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Arctic Snow to Dust of Normandy: The Extraordinary Wartime Exploits of a Naval Special Agent
Very few men have a more exciting and dramatic story of their wartime activities to tell than Patrick Dalzel-Job. In 1940 using his special knowledge of North Norway's coast line he landed and moved over 10,000 Allied soldiers in local boats without the loss of a single life. Acting against specific orders he evacuated civilians from Narvik just before it was bombed - only the King of Norway's intervention halted his court martial. Thereafter his many adventures included spying on enemy shipping and operating behind the lines in France and Germany with Ian Fleming's special force unit '30AU'. As soon as he could, he returned to Norway to seek out the girl he had fallen in love with in 1940. After surviving more hazards, they were reunited, married and lived together in Scotland until her death.
- GenresHistory
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 29, 2023
The author is said to have been one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond, and in this book you can see why. He was one of those inter-war young men full of confidence in his own ability and the kind of courage that came natural to that generation to forge his own and unique way through not only life, but also through the war where he thrived under the stress of battle.
The book starts where as a young man he took his own sailing ship from Scotland across the North Sea to Norway and spent almost two years there sailing along its coast. This is where his love for Norway was born and he had a bond with that country throughout his life.
When war erupted he went back to England to enlist and after some mundane postings he got himself attached to Coastal Forces in the Shetland Island where he planned and partook in some daring MTB raids against German shipping in Norwegian waters. He then got involved in the midget submarine forces that were used in these water, but never actively went into action in one of these, but was marooned on a Norwegian island alone after being left behind when he was an observer for them.
From here he joing Ian Fleming's 30 Assault Unit who's mission it was to infiltrate behind enemy lines and capture vital enemy intelligence to be used by the Allies. Here he landed just after D-Day on Utah beach and from there till war's end he was part of the tip of the spear of the Allied advance across western Europe where his hair-raising exploits is the stuff of legends. He ended his war in northern Norway again after basically writing his own orders to get there, and his war end was one of the happy endings of the war. Great read and highly recommended!!
The book starts where as a young man he took his own sailing ship from Scotland across the North Sea to Norway and spent almost two years there sailing along its coast. This is where his love for Norway was born and he had a bond with that country throughout his life.
When war erupted he went back to England to enlist and after some mundane postings he got himself attached to Coastal Forces in the Shetland Island where he planned and partook in some daring MTB raids against German shipping in Norwegian waters. He then got involved in the midget submarine forces that were used in these water, but never actively went into action in one of these, but was marooned on a Norwegian island alone after being left behind when he was an observer for them.
From here he joing Ian Fleming's 30 Assault Unit who's mission it was to infiltrate behind enemy lines and capture vital enemy intelligence to be used by the Allies. Here he landed just after D-Day on Utah beach and from there till war's end he was part of the tip of the spear of the Allied advance across western Europe where his hair-raising exploits is the stuff of legends. He ended his war in northern Norway again after basically writing his own orders to get there, and his war end was one of the happy endings of the war. Great read and highly recommended!!
December 4, 2015
A short book with gigantic print but interesting. At least one person has suggested (wrongly) that Dalzel-Job was Ian Fleming's inspiration for James Bond, a suggestion that Dalzel-Job put to rest on page 167: "someone suggested that I gave him [Ian Fleming] the germ of the idea of James Bond, but I should think it unlikely."
January 17, 2011
Really interesting memoir from the man who was supposedly one of Ian Fleming's inspirations for James Bond
November 28, 2016
Great
Great read great man great woman lots of detail and a love story too who'd have thought so in the title
Great read great man great woman lots of detail and a love story too who'd have thought so in the title
May 24, 2025
The interesting story of a likeable British Naval Intelligence officer's exploits before and during World War Two, beginning with his sailing his schooner from Scotland to Norway and exploring both coasts up to the Arctic with his mother and 13-year-old Norwegian girl mate. When Germany invades and occupies Norway (and who honestly remembers that they did?), our hero goes back to Britain to enlist to help with the wartime effort in Norway. Unlike many WW2 books, there isn't the blood, violence and death of battles but the more mundane logistics of transporting troops and arranging ships thanks to the author's knowledge of the villages, coast, people and language so it's hardly the stuff of Jame Bond in the first half of the book but it does have far more light, even humorous anecdotes thrown in with the bravery. Like many WW2 books, our hero also often questions his superiors' knowledge and decisions and often disregards their orders.
In the second half of the book, the author parachutes into Normandy four days after D-Day (hence the dust of Normandy) and commands a small group of men trying to locate German intelligence before the Germans can destroy it and the Allied troops despoil it. Again, the book lacks the violence and bloodshed of battles but is therefore less traumatic to read as he and his small cadre move from France to Germany in search of intelligence with his biggest find the naval intelligence located in the port of Bremerhaven. I enjoyed this book and have J.D. of goodreads to thank for finding it.
In the second half of the book, the author parachutes into Normandy four days after D-Day (hence the dust of Normandy) and commands a small group of men trying to locate German intelligence before the Germans can destroy it and the Allied troops despoil it. Again, the book lacks the violence and bloodshed of battles but is therefore less traumatic to read as he and his small cadre move from France to Germany in search of intelligence with his biggest find the naval intelligence located in the port of Bremerhaven. I enjoyed this book and have J.D. of goodreads to thank for finding it.
July 16, 2014
Undoubtedly an extremely brave and resourceful man. A man to whom we owe much as do the people of Norway. A man of so many talents but unfortunately writing skill was not amongst them.
What should have been a cracking good read was I am afraid to say somewhat pedestrian.
I think that in the hands of the right screenwriter this could make a good film. Unfortunately as a book it is quite dull. Pity.
What should have been a cracking good read was I am afraid to say somewhat pedestrian.
I think that in the hands of the right screenwriter this could make a good film. Unfortunately as a book it is quite dull. Pity.
March 17, 2013
This was a very disappointing book. A pity as I was really looking forward to reading it. The exploits the author went through should have been exciting to read. Alas, the author may be a hero (and some say the blue-print for James Bond) but he can't write.
After struggling to get half-way through I gave up out of sheer boredom.
After struggling to get half-way through I gave up out of sheer boredom.
March 15, 2020
Un libro incentrato sulla vita e l'impegno militare di un giovane, volenteroso ufficiale dell' intelligence inglese negli anni della II guerra mondiale tra missioni audaci nella Norvegia occupata dalle forze tedesche e l'avanzata del fronte europeo dopo il d-day: una storia interessante, una lettura piacevole ma quasi del tutto priva di episodi epici.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews