Roald_Dalh

Roald Dahl (1916 – 1990) He had a destiny from birth to become a legendary writer, writing his own life stories. Without a pen or paper he had written one of the most renowned stories of all time, a story which was experienced and lived by one man. Born on 13th September, 1916, the life of, Roald Dahl, a Welsh novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian commences here. Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene was Dahl, named after the polar explorer Roald Amundsen. Both parents were immigrants from Norway living in England. Harald Dahl migrated to England at the turn of the 19th century (1900). Not long after the death of his first wife, he returned back to Norway hopping to find a wife to support his young son and daughter. There he meets Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg in 1911, was a major influence on his books such as ‘Witches’. Together they moved to a home located at Llandaff where they raised 5 children, one been Roald and 5 others named: Astri, Alfhild, Roald, Else and Asta. Unfortunately Astri the eldest, died from appendicitis in 1920. A few months later, Harald Dahl quickly deteriorated after this daughter’s dead and died himself from pneumonia. Pregnant with Asta, Sofie Dahl was left with three of her own children, two step children, and a large estate and Harald Dahl’s wish that his children would be educated in an English school. Unable to move to England Sofie moved into a smaller home and educated the five at Elmtree, a local school. At the age of seven it was decided Roald required proper education, sending him to a nearby Llandaff Cathedral School. At the Age of eight, he and four of his friends earned themselves a savage canning by the headmaster by placing a dead mouse in a jar of sweets at a local shop, this prank is now know as the “The Great Mouse Plot” found in the book ‘Boy’, published based on this school life at the age of eight till thirteen. After two years, Sofie was driven to withdraw Roald from Llandaff Cathedral by that violent incident. Roald then attended St. Peter’s Preparatory School in Weston super Mare, Where he suffered from homesickness and wrote to his mother daily, but kept his unhappiness hidden. It was only when she has passed away he found out she had kept every single letter he had sent. After leaving he attended several other boarding schools. Not all memories at Repton was bad for Roald, as he was quite tall, he lead the school’s football team. During this period his popularity grew immensely. He also developed an interest in photography. Dahl also recalls during these years Cadbury, a chocolate company, would occasionally send boxes of new chocolates to the school to be tested by the pupils. This took this writing career to the next level thirty five years later, providing the inspiration for him to write his third children’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After completing education at Repton, in July 1934, he has finished writing the beginning of his story as a youth; he joined the Shell Petroleum Company. Dahl was then sent to East Africa on a two week voyage. This marked the ending of the book ‘Boy’ and beginning of ‘Going Solo’. Once he reached Mombasa, Kenya, he was transferred onto another voyage down to Dar es Salaam in Tanganyika, no named Tanzania. Along with the only two other Shell employees in the entire East African territory, which he administered, lived in luxury in a Shell House. Dahl’s first piece of publish work appeared on an African newspaper in 1937, a subsequent account of a lion carrying off a native woman. Dahl’s life approached a twist in August 1939, World War II was imminent. All Englishmen in Dar es Salaam was rounded up and transformed into temporary solders. Dahl was made officer in the King's African Rifles, responsible for containing the German population. In November 1939, Dahl joined the Royal Air Force, where learnt to fly warplanes. After a 600 mile car journey from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, he flew solo in a plane with simply seven hours and 40 minutes experience. Followed by eight weeks of basic training and six months of advanced flying instruction, he was made pilot officer, ready for duties. Unfortunately, Dahl’s first experience into combat territory, in Egypt on the way to Amiriya to refuel, ended in a famous 1940 crash in the Libyan Desert. Dahl was provided with the incorrect co-ordinates. Crashing into the sand at over 75 miles per hour, Dahl struck his head on the reflector; fracturing his skull slightly; pushing his noes inward and blinding him for a couple of days. It wasn’t until a year later, during spring in n 1941, he was deemed fit to fly once again. Later he published an article about the crash. The 80 squadron was in the Royal Air Force campaign in Greece, after rejoining them; Dahl was soon thrust into the routine of trying to stay alive. After seven hours of flying, Dahl flew