The Spy and “A Piece of Cake”

He was a fighter pilot. He became a spy, and “A Piece of Cake” launched his writing career. Guess who?

Roald Dahl joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1939 and trained as a fighter pilot when World War II broke out. However, his first mission went awry when a navigational error led to a crash landing in the Egyptian Desert. He sustained severe injuries, including a fractured skull and back injuries. He eventually returned to combat flying, but ongoing headaches and blackouts made it too dangerous for him to remain a fighter pilot. As a result, he was assigned to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., as an assistant air attaché. Part of his assignment involved engaging with the press, promoting the British cause during wartime, and delivering lectures about his experience.

But espionage did not launch his writing career by accident.

On the third day of his job, he met C.S. Forester, a British novelist. Forester invited Dahl to lunch to interview him about the plane crash in the Libyan Desert so that he could use it in an article for The Saturday Evening Post. During lunch, Forester interviewed Dahl about the crash. Since taking notes while talking and eating was difficult, Dahl offered to write down all his memories of the crash himself and send them to Forester. Dahl got carried away and, instead of simply writing notes, wrote a full, vivid account of the plane crash. Afterwards, he titled it “A Piece of Cake”. Forester was impressed by Dahl’s writing talent and immediately sent the manuscript to The Saturday Evening Post, which published it as “Shot Down Over Libya”.

Dahl’s first published story was not originally intended to be a story at all. He was asked to describe an experience, but what began as a simple favour for a fellow writer became the start of Roald Dahl’s writing career.

After publication, Dahl continued writing on the side while still working during the war. In 1943, he wrote his first children’s story, The Gremlins, inspired by troublesome creatures from RAF folklore said to cause problems with aircraft. The book attracted the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt, who invited Dahl to the White House. He met Walt Disney, who bought the film rights. Although the book was published, the film version never came out. The project was abandoned. In the end, Disney created a picture book in 1943 entitled Walt Disney: The Gremlins (A Royal Air Force Story by Flight Lieutenant Roald Dahl). Random House in the United States and Collins in Australia and Great Britain published the book.

Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916, in Llandaff, Wales, to Norwegian immigrant parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. His childhood was marked by tragedy. When he was three, his seven-year-old sister, Astri, died from an infection caused by a burst appendix. Weeks later, his father died of pneumonia.

Dahl’s early childhood shaped much of his prose. He became familiar with corporal punishment and the behaviour of adults in positions of authority at school, experiences that later influenced themes and characters in his writing. 

After the war, he continued to write for a living, producing short stories for adults, mostly published in magazines, drawing on his experiences of war and his vivid imagination.

Dahl married American actress Patricia Neal in 1953. They had five children and remained married for 30 years. In 1960, their four-month-old son, Theo, was seriously injured when a taxi hit him and later developed hydrocephalus. In 1962, their seven-year-old daughter, Olivia, died of measles. Three years later, Patricia Neal suffered a series of strokes that left her unable to walk and impaired her speech. She eventually recovered, but the couple divorced in 1983.

Dahl died in 1990 at 74. 

He will always be remembered as a remarkable author who created memorable characters in children’s literature, including Charlie Bucket, Willy Wonka, Matilda, and James Trotter.

But one of the most interesting parts of Roald Dahl’s story occurred before any of them existed.

He was a fighter pilot who survived a crash.

A novelist asked him to tell the story.

And Dahl wrote it instead.

That story, which he titled “A Piece of Cake”, became his first published work.

Sometimes a writing career begins in the most unexpected place. For Roald Dahl, it came from a plane crash and “a piece of cake”.

Roald Dahl is celebrated on 13 September, the anniversary of his birth. The United Kingdom observes it, and it has since spread to countries including Australia, the United States, Canada, South Africa, and parts of Europe and Latin America.

Till next time,

Cheers!

References

Dietsch, D. K. (2013, November 26). Who slept here: Roald Dahl got writing start in Washington. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/who-slept-here-roald-dahl-got-writing-start-in-washington/2013/11/26/4887996a-b673-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html

Howard, K. (2026). Dahl biography. Roald Dahl Fans – Fan site for author Roald Dahl (1916-1990). https://www.roalddahlfans.com/about-dahl/dahl-biography/4/

Klein, C. (2025, May 27). When Roald dahl spied on the United States. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/articles/when-roald-dahl-spied-on-the-united-states

Prahl, A. (2020, February 18). Biography of Roald dahl, British novelist. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-roald-dahl-british-novelist-4796610

Roald dahl. (2025, September 16). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roald-Dahl