DALZEL-JOB, P(atrick) 1913-2003
(Peter Dalzel)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born June 1, 1913, in London, England; died October 12, 2003, in Plockton, Scotland. Military officer, educator, and author. Dalzel-Job gained renown when author Ian Fleming made it known that the former British naval officer was the model for his fictional hero, James Bond. Receiving his education at Beaconsfield School and, later, from private tutors in Switzerland, he became enthralled early in life with sailing. As a young man, he sailed frequently in Nordic waters and traveled as far as the northern coastline of Russia. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the British Royal Navy and was assigned to help with an expeditionary force in Norway because of his extensive knowledge of the area. In 1940, he helped the Allies recapture the port town of Narvik, Norway. When it became clear that the Germans were going to bomb the city, he evacuated its civilians in direct defiance of his superiors' orders. Dalzel-Job was threatened with a court martial, but when the King of Norway awarded him the Knight's Cross, first class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for his heroic act, he was spared any punishment. Dalzel-Job's later adventures during the war included piloting a mini-submarine and becoming a paratrooper. It was during the last years of the war in Europe that Ian Fleming knew Dalzel-Job, who was then part of Fleming's special intelligence unit, which was charged with finding secret German documents before they were destroyed. After World War II, Dalzel-Job left the British navy as a lieutenant-commander and served in the Royal Canadian Navy until 1955. He then returned to Scotland to teach nautical studies at Plockton Senior School, where he retired in 1963. Dalzel-Job, who claimed to have never read a James Bond book or seen one of the movies, was the author of two books: The Settlers (1957), which he wrote under the name Peter Dalzel, and an autobiography written in Norwegian titled Fra Narvik til Normandie ("From Arctic Snow to Dust of Normandy"), published in 1996.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, October 16, 2003, Section 2, p. 19.

Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), October 15, 2003, p. 20.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), October 16, 2003, p. 1.

Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), October 16, 2003, p. 24.

Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2003, p. B22.

Times (London, England), October 28, 2003.