This is a fun story, and I almost hate to poke at it. But memory is a truly funny thing, and an uncorroborated story from 50 years ago and at a time when the teller admits to being under considerable emotional stress is not conclusive.
I admit to having recently been personally disappointed recently by a really delightful old story that fell apart under investigation. My faith in a good story as anything other than that is shaken.
Well, no. As your link says, Dahl’s personal style was not unlike Bond’s, as detailed in a new book on Dahl. Said behavior, as you yourself pointed out, was not terribly unusual at the time, and Bond’s may be based on the adventures of Ian Fleming. However, there is no shortage of candidates. Bond was so instantly iconic of war-time masculinity that everyone recognized somebody in him.
