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40 Insights into the Lives of Famous War Veterans

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2019 26 min

17. Niven quit the military to try his hand at acting

David Niven resigned his commission after two years years in the military, and left for Hollywood. He got a series of bit parts during the 1930s, but just when he seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, WWII broke out first. Returning home, Niven rejoined the British army as a lieutenant in a motor training battalion. Craving more excitement, he transferred to the Commandos, and was assigned to the GHQ Liaison Regiment – a special reconnaissance unit known as the Phantom Signals Unit. However, to take advantage of his acting experience, the authorities temporarily detached Niven to the Army Film Unit, where he acted in two war movies.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.