Biggles
Encyclopedia
"Biggles" a pilot
and adventurer, is the title character and main hero
of the Biggles series of youth-oriented adventure books
written by W. E. Johns
.
He first appeared in the story "The White Fokker
", published in the first issue of Popular Flying magazine, in 1932. The first collection of Biggles stories, The Camel
s are Coming, was published that same year. The series
was continued until the author's death in 1968, eventually spanning nearly a hundred volumes – including novels and short story collections – most, but not all, of the latter with a common setting and time frame.
(fighter
) pilot in the Royal Flying Corps
(RFC) during World War I
. He has joined the RFC in 1916 at the young age of 17, having conveniently "lost" his birth certificate
. Biggles represents a particularly "British" hero, combining professionalism with a gentlemanly air. Under the stress of combat he develops from a slightly hysterical youth prone to practical jokes to a calm, confident, competent leader. He is occasionally given "special" (secret) missions by the shadowy figure of Colonel (initially "Major") Raymond (Wing Commander or Air Commodore in later books), who is already involved with the intelligence
side of operations. Biggles is accompanied by his cousin Algernon ('Algy') Lacey and his mechanic Flight Sergeant Smyth, who are to accompany Biggles on his adventures after the war; added to the team in 1935 is the teenager Ginger Hebblethwaite.
W.E. Johns was himself a First World War pilot, although his own career did not parallel that of Biggles particularly closely. The author's initial war service was with the infantry – fighting at Gallipoli
and on the Macedonian front
. He was commissioned, and seconded into the RFC in September 1917 and posted back to England for flight training, serving in England as a flying instructor until August 1918 when he transferred to the Western Front
. On 16 September 1918 his De Havilland DH4 was shot down on a bombing raid. His observer, Lieutenant Amey, was killed (in two of the stories in Biggles Learns to Fly observers flying with Biggles are killed or badly wounded) but Johns survived to be taken prisoner of war. Johns remained with the RAF until 1927, although his final rank was only Flying Officer
(equivalent to Lieutenant
in the RFC) rather than the "Captain" of his pen name.
While the purpose of the Biggles stories was to entertain adolescent boys, in the First World War Biggles stories Johns paid attention to historical detail and helped recreate the primitive days of early air combat — when pilots often died in their first combat and before devices such as respirators and parachute
s had become practical. Various models on which the Biggles character might have been based have been suggested – including Cyril Lowe
and Albert Ball
– in fact Johns himself stated that the character was a composite of many individuals in the RFC (including himself) but does not represent a single person.
The bulk of the Biggles books, however, are set post-World War I and after Johns' own flying career was over. Biggles has an unusually lengthy career, flying a number of aircraft representative of the history of British military aviation, from Sopwith Camel
s during World War I, Hawker Hurricane
s and Supermarine Spitfire
s in World War II
, right up to the Hawker Hunter
jet fighter in a postwar adventure (Biggles in the Terai). In these later books geographic and historical accuracy is rather less evident, and the sometimes rather grim detail of the first stories is moderated, in deference to the increasing popularity of the Biggles books with a younger audience than the older adolescents at which they were initially targeted.
The books were highly successful, and were eventually translated into Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
in May 1899, the son of an administrator in the Indian Civil Service and his wife (née Lacey). James was the younger of two sons, Charles being the elder by five years. The young James had little contact with European culture, and commenced a lifelong affection for India, befriending the local Indian boys, exploring the countryside and learning to speak fluent Hindi
. He retained a lifetime gift for languages, and as an adult spoke French and German fluently, with a "fair command" of various other languages.
However, he did spend holidays in England, with an eccentric uncle and inventor who lived in rural Norfolk
.
He then attended Malton Hall School in Hertbury, England. His first encounter with an aircraft was with a Blériot
that was forced to land on the school cricket ground.
Posted to France with just 15 hours solo, he first flew in combat in September 1916 with 169 Squadron, RFC, (commanded by Major Paynter). His observer was another youth named Mark Way, a New Zealand
er. Biggles began flying the F.E.2b
"pusher
", and later the Bristol F2B
. In late summer 1917, he was transferred to 266 Squadron RFC, commanded by a Dubliner, Major Mullen. With 266 Squadron, Biggles flew the Sopwith Pup
and the famed Sopwith Camel
, developing a friendly rivalry with 'Wilks' (Captain Wilkinson) and the S.E.5’s of 287 squadron and forming a close friendship with his young cousin Algy (the Hon. Algernon Montgomery Lacey). A study of the short stories featuring his World War I exploits suggests that he claimed at least 32 kills, and was shot down or crash-landed eight times. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
, and the Military Cross
and bar.
or Supermarine Sea Otter
). The nearest "real" aircraft that fits W E Johns description of the "Vandal", is a Vickers Viking Mk 4
. His partners in these adventures grew when he and Algy met young Ginger Hebblethwaite while foiling a possible German plot (post World War II editions of the book change this to a Russian plot) against Britain (in The Black Peril). Ginger brought the energy and daring of youth to these, and many of their later, adventures. Between the wars Biggles and his small team mix their own escapades with ventures on behalf of British Secret Service.
, initially with a Supermarine S6B type machine in the Baltic Sea
and then to defy the Nazis
and their allies in Norway
. He then took up his post as Commanding Officer of 666 Squadron, RAF, a Special Duties squadron that fought in the Battle of Britain
before being sent around the world on specific assignments. Biggles, Algy, Smyth and Hebblethwaite are joined by a new companion, the monocle
-wearing Lord Bertram 'Bertie' Lissie. The changed venue forced Johns to update his material with references to new flying slang and aeroplanes, unsuccessfully at first but later with more realism. Biggles' new squadron includes a diverse cast, including the American 'Tex' O'Hara (from Texas
), the Welshman
'Taffy' Hughes, the Cockney
'Tug' Carrington, the Oxford graduate Henry Harcourt and 'Ferocity' Ferris from the streets of Liverpool
.