a replacement Hurricane across the Mediterranean Sea in April 1941. At this stage the RAF had only 18 combat planes in Greece: 14 Hurricanes and four Bristol Blenheim light bombers. On his first trip up in aerial combat, on 15th April 1941, he came upon six Ju 88’s, opposition aircrafts and managing to gun down on aircraft. On 16 April in another air battle he shot down another over Khalkis Bay. His victory didn’t last, as the German Messerschmitt fighters pin pointed him, barely surviving the attack returning safe. Dahl and the other man fought bravely for many months. Extreme headaches from the earlier incident brought his war life close to finishing point. Returning back to Britain, his career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force was over. At this time his rank was Flight Lieutenant Dahl began writing in 1943, after he was transferred to Washington, DC as an assistant air attaché. He published anonymously, in an issue of the Sunday Evening Post,” Shot Down Over Libya” describing the crash of his Gloster Gladiator. A Piece of Cake was the original title of the article, the title was changed to sound more dramatic, despite the fact that the he was not "shot down". Dahl later claimed that the story had been edited and captioned misleadingly by magazine editors. He left this war life as a Wing Commander with record of five aerial victories. Dropping his war life behind, he began a writing career. His first children’s book was ‘The Gremlins’ based on a little creature that was part of RAF folklore which was published in 1943. He then went on to creating some of the known children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. As the 1950's began, money started to fill Dahl’s hands, from stories sold to Collier's and The New Yorker. He applied for American visa. Commercial success began as Alfred Knopf had discovers some of Dahl's short stories and was willing sign off a contract. Later delivered in 1953was Dahl’s collection which included such tales as "Taste," "My Lady Love, My Dove," "Skin," and "Dip in the Pool." Dahl’s love life also started growing. He married an American actress Patricia Neal on 2 July 1953 at Trinity Church in New York City. Within the next 30 years they had five children: Tessa, Theo, Ophelia, Lucy and Olivia who died at the age of 7 from measles encephalitis. Dahl and Patricia later divorced in 1983. Ophelia Dahl, son of Roald Dahl, became director and co-founder of Partners in Health, a non-profit organization. Lucy Dahl is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Tessa's daughter Sophie Dahl became a model and author who remembers Roald Dahl as "a very difficult man – very strong, very dominant ... not unlike the father of the Mitford sisters sort of roaring round the house with these very loud opinions, banning certain types – foppish boys, you know – from coming round." She was also provided the inspiration for the main character in the book ‘The BFG’ The story finally came to an end ater 74 years. Roald Dahl died in November 1990 from a rare blood disease, myelodysplastic anaemia at his house, Gipsy House in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. He was buried in the cemetery at the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul. Buried with him were his snooker cues, some very good burgundy, chocolates, HB pencils and a power saw. Roald Dahl Children's Gallery was opened at Buckinghamshire County Museum in near Aylesbury. Although his life ended, his legacy still lives. The 60 short stories Dahl had written, some published after this death, are still loved by many. Books such as ‘Witches’, ‘George's Marvellous Medicine’, ‘Matilda’, and many other books which contained a lot of black humour and grotesque scenarios, including gruesome violence are still favoured. Few of his books such as ‘Charlie and the chocolate factory’ were remade into films. Living a life which starts off as a troubled young school boy to a soldier at war and finally bring a family to life and becoming an author has inspired me to live life to the fullest although it may have a bad beginning but not always a bad ending. Dahl’s influence on the generations of readers who have moved enthusiastically from one of his novels to the next has been dramatic. Still known as a top selling author, the stories of Roald Dahl are indeed treasures for our past generation and for generations to come. Bibliography Internet sources http://www.jubileebooks.co.uk/jubilee/magazine/authors/roald_dahl/roald_dahl.asp www.4learning.co.uk/sites/bookbox/authors/dahl/index.htm www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/pda/A1288820 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl http://www.roalddahlfans.com http://www.llgc.org.uk/ Books Flying solo Boy ----------------------- Llandaff Cathedral Dahl (when he attended Repton Shell House News paper article by Dahl in 1943 JU88 brought down by Dahl Patricia Neal Dahl in 1934 Memorial for Dahl