The Opel and the MINIs
Beastmaster and Peanut Adventures
Who Is Biggles?
Biggles was born in India in the year 1899. His father was the Assistant Commissioner of the United Provinces (now known as Uttar Pradesh). Travelling and living in the villages, he picked up survival skills at an early age. Along with his childhood friends, he had many narrow escapes (The Boy Biggles - 1968). At the age of fourteen, Biggles was sent back to England and went to Malton Hall School (Biggles Goes to School - 1951), where his elder brother Charles had also gone earlier (Charles was to die in action towards the end of WW I). When the Great War broke out, Biggles made his way to No. 77 Flying Training School at Norfolk. