"I was a fighter pilot, flying Hurricanes all round the Mediterranean. I flew in the Western Desert of Libya, in Greece, in Syria, in Iraq and in Egypt"
About this Quote
The repetition of “I flew” is doing more than emphasizing experience. It’s a rhythmic insistence, like a pilot’s logbook turned into identity: I was here, I survived this stretch, I kept going. Yet there’s also a quiet subtext of disposability. The Mediterranean campaign sprawls across Libya, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Egypt - names that, in British wartime storytelling, often function as distant stages for empire rather than homes. Dahl recites them without comment, which is precisely the point: this is what it felt like to be shuttled through other people’s countries under the banner of strategy.
Context sharpens the irony. We tend to file Dahl under whimsy and childhood wonder, but this matter-of-fact catalogue reminds you his imagination was forged around real fire. The almost breezy tone reads less like bravado than a defense mechanism: if you narrate danger like a route map, you don’t have to narrate fear.
Quote Details
| Topic | Military & Soldier |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Dahl, Roald. (2026, January 17). I was a fighter pilot, flying Hurricanes all round the Mediterranean. I flew in the Western Desert of Libya, in Greece, in Syria, in Iraq and in Egypt. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-a-fighter-pilot-flying-hurricanes-all-round-71049/
Chicago Style
Dahl, Roald. "I was a fighter pilot, flying Hurricanes all round the Mediterranean. I flew in the Western Desert of Libya, in Greece, in Syria, in Iraq and in Egypt." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-a-fighter-pilot-flying-hurricanes-all-round-71049/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I was a fighter pilot, flying Hurricanes all round the Mediterranean. I flew in the Western Desert of Libya, in Greece, in Syria, in Iraq and in Egypt." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-a-fighter-pilot-flying-hurricanes-all-round-71049/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.






