Dahl boards the SS Mantola in England, departing for a three-year contract with Shell Oil Company in East Africa.

Dahl arrives in Dar es Salaam and joins the small Shell Oil team beginning his life in Tanganyika.

Dahl's gardener Salimu pins a charging black mamba with a metal rake and kills it in the garden.

A lion seizes the cook's wife at the Sanford house in Tabora; a warning shot causes the lion to drop her unharmed.

Dahl spots a large green mamba slipping into an Englishman named Fuller's house and urgently alerts the household.

War is declared and Dahl's platoon confronts an armed German convoy; the defiant German leader is shot dead by concealed troops.

Dahl resigns from Shell Oil Company and joins the Royal Air Force to train as a fighter pilot.

Dahl's Gladiator crash-lands in the Libyan Desert, leaving him with a fractured skull and temporary blindness.

Nurse Mary Welland treats Dahl's damaged eyes with patient daily care until he gradually regains his sight.

Dahl arrives at 80 Squadron's base in Elevsis, Greece, where only 15 Hurricanes face hundreds of Luftwaffe aircraft.

Dahl dives on a Ju 88 attacking the Greek ammunition ship at Khalkis and forces the bomber into the sea.

All 12 remaining Hurricanes fly in tight formation over Athens, where a massive Luftwaffe assault immediately breaks them apart.

Flight-Lieutenant Pat Pattle and four other RAF pilots are killed during the chaotic Battle of Athens dogfight.

The Argos airfield is strafed and destroyed, and the surviving pilots evacuate Greece by whatever aircraft remain available.

Dahl suffers repeated blackouts from old head injuries and is declared unfit to fly, sending him home to Britain.

This pool follows the major milestones of Roald Dahl's memoir, from his departure to East Africa through his wartime service as a fighter pilot. Dahl arrives in Tanganyika to work for Shell Oil, where colonial life brings dangerous encounters with wildlife including a black mamba and a marauding lion. The outbreak of World War II transforms everything, as he joins the RAF, survives a devastating crash in the Libyan Desert, and fights in the skies over Greece. He participates in the climactic Battle of Athens, where key pilots including the legendary Pat Pattle are lost in a desperate defense against overwhelming German forces. After the evacuation of Greece and further service in the Middle East, Dahl is ultimately invalided home to Britain. These events form the spine of the memoir, charting Dahl's transformation from a young colonial adventurer into a combat-hardened RAF pilot.

The core events of Roald Dahl's journey from colonial Africa to RAF pilot.

Dahl's cabin companion U.N. Savory sprinkles Epsom salts on his shoulders each morning to simulate dandruff for his colleagues.

Major Griffiths runs completely naked around the ship's deck each morning, and his wife joins him equally unselfconsciously.

Dahl's casual remark about playing polo on bicycles deeply offends Major Griffiths, who refuses to speak to him for the rest of the voyage.

Miss Trefusis tells Dahl that prolonged life in Africa eventually drives every European expatriate completely mad.

The SS Mantola passes an Italian ship in the Red Sea carrying women to Abyssinia to boost soldiers' morale.

Snake expert Donald Macfarlane arrives at Fuller's house with leather gloves and a long pole and carefully captures the green mamba.

Mdisho returns late at night with Dahl's sword stained in dried blood and confesses he has decapitated a German sisal planter.

Dahl presents his silver Arab sword to Mdisho as a farewell gift before departing for RAF pilot training.

Dahl drives alone from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi to enlist in the RAF, shouting greetings at giraffes along the road.

Dahl completes advanced flight training at the remote RAF base in Habbaniya, Iraq, and earns his pilot's wings.

David Coke is appalled by Dahl's inexperience on a Hurricane and warns him to watch his rear-view mirror constantly in combat.

Dahl and Coke fly out to sea from Argos to protect the Royal Navy fleet but find no ships where expected.

German Stuka dive-bombers repeatedly strike an oil tanker near Greece, leaving burning crew members trapped in the surrounding sea.

After the Argos attack, five senior pilots fly the surviving Hurricanes to Crete while Dahl escapes in a small evacuation aircraft.

Dahl and the other evacuees are welcomed by the Peel family in Alexandria and discuss the failed Greek campaign over breakfast.

This pool highlights the rich secondary moments and eccentric characters that give the memoir its texture and humour. On the voyage to East Africa, Dahl encounters a series of bizarre British expatriates whose peculiarities expose the absurdities of colonial life, from a fake-dandruff scheme to a naked morning jog. In Tanganyika, the capture of a deadly green mamba and the dramatic revelation of Mdisho's violent act against a German add moral complexity to his colonial experience. Dahl's solo drive to Nairobi and his advanced flight training in Iraq mark his passage into military life, while in Greece his friendship with David Coke anchors the wartime chapters emotionally. The horror of watching German Stukas destroy an oil tanker and the chaotic escape from Argos round out the wartime arc. Together, these events illuminate the memorable details and supporting cast that make Dahl's account so distinctive.

The colourful characters and quieter moments behind Dahl's African and wartime adventure.

The lion attack at the Sanford house in Tabora is published in the East African Standard, marking Dahl's first piece of published writing.

Mdisho eagerly urges Dahl to let him attack local German residents before war is officially declared in Europe.

Dahl passes his RAF medical examination in Nairobi despite the examiner's concerns about his exceptional height.

After completing his training, Dahl earns his wings and is assigned as a fighter pilot to 80 Squadron in the Western Desert.

Dahl's crashed Gladiator erupts in flames and he drags himself away from the burning wreckage despite severe head and facial injuries.

A British military patrol discovers Dahl injured and stranded in the Libyan Desert and transports him to hospital in Alexandria.

A renowned plastic surgeon performs facial reconstruction surgery on Dahl during his extended hospital recovery in Alexandria.

Declared fit to fly, Dahl is given only days to master the more advanced Hurricane before making a solo flight to join his squadron in Greece.

On his first combat patrol over Khalkis, Dahl engages a formation of Ju 88 bombers and shoots one down, returning with a single bullet hole.

After shooting down a Ju 88, Dahl finds himself surrounded by dozens of Messerschmitt 109 fighters and escapes by flying dangerously close to the ground.

After the Battle of Athens, Messerschmitt 109s strafe the Elevsis airfield while Dahl and Coke press themselves flat onto the grass to survive.

An Air Commodore hands Dahl a mysterious sealed package and orders him to deliver it urgently to a man named Carter at the deserted Elevsis airfield.

A German Messerschmitt 110 flies a low reconnaissance pass over the Argos camp, confirming that the enemy has located the airfield.

Dahl discovers a secret landing field occupied by Jewish refugees whose bearded leader explains that their fight for a homeland far outlasts the current war.

Dahl's mother stands waiting at the cottage gate in Grendon Underwood and warmly welcomes him home from the war.

This pool focuses on the turning points and revelations that drive the memoir forward and fundamentally shape Dahl's character. An unexpected literary debut and a moral reckoning with Mdisho's warrior instincts reveal the tensions and ironies of colonial life before war upends everything. Dahl's transition to military service is defined by a near-fatal crash, a painful recovery involving surgery, and a rushed mastery of the Hurricane that would carry him into Greek skies. In combat, he faces his first kills, his first overwhelming encounter with superior enemy numbers, and the grinding chaos of a war fought with woefully inadequate resources. The later chapters bring quieter but equally significant moments, including a profound conversation with Jewish refugees about a struggle that stretches far beyond the current conflict. These events capture the scenes where Dahl's understanding of himself, of war, and of the world around him permanently changed.

The pivotal discoveries and decisions that shaped Dahl's path through Africa and war.