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Roald was born in 1916 to Norwegian parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene (Hesselberg) Dahl, and his birth was registered in the 4th quarter 1916 in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. [1][2]
He had three sisters, Astri, Alfhild and Else.
In 1920 Roald's elder sister Astri died from appendicitis at the age of seven.[3] Weeks later his father, Harald, succumbed to pneumonia while on a fishing trip in the Antarctic.
Dahl first attended Elmtree Primary school but had few memories of his year there.
At the age of seven Dahl attended The Cathedral School in Llandaff, Cardiff. His book, Boy, includes some memories of his time here, most notably the Great Mouse Plot of 1924.
He attended St Peter's, a boarding school in Weston-super-Mare and later Repton School, Derbyshire.
In 1939 Dahl was made a lieutenant in the Kings African Rifles and later joined the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman. After being assigned to No. 80 Squadron RAF and finding himself flying a obsolete Gloster Gladiator without any specialised training Dahl crashed his aircraft attempting a landing in the desert due to low fuel. He fractured his skull and was temporarily blinded.
Within two years he was declared fit for flying duties and participated in the Battle of Athens alongside Pat Pattle. Five of the twelve Hawker Hurricanes were shot down during the battle, including the plane flown by Pattle, who did not survive.
Roald Dahl's Flying Helmet |
Roald was recruited to be a British spy by BSC (British Security Coordination) along with Ian Fleming.[4] Following Pearl Harbor, he helped persuade the United States to join with Britain in the War against Germany. Dahl befriended US politicians, and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.[5]
Later in 1941 Dahl began to suffer from severe headaches which caused him to black out. He was invalided home to Britain.
First marriage
Dahl married American actress Patricia Louise Neal on July 2nd 1953 in New York City. [6]
The couple had five children, including Olivia Twenty, who died young.
An injury one of his sons in 1960 caused Dahl to become involved in the development of the WDT valve, a cerebral shunt to alleviate hydrocephalus. Though his son had sufficiently recovered from his injury by the time the device was perfected, several thousand children benefited from the valve.
After the death of his seven year old daughter, Olivia, from measles encephalitis in 1962 Dahl became a proponent of immunisation. He dedicated the BFG to Olivia in 1982.
in 1965 Patricia suffered three burst cerebral aneurysms while pregnant with their last child. Dahl rehabilitated his wife and over time she relearned to walk and talk. The film "The Patricia Neal Story" focuses on this period of their lives.[7]
Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl |
Second marriage
After thirty years of marriage Dahl and Patricia divorced and Dahl remarried. That marriage was registered in the 4th quarter 1983 in Lambeth, Surrey. [8] [9]
Roald Dahl died on November 23rd, 1990 of myelodysplastic syndrome and was buried at St Peter and St Paul's Church, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. He had been living in Gipsy House, Great Missenden and his estate of £2,843,217 was subject to Probate in London on the 13th February 1991. [10] [11]
Featured Eurovision connections: Roald is 33 degrees from Agnetha Fältskog, 21 degrees from Anni-Frid Synni Reuß, 27 degrees from Corry Brokken, 22 degrees from Céline Dion, 22 degrees from Françoise Dorin, 21 degrees from France Gall, 28 degrees from Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, 27 degrees from Lill-Babs Svensson, 18 degrees from Olivia Newton-John, 29 degrees from Henriette Nanette Paërl, 35 degrees from Annie Schmidt and 15 degrees from Moira Kennedy on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
Categories: Tales of the Unexpected | Repton School, Repton, Derbyshire | England Managed Profiles, Post-1700 | Cardiff, Glamorgan | Oxford, Oxfordshire | The Cathedral School, Llandaff, Cardiff | World War II Celebrity Spies | World War II British Spies | This Day In History September 13 | This Day In History November 23 | Children's Authors | King's African Rifles | Featured Connections Archive 2021 | Notables
We are featuring Roald alongside Beverly Cleary, this week's Example Profile of the Week in the Connection Finder on March 31, in the theme of Children's Authors. Between now and then is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can. A Team member will check on the profile Tuesday and make last minute style-guide changes as necessary.
Thanks! Abby