note his book Going Solo.