Johns reinvents Biggles' career again, with his former boss the Air Commodore
Raymond hiring him as a "flying detective" for Scotland Yard
. Biggles returns to his rooms in Mount Street, Mayfair, and assumes a role as head of the new Special Air Police division with Algy, Ginger and Bertie making up the flying squad. The group takes on criminals who have taken to the air, both at home in Britain
and around the globe, as well as battling opponents behind the Iron Curtain
. The team fly a wide variety of machines, with Auster
and Percival
types doing much of the work.
Biggles's greatest opponent is the German spy officer Erich von Stalhein. They first meet in Biggles Flies East, when Biggles acts as a spy in the Middle East in World War I
, where Biggles has some narrow escapes. Von Stalhein returns as an adversary in numerous other adventures. As the Cold War
begins, Von Stalhein enters the services of the Communist bloc, until his former masters imprison him on the island of Sakhalin
, from where Biggles helps him escape in Biggles Buries a Hatchet. After Von Stalhein settles in London, he and Biggles remain in touch. It is from Von Stalhein that Biggles learns that Janis (see "Female characters" below) survived World War II and was imprisoned in Czechoslovakia
, from where Biggles rescues her and goes on to support her in England.
Johns continued writing Biggles short stories and novels up until his death in 1968; in all, nearly 100 Biggles books were published.
A final unfinished novel Biggles does some Homework shows Biggles at last preparing to retire, and meeting his mixed-race
replacement. The 12 chapters written were issued privately in 1997.
, "tragically loyal to the only woman he ever really loved".
In Biggles Fails to Return (1943), Ginger falls in love with the sister of the French pilot who has flown Biggles into France on a secret mission, and at the end of the story Ginger gets to spend several weeks in her company while awaiting transport back to England. The young Ginger is also smitten by the beautiful Polynesia
n girl, Full Moon, in Biggles in the South Seas (1940).
There is a discussion of the issue of Biggles, sex and alcohol in By Jove, Biggles: The Life of Captain W.E. Johns (1981) by Peter Berresford Ellis
and Piers Williams.
In the 1950s, a popular Australian radio version of Biggles was made under licence. Johns did not write the scripts and apparently ended the contract after receiving complaints from young readers that the storyline had made Biggles "go soft" by taking up a blonde female lover.
Another female character appears in the form of Worrals
(Flight Officer Joan Worralson), eponymous heroine of a related series of books featuring this resourceful and "plucky" member of the WAAF
. A further Johns creation, the commando
Captain Lorrington "Gimlet" King
, also features in a series of books that intersect with Biggles at times.
Though Biggles and his friends age in the books, they do so much more slowly (and inconsistently) than appears historically credible. By chronological licence the characters appear to age about one year in every four – at least from around 1925 onward.
Even within a bracket of stories set in the same time frame there are some chronological inconsistencies. Algy, for instance, seems to be younger than Biggles to a degree that is impossible, at least by the ordinary calendar. Biggles first meets Algy in The Camels are Coming, at the end of which the First World War ends. However, Algy also features throughout Biggles in France, so the whole of Biggles in France must be set during the second half of The Camels are Coming. It is doubtful whether a careful reading of the various World War I stories could result in a coherent sequence.
While the author succeeds reasonably well in chronicling developments in aviation technology, social and cultural changes are much more difficult. The cultural and social world of Biggles (whether that of the 1930s or some earlier period) does not persist completely unchanged through the whole series – for instance, in an early book, the evidence points to an English nobleman as the perpetrator, but Biggles can dismiss this out of hand as the gentry would never commit a crime; in a later novel, one of the gentry is the villain. Nonetheless, the social context of the books, viewed in chronological order, does become increasingly old-fashioned, even anachronistic, especially in those works set after World War II.
It is of course a common fate of popular writing to date quickly – and in this W.E. Johns is far from unique.
, especially considered as children's literature, has gained prominence.
The Biggles character himself was brought up in India, speaks fluent Hindi, and has a number of Indian friends and colleagues. In Biggles Goes to School, on one occasion when ordered to write lines in Latin he remarks that he would rather do so in Hindi. On one occasion the adult Biggles asserts to Air Commodore Raymond that "while men are decent to me I try to be decent to them, regardless of race, colour, politics, creed or anything else",.
Furthermore, while individually developed non-white
characters are rather infrequent, when they do occur, they are usually "positive", from the Oxford-educated Chinaman, Li Chi, in Biggles Flies Again and Biggles Delivers the Goods and the perky Polynesian girl, Full Moon, in Biggles In The South Seas, to Alexander MacKay, a part-Native American (Red Indian) nicknamed "Minnie" who joins "the chums" as a valued colleague, and is in fact set to inherit Biggles' job in Biggles Does Some Homework. It has been pointed out, however, that the positive characteristics of these characters tend to be such features as relatively light complexions, Western educations, and general usefulness to our (white) hero and his friends and allies.
