Roald Dahl died on this day 19 years ago. Dahl was the author of the well-loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Revolting Rhymes, and a range of other stories and poetry for children. He also wrote a number of works for adults including two novels, a play, numerous film and television scripts, various non-fiction works, and more than 60 short stories. However, it is perhaps less well known that his actual life was as eventful as his stories.
Born in Wales in 1916, Dahl’s sister died of appendicitis when he was 3 years old, and his father died of pneumonia a few weeks later. He was sent to a number of different boarding schools, and then in 1934 joined the Shell Petroleum Company. Shell transferred him to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanganyika, where he was living when the second world war broke out. He drove to Nairobi to enlist in the Royal Air Force, and after very limited training he was sent to Egypt, and was severely injured in a plane crash in Libya.
After a lengthy recovery period, Dahl was sent to Greece and immediately encountered aerial combat, and became one of the survivors of the Battle of Athens, after shooting down a number of enemy planes. His flying career ended because of head injuries incurred in the crash. He then worked for the British Foreign Intelligence Service, and became an author after publishing an account of his plane crash.