On the other hand, when Johns wishes to present an unpleasant "foreigner" he will quite often drop a gratuitous and offensive hint that the person involved is of mixed race. Non-whites taken en masse tend to be systematically demonised. With the evil "Chungs" of Biggles Hits the Trail and the sub-human "Aboriginals
" of Biggles in Australia, in particular: Johns succumbs to the popular tendency, typical of his time, to apply unpleasant stereotyping to non-white opponents of his hero. Another book, Biggles in Borneo, stereotypes Dayak
headhunters
as barely human "savages", even though they are in fact Biggles' allies against the Japanese. The specific books mentioned above would in fact find very few defenders, although they are typical of a genre of fiction for young people that was once common.
Biggles Delivers the Goods (published just three years after Biggles in Borneo) repeats the earlier work's basic plotline so closely that the later novel is clearly a revision of the earlier one. In both books Biggles establishes a secret airfield behind Japanese lines which is discovered and attacked by the Japanese before he can achieve his objectives. Algy is captured by the Japanese and threatened with execution by a brutal Japanese commandant, and rubber (as an important strategic material) figures largely. All ends well in both novels, as a massive air attack relieves the brave defenders of the airfield and defeats the Japanese. The protagonists are also closely paralleled in both novels, although in Biggles Delivers the Goods Li Chi (originally from a short story in Biggles Flies Again) reappears to take the place of a white character from the earlier version, and the headhunters, while still milked for "exotic colour" are much more sympathetically treated.
The early World War I-based books were reprinted in the 1950s when the Biggles books had acquired a younger readership, and some bowdlerising
took place to render them more suitable to young children. In the short story The Balloonatics, republished in Biggles of the Special Air Police this took the form of changing the prize for capturing a German observation balloon
from a case of Scotch whisky
to a case of lemonade
. The reprint also removes all references to drinking and swearing
.
The books contain no explicit sexual content, and the traditional values of bravery, honesty and fair play are stressed. Romantic storylines, which would have bored his younger readers and embarrassed the older ones were also omitted, with only the very occasional exception, such as in Biggles Looks Back, where he and Von Stalhein rescue Marie Janis (with whom Biggles was briefly in love in an earlier story) from her prison in Bohemia.
and ran from 1 April till 9 September 1960. Biggles was a Detective Air Inspector attached to Scotland Yard
. Helping him was Ginger (John Leyton
) and Bertie (David Drummond) and they fought against villains like Von Stalhein (Carl Duering).
, directed by John Hough with Neil Dickson
in the title role. The film attempted to add appeal to the character by adding a science fiction
element, but it was a commercial and critical failure. Dickson reprised the character in all but name, in the Pet Shop Boys
' feature film, It Couldn't Happen Here
.
for the platforms Amstrad CPC
, Commodore 64
and ZX Spectrum
. It included levels based in 1917 and other levels set in modern-day London.
The first "annual" appeared in 1980.
Some albums were released in 1990 featuring the Biggles team. The titles are separate from the books though they cover the same war or after war investigation operations of Biggles.
In India, Euro Books published 14 titles of the Biggles Series along with compilations of the same in 2007.
Air Commodore Raymond also appeared in W E Johns' "Steeley Books"
.
Most of the Biggles books are out of print, but Red Fox (a Random House
imprint) is reprinting many of the titles, with footnotes added to explain the slang and military terms.
In 2005, the British television show Doctor Who
created a Biggles-based character called Captain Jack
, for the episode "The Empty Child
". The Captain had adopted the persona
of an RAF
volunteer, and had a friend called Algy, in tribute to Johns' creation.
Biggles – The Authorised Biography by John Pearson
, published in 1978, added new and embellished elements to the character's history, including the ageing Biggles' (apparent) suicide in a vintage Spitfire circa 1970.
A4 format cartoon adventures in which the Biggles characters use a mix of vintage and modern aircraft were published in the 1980s.
The lyrics of the Jethro Tull
song, "Thick As a Brick
", has a line that mentions Biggles ("So, where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?"). Additionally, Biggles is mentioned several times in the elaborate album cover, which is a parody of a local British newspaper, most significantly in a story entitled "Do Not See Me Rabbit".
In an episode of Top Gear
, the "tame racing driver" known as The Stig
was introduced with the line: "Let's hand the old crate over to our resident test pilot—Stiggles!". In a later episode, where Clarkson
was driving and his two colleagues were flying, he referred to them as "Algy and Ginger".
Biggles Recounts the Falklands War, by D. Chauvin, M. Uderzo, B. Asso and J. Rideau appeared in 2007.
In 1983, the Australian Commonwealth government used RAAF aircraft to take surveillance photos of a then-controversial part of Tasmania, resulting in the Attorney-General Gareth Evans
being memorably nicknamed "Biggles".
In the Terry Pratchett
/Neil Gaiman
novel Good Omens
, Aziraphale collects a book titled Biggles Goes to Mars.
A number of Biggles characters appear in Kim Newman
's alternate history novel The Bloody Red Baron
. A large number of the characters are vampire
s and the Germans fight for Count Dracula
in an alternate World War I.
In the Red Dwarf
season 3 episode Marooned, Lister burns a book owned by Rimmer entitled Biggles Learns to Fly to stay warm while stranded on a hostile moon. Rimmer admits that the book is not art.
In the episode "The Queen's Birthday Present" from the British police drama series The Thin Blue Line
, Inspector Fowler talks about the great authors he reads, including Sir Walter Scott and W.M. Thackeray. His partner, Sergeant Dawkins replies, "You haven't read any Walter Scott in years! Or any flipping Thackeray. You read Biggles books!"
In Snakehead
by Anthony Horowitz
, Major Yu provides Alex with some Biggles books, including Biggles Investigates.
In the Adrian Plass
book The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn, an adult character involved in pre-rehearsal theatre games hints that one of the most embarrassing moments of his life was asking someone to fetch him an article from his bedroom, only to remember when it was too late that he had left a Biggles book out in full view.
in a series of skits on the 1970s British comedy television show, Monty Python's Flying Circus
, including one titled "Biggles Dictates a Letter". In the sketch, Biggles behaves in a naive and overreactive manner about the sexual orientation of his fellow comrades, shooting Algy in the process.
Other Monty Python treatments of Biggles include:
Johns died while still writing Biggles Does Some Homework. Although never completed, it was released as a strictly limited edition of 300 copies in paperback. A further limited print run of 300 hardback copies has been printed in 2007 by Norman Wright publishing.
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and adventurer, is the title character and main hero
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the Biggles series of youth-oriented adventure books
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
written by W. E. Johns
W. E. Johns
William Earl Johns was an English pilot and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the name Captain W. E. Johns. He is best remembered as the creator of the ace pilot and adventurer Biggles.-Early life:...
.
He first appeared in the story "The White Fokker
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919....
", published in the first issue of Popular Flying magazine, in 1932. The first collection of Biggles stories, The Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
s are Coming, was published that same year. The series
Book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....
was continued until the author's death in 1968, eventually spanning nearly a hundred volumes – including novels and short story collections – most, but not all, of the latter with a common setting and time frame.
Biggles and his creator
Biggles first appears as a teenaged "scout"Scout (aircraft)
The term scout, as a description of a class of military aircraft, came into use shortly before the First World War, and referred to a light reconnaissance aircraft, initially unarmed. "Scout" types were generally adaptations of pre-war racing aircraft – although at least one was specifically...
(fighter
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
) pilot in the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
(RFC) during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He has joined the RFC in 1916 at the young age of 17, having conveniently "lost" his birth certificate
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
. Biggles represents a particularly "British" hero, combining professionalism with a gentlemanly air. Under the stress of combat he develops from a slightly hysterical youth prone to practical jokes to a calm, confident, competent leader. He is occasionally given "special" (secret) missions by the shadowy figure of Colonel (initially "Major") Raymond (Wing Commander or Air Commodore in later books), who is already involved with the intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
side of operations. Biggles is accompanied by his cousin Algernon ('Algy') Lacey and his mechanic Flight Sergeant Smyth, who are to accompany Biggles on his adventures after the war; added to the team in 1935 is the teenager Ginger Hebblethwaite.
W.E. Johns was himself a First World War pilot, although his own career did not parallel that of Biggles particularly closely. The author's initial war service was with the infantry – fighting at Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
and on the Macedonian front
Macedonian front (World War I)
The Macedonian Front resulted from an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The expedition came too late and in insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia, and was complicated by the internal...
. He was commissioned, and seconded into the RFC in September 1917 and posted back to England for flight training, serving in England as a flying instructor until August 1918 when he transferred to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. On 16 September 1918 his De Havilland DH4 was shot down on a bombing raid. His observer, Lieutenant Amey, was killed (in two of the stories in Biggles Learns to Fly observers flying with Biggles are killed or badly wounded) but Johns survived to be taken prisoner of war. Johns remained with the RAF until 1927, although his final rank was only Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
(equivalent to Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the RFC) rather than the "Captain" of his pen name.
While the purpose of the Biggles stories was to entertain adolescent boys, in the First World War Biggles stories Johns paid attention to historical detail and helped recreate the primitive days of early air combat — when pilots often died in their first combat and before devices such as respirators and parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
s had become practical. Various models on which the Biggles character might have been based have been suggested – including Cyril Lowe
Cyril Lowe
Cyril Nelson "Kit" Lowe MC DFC was an English rugby union footballer who held England's international try scoring record for over sixty years, First World War flying ace credited with nine victories, and supposedly the inspiration for W. E. Johns' character "Biggles".- Early life :Lowe was born in...
and Albert Ball
Albert Ball
Albert Ball VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC was an English fighter pilot of the First World War and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British or Commonwealth armed forces...
– in fact Johns himself stated that the character was a composite of many individuals in the RFC (including himself) but does not represent a single person.
The bulk of the Biggles books, however, are set post-World War I and after Johns' own flying career was over. Biggles has an unusually lengthy career, flying a number of aircraft representative of the history of British military aviation, from Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
s during World War I, Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s and Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
s in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, right up to the Hawker Hunter
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...
jet fighter in a postwar adventure (Biggles in the Terai). In these later books geographic and historical accuracy is rather less evident, and the sometimes rather grim detail of the first stories is moderated, in deference to the increasing popularity of the Biggles books with a younger audience than the older adolescents at which they were initially targeted.
The books were highly successful, and were eventually translated into Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
Early life
According to stories in The Boy Biggles and Biggles Goes to School, James Bigglesworth was born in IndiaBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
in May 1899, the son of an administrator in the Indian Civil Service and his wife (née Lacey). James was the younger of two sons, Charles being the elder by five years. The young James had little contact with European culture, and commenced a lifelong affection for India, befriending the local Indian boys, exploring the countryside and learning to speak fluent Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. He retained a lifetime gift for languages, and as an adult spoke French and German fluently, with a "fair command" of various other languages.
However, he did spend holidays in England, with an eccentric uncle and inventor who lived in rural Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
He then attended Malton Hall School in Hertbury, England. His first encounter with an aircraft was with a Blériot
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...
that was forced to land on the school cricket ground.
First World War
Biggles left school and initially joined the army as a subaltern in the Rifle Regiment in 1916. He transferred to the RFC and learned to fly in the summer of 1916, at No. 17 Flying Training School, which was at Settling, Norfolk, flying solo after two hours of instruction. He then attended No. 4 'School of Fighting' in Frensham, Lincolnshire.Posted to France with just 15 hours solo, he first flew in combat in September 1916 with 169 Squadron, RFC, (commanded by Major Paynter). His observer was another youth named Mark Way, a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
er. Biggles began flying the F.E.2b
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2
The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 was a two-seat pusher biplane that was operated as a day and night bomber and as a fighter aircraft by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War...
"pusher
Pusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
", and later the Bristol F2B
Bristol F.2 Fighter
The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War flown by the Royal Flying Corps. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter or popularly the "Brisfit" or "Biff". Despite being a two-seater, the F.2B proved to be an agile aircraft...
. In late summer 1917, he was transferred to 266 Squadron RFC, commanded by a Dubliner, Major Mullen. With 266 Squadron, Biggles flew the Sopwith Pup
Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Pup was a British single seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristics and good maneuverability, the aircraft proved very...
and the famed Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
, developing a friendly rivalry with 'Wilks' (Captain Wilkinson) and the S.E.5’s of 287 squadron and forming a close friendship with his young cousin Algy (the Hon. Algernon Montgomery Lacey). A study of the short stories featuring his World War I exploits suggests that he claimed at least 32 kills, and was shot down or crash-landed eight times. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, and the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
and bar.
Between the Wars
After the Great War, Biggles' adventures as a freelance charter pilot took him around the world in an unidentified amphibian named the "Vandal" (often illustrated on covers, anachronistically, as either a Supermarine WalrusSupermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...
or Supermarine Sea Otter
Supermarine Sea Otter
|-Survivors:No museum holds a complete aircraft. Australia's Museum of Flight has the nose section of JN200, a Sea Otter which served with the Royal Australian Navy.-See also:-References:...
). The nearest "real" aircraft that fits W E Johns description of the "Vandal", is a Vickers Viking Mk 4
Vickers Viking
-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-815-1.* London, Peter. British Flying Boats. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7509-2695-3....
. His partners in these adventures grew when he and Algy met young Ginger Hebblethwaite while foiling a possible German plot (post World War II editions of the book change this to a Russian plot) against Britain (in The Black Peril). Ginger brought the energy and daring of youth to these, and many of their later, adventures. Between the wars Biggles and his small team mix their own escapades with ventures on behalf of British Secret Service.
Second World War
Biggles returned to service in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, initially with a Supermarine S6B type machine in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
and then to defy the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and their allies in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. He then took up his post as Commanding Officer of 666 Squadron, RAF, a Special Duties squadron that fought in the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
before being sent around the world on specific assignments. Biggles, Algy, Smyth and Hebblethwaite are joined by a new companion, the monocle
Monocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing...
-wearing Lord Bertram 'Bertie' Lissie. The changed venue forced Johns to update his material with references to new flying slang and aeroplanes, unsuccessfully at first but later with more realism. Biggles' new squadron includes a diverse cast, including the American 'Tex' O'Hara (from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
), the Welshman
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
'Taffy' Hughes, the Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
'Tug' Carrington, the Oxford graduate Henry Harcourt and 'Ferocity' Ferris from the streets of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
.
Special Air Police
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Johns reinvents Biggles' career again, with his former boss the Air Commodore
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Raymond hiring him as a "flying detective" for Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
. Biggles returns to his rooms in Mount Street, Mayfair, and assumes a role as head of the new Special Air Police division with Algy, Ginger and Bertie making up the flying squad. The group takes on criminals who have taken to the air, both at home in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and around the globe, as well as battling opponents behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
. The team fly a wide variety of machines, with Auster
Auster
Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.-History:The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Limited, making light observation aircraft designed by the Taylorcraft Aircraft Corporation of...
and Percival
Hunting Aircraft
Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer, that produced light training aircraft and initially designed the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. The company, based in Luton, merged with other companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation in 1959.-History:...
types doing much of the work.
Biggles's greatest opponent is the German spy officer Erich von Stalhein. They first meet in Biggles Flies East, when Biggles acts as a spy in the Middle East in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where Biggles has some narrow escapes. Von Stalhein returns as an adversary in numerous other adventures. As the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
begins, Von Stalhein enters the services of the Communist bloc, until his former masters imprison him on the island of Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
, from where Biggles helps him escape in Biggles Buries a Hatchet. After Von Stalhein settles in London, he and Biggles remain in touch. It is from Von Stalhein that Biggles learns that Janis (see "Female characters" below) survived World War II and was imprisoned in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, from where Biggles rescues her and goes on to support her in England.
Johns continued writing Biggles short stories and novels up until his death in 1968; in all, nearly 100 Biggles books were published.
A final unfinished novel Biggles does some Homework shows Biggles at last preparing to retire, and meeting his mixed-race
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
replacement. The 12 chapters written were issued privately in 1997.
Female characters
In the Biggles stories, female characters appear infrequently. Despite brief affairs, Biggles and his chums remain steadfastly single. Biggles suffered a disappointment in World War I, when he fell in love with German spy Marie Janis in the short story Affaire de Coeur set in 1918. Rather than being considered asexual or a repressed homosexual, Biggles' relationship with Janis suggests he is a romantic heroRomantic hero
The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has the self as the center of his or her own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist in the literary work and there is a primary focus...
, "tragically loyal to the only woman he ever really loved".
In Biggles Fails to Return (1943), Ginger falls in love with the sister of the French pilot who has flown Biggles into France on a secret mission, and at the end of the story Ginger gets to spend several weeks in her company while awaiting transport back to England. The young Ginger is also smitten by the beautiful Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
n girl, Full Moon, in Biggles in the South Seas (1940).
There is a discussion of the issue of Biggles, sex and alcohol in By Jove, Biggles: The Life of Captain W.E. Johns (1981) by Peter Berresford Ellis
Peter Berresford Ellis
Peter Berresford Ellis is an English historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories...
and Piers Williams.
In the 1950s, a popular Australian radio version of Biggles was made under licence. Johns did not write the scripts and apparently ended the contract after receiving complaints from young readers that the storyline had made Biggles "go soft" by taking up a blonde female lover.
Another female character appears in the form of Worrals
Worrals
Flight Officer Joan Worralson, better known as "Worrals", is a fictional character created by W. E. Johns, more famous for his series of books about Biggles.Worrals was a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the Second World War...
(Flight Officer Joan Worralson), eponymous heroine of a related series of books featuring this resourceful and "plucky" member of the WAAF
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force , whose members were invariably referred to as Waafs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.A Women's Royal Air...
. A further Johns creation, the commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
Captain Lorrington "Gimlet" King
Captain Lorrington "Gimlet" King
Captain Lorrington "Gimlet" King, is a character created by the British author, W.E. Johns, best known as the creator of Biggles and Worrals.The books which were published during and after World War II, are about the adventures of explorer-soldier "Gimlet" King, and his intrepid band of followers...
, also features in a series of books that intersect with Biggles at times.
Time
Different Biggles books are set within a time period of over 50 years – this produces a number of credibility difficulties, especially for older readers.Though Biggles and his friends age in the books, they do so much more slowly (and inconsistently) than appears historically credible. By chronological licence the characters appear to age about one year in every four – at least from around 1925 onward.
Even within a bracket of stories set in the same time frame there are some chronological inconsistencies. Algy, for instance, seems to be younger than Biggles to a degree that is impossible, at least by the ordinary calendar. Biggles first meets Algy in The Camels are Coming, at the end of which the First World War ends. However, Algy also features throughout Biggles in France, so the whole of Biggles in France must be set during the second half of The Camels are Coming. It is doubtful whether a careful reading of the various World War I stories could result in a coherent sequence.
While the author succeeds reasonably well in chronicling developments in aviation technology, social and cultural changes are much more difficult. The cultural and social world of Biggles (whether that of the 1930s or some earlier period) does not persist completely unchanged through the whole series – for instance, in an early book, the evidence points to an English nobleman as the perpetrator, but Biggles can dismiss this out of hand as the gentry would never commit a crime; in a later novel, one of the gentry is the villain. Nonetheless, the social context of the books, viewed in chronological order, does become increasingly old-fashioned, even anachronistic, especially in those works set after World War II.
Quaint language
The Biggles books are also sometimes criticised for the author's choice of vocabulary: which can appear quaint or ill-chosen to contemporary readers. Two notorious examples are "opine", and "ejaculate", used as variations for "said". The first of these is still current, but rare, although it generally means to "hold an opinion" or "believe" rather than Johns' usual sense of "to express an opinion". To "ejaculate" in the Biggles books is merely a synonym for to "exclaim". Biggles and his chums also employ a fair smattering of early twentieth century British slang – some of which is footnoted in reprint editions for the benefit of modern readers, as are examples of period service jargon.It is of course a common fate of popular writing to date quickly – and in this W.E. Johns is far from unique.
Racism
One feature of social change since the original publication of the Biggles' books has been a considerable shift in attitudes to race and ethnicity. Since the 1960s a perception of Biggles as unacceptably racially prejudicedRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, especially considered as children's literature, has gained prominence.
The Biggles character himself was brought up in India, speaks fluent Hindi, and has a number of Indian friends and colleagues. In Biggles Goes to School, on one occasion when ordered to write lines in Latin he remarks that he would rather do so in Hindi. On one occasion the adult Biggles asserts to Air Commodore Raymond that "while men are decent to me I try to be decent to them, regardless of race, colour, politics, creed or anything else",.
Furthermore, while individually developed non-white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
characters are rather infrequent, when they do occur, they are usually "positive", from the Oxford-educated Chinaman, Li Chi, in Biggles Flies Again and Biggles Delivers the Goods and the perky Polynesian girl, Full Moon, in Biggles In The South Seas, to Alexander MacKay, a part-Native American (Red Indian) nicknamed "Minnie" who joins "the chums" as a valued colleague, and is in fact set to inherit Biggles' job in Biggles Does Some Homework. It has been pointed out, however, that the positive characteristics of these characters tend to be such features as relatively light complexions, Western educations, and general usefulness to our (white) hero and his friends and allies.
On the other hand, when Johns wishes to present an unpleasant "foreigner" he will quite often drop a gratuitous and offensive hint that the person involved is of mixed race. Non-whites taken en masse tend to be systematically demonised. With the evil "Chungs" of Biggles Hits the Trail and the sub-human "Aboriginals
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
" of Biggles in Australia, in particular: Johns succumbs to the popular tendency, typical of his time, to apply unpleasant stereotyping to non-white opponents of his hero. Another book, Biggles in Borneo, stereotypes Dayak
Dayak people
The Dayak or Dyak are the native people of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily...
headhunters
Headhunting
Headhunting is the practice of taking a person's head after killing them. Headhunting was practised in historic times in parts of China, India, Nigeria, Nuristan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Borneo, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Micronesia, Melanesia, New Zealand, and the Amazon Basin, as...
as barely human "savages", even though they are in fact Biggles' allies against the Japanese. The specific books mentioned above would in fact find very few defenders, although they are typical of a genre of fiction for young people that was once common.
Biggles Delivers the Goods (published just three years after Biggles in Borneo) repeats the earlier work's basic plotline so closely that the later novel is clearly a revision of the earlier one. In both books Biggles establishes a secret airfield behind Japanese lines which is discovered and attacked by the Japanese before he can achieve his objectives. Algy is captured by the Japanese and threatened with execution by a brutal Japanese commandant, and rubber (as an important strategic material) figures largely. All ends well in both novels, as a massive air attack relieves the brave defenders of the airfield and defeats the Japanese. The protagonists are also closely paralleled in both novels, although in Biggles Delivers the Goods Li Chi (originally from a short story in Biggles Flies Again) reappears to take the place of a white character from the earlier version, and the headhunters, while still milked for "exotic colour" are much more sympathetically treated.
Other "suitability" issues
The early Biggles stories and novels, especially those set in World War I, were apparently written mainly for older adolescents. Death is treated rather frequently and sometimes in quite a grim fashion, and other "adult themes" are also touched on – for instance, on at least one occasion Biggles sets out on a mission with "red mist", inspired by the death of a comrade. The emotional strain of combat is also realistically described, as Biggles becomes a "highly-strung" fidgeting pale youth, lacking his usual sense of humour. In these stories, in particular, alcohol is mentioned occasionally and cigarettes are much in evidence.The early World War I-based books were reprinted in the 1950s when the Biggles books had acquired a younger readership, and some bowdlerising
Expurgation
Expurgation is a form of censorship which involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive, usually from an artistic work.This has also been called bowdlerization, especially for books, after Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work that he...
took place to render them more suitable to young children. In the short story The Balloonatics, republished in Biggles of the Special Air Police this took the form of changing the prize for capturing a German observation balloon
Observation balloon
Observation balloons are balloons that are employed as aerial platforms for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Their use began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I, and they continue in limited use today....
from a case of Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
to a case of lemonade
Lemonade
Lemonade is a lemon-flavored drink, typically made from lemons, water and sugar.The term can refer to three different types of beverage:...
. The reprint also removes all references to drinking and swearing
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
.
The books contain no explicit sexual content, and the traditional values of bravery, honesty and fair play are stressed. Romantic storylines, which would have bored his younger readers and embarrassed the older ones were also omitted, with only the very occasional exception, such as in Biggles Looks Back, where he and Von Stalhein rescue Marie Janis (with whom Biggles was briefly in love in an earlier story) from her prison in Bohemia.
Television
Biggles appeared in a TV series based on the books with Neville Whiting playing the title role. There were 44 B&W untitled episodes of 30 minutes, which were made by GranadaGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
and ran from 1 April till 9 September 1960. Biggles was a Detective Air Inspector attached to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
. Helping him was Ginger (John Leyton
John Leyton
John Leyton is an English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song, "Johnny Remember Me" , which reached Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961.-Career:Leyton went to Highgate School and after completing his national service, he...
) and Bertie (David Drummond) and they fought against villains like Von Stalhein (Carl Duering).
Films
He was also featured in a 1986 feature film called Biggles: Adventures in TimeBiggles: Adventures in Time
Biggles: Adventures in Time is a 1986 adventure film based on the character of Biggles from the series of novels written by Captain W.E. Johns...
, directed by John Hough with Neil Dickson
Neil Dickson
Neil Dickson is an English actor, who has worked extensively in both American and British film and television.At the age of five, Dickson contracted polio, but he was fortunate enough to make a complete recovery a year later. He attended Worksop College in Nottinghamshire playing Coriolanus in the...
in the title role. The film attempted to add appeal to the character by adding a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
element, but it was a commercial and critical failure. Dickson reprised the character in all but name, in the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
' feature film, It Couldn't Happen Here
It Couldn't Happen Here
It Couldn't Happen Here is a 1988 musical film starring the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys and based around their music. It was originally conceived as an hour-long video based around their album Actually, but it turned into a surreal full-scale feature film directed by Jack Bond and co-starring...
.
Computer games
In 1986, a Biggles computer game was released as a tie-in to movie Biggles: Adventures in Time by MirrorsoftMirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft was a computer game software publisher in the United Kingdom, owned by Mirror Group Newspapers. It was founded as a publisher of educational software before moving into games. One offshoot of its printing roots was Fleet Street Publisher on several platforms...
for the platforms Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. It included levels based in 1917 and other levels set in modern-day London.
Comics
There have been many different versions of comics about Biggles published in different countries in Europe.The first "annual" appeared in 1980.
Some albums were released in 1990 featuring the Biggles team. The titles are separate from the books though they cover the same war or after war investigation operations of Biggles.
In India, Euro Books published 14 titles of the Biggles Series along with compilations of the same in 2007.
In other W.E. Johns books
Biggles, or members of his team, have appeared in the following Gimlet books- King of the Commandos
- Gimlet Goes Again
- Gimlet Mops Up
- Gimlet Bores In
Air Commodore Raymond also appeared in W E Johns' "Steeley Books"
Biggles in popular culture
The books are a common target for collectors, with some titles fetching high prices, especially the handful that were deleted before being reprinted into paperback. The rarest title, Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea, has fetched $1,000 on eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
Most of the Biggles books are out of print, but Red Fox (a Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
imprint) is reprinting many of the titles, with footnotes added to explain the slang and military terms.
In 2005, the British television show Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
created a Biggles-based character called Captain Jack
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
, for the episode "The Empty Child
The Empty Child
"The Empty Child" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 21 May 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episode, "The Doctor Dances", was broadcast on 28 May...
". The Captain had adopted the persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
of an RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
volunteer, and had a friend called Algy, in tribute to Johns' creation.
Biggles – The Authorised Biography by John Pearson
John Pearson (author)
John Pearson is a writer best associated with James Bond creator Ian Fleming.Pearson was Fleming's assistant at the London Sunday Times and would go on to write the first biography of Ian Fleming, 1966's The Life of Ian Fleming....
, published in 1978, added new and embellished elements to the character's history, including the ageing Biggles' (apparent) suicide in a vintage Spitfire circa 1970.
A4 format cartoon adventures in which the Biggles characters use a mix of vintage and modern aircraft were published in the 1980s.
The lyrics of the Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
song, "Thick As a Brick
Thick as a Brick
-Differences between various CD releases:By 2011 the album received three major releases on CD: the first release , the MFSL-release , and the 25th Anniversary Edition . Whereas the first release and the MFSL-release run with identical speed, the 25th Anniversary edition runs 0.5% slower...
", has a line that mentions Biggles ("So, where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?"). Additionally, Biggles is mentioned several times in the elaborate album cover, which is a parody of a local British newspaper, most significantly in a story entitled "Do Not See Me Rabbit".
In an episode of Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)
Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
, the "tame racing driver" known as The Stig
The Stig
The Stig is a character in the British motoring television show Top Gear. The character plays on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who, or indeed what, is inside the character's racing suit. The character was the creation of presenter Jeremy...
was introduced with the line: "Let's hand the old crate over to our resident test pilot—Stiggles!". In a later episode, where Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
was driving and his two colleagues were flying, he referred to them as "Algy and Ginger".
Biggles Recounts the Falklands War, by D. Chauvin, M. Uderzo, B. Asso and J. Rideau appeared in 2007.
In 1983, the Australian Commonwealth government used RAAF aircraft to take surveillance photos of a then-controversial part of Tasmania, resulting in the Attorney-General Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans (politician)
Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive...
being memorably nicknamed "Biggles".
In the Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
/Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
novel Good Omens
Good Omens
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a World Fantasy Award nominated novel written in collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman....
, Aziraphale collects a book titled Biggles Goes to Mars.
A number of Biggles characters appear in Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
's alternate history novel The Bloody Red Baron
The Bloody Red Baron
The Bloody Red Baron is a 1995 novel by British author Kim Newman. It is the second book in the Anno Dracula series and takes place thirty years after the former.-Plot:...
. A large number of the characters are vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s and the Germans fight for Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
in an alternate World War I.
In the Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
season 3 episode Marooned, Lister burns a book owned by Rimmer entitled Biggles Learns to Fly to stay warm while stranded on a hostile moon. Rimmer admits that the book is not art.
In the episode "The Queen's Birthday Present" from the British police drama series The Thin Blue Line
The Thin Blue Line (TV series)
The Thin Blue Line is a British sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson set in a police station that ran for two series on the BBC from 1995 to 1996...
, Inspector Fowler talks about the great authors he reads, including Sir Walter Scott and W.M. Thackeray. His partner, Sergeant Dawkins replies, "You haven't read any Walter Scott in years! Or any flipping Thackeray. You read Biggles books!"
In Snakehead
Snakehead (novel)
Snakehead is the seventh novel in the Alex Rider series written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was released in Australia on 28 September 2008, in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2007, and in the U.S. on 13 November 2007. The title comes from the name given to Asian gangs involved in...
by Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...
, Major Yu provides Alex with some Biggles books, including Biggles Investigates.
In the Adrian Plass
Adrian Plass
-External links:*...
book The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn, an adult character involved in pre-rehearsal theatre games hints that one of the most embarrassing moments of his life was asking someone to fetch him an article from his bedroom, only to remember when it was too late that he had left a Biggles book out in full view.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Biggles was parodiedParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
in a series of skits on the 1970s British comedy television show, Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
, including one titled "Biggles Dictates a Letter". In the sketch, Biggles behaves in a naive and overreactive manner about the sexual orientation of his fellow comrades, shooting Algy in the process.
Other Monty Python treatments of Biggles include:
- "Cardinal Biggles", complete with flying helmet and goggles, assists in the interrogations in the Spanish Inquisition sketch.
- Biggles appears as a woman's lover in the sketch "Strangers in the Night" accompanied by Algy.
- Two text stories, "Biggles Is Extremely Silly" and "Biggles and the Naughty Things", are included in The Brand New Monty Python BokThe Brand New Monty Python BokThe Brand New Monty Python Bok was the second book to be published by the British comedy troupe Monty Python. It was edited by Eric Idle, and contained more print-style comic pieces than their first effort, Monty Python's Big Red Book.The white dust jacket was printed with some realistic looking...
. - The fictional title Biggles Flies Undone was mentioned at the end of "Biggles Dictates a Letter", but it was never produced.
- In the first Comic Relief, Michael PalinMichael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
read the skit "Biggles Goes to See Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
". - A customer in The Bookshop Sketch, found on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation AlbumMonty Python's Contractual Obligation AlbumMonty Python's Contractual Obligation Album is an album released by Monty Python in 1980, a mixture of songs, new sketches and some rerecorded pre-Python work. As the title suggests, the album was put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records...
, requests the fictitious "Biggles Combs his Hair".
List of Biggles books
- Comrades in Arms (1968) included one Biggles story, plus stories of Gimlet and Worrals – other creations of Johns
Johns died while still writing Biggles Does Some Homework. Although never completed, it was released as a strictly limited edition of 300 copies in paperback. A further limited print run of 300 hardback copies has been printed in 2007 by Norman Wright publishing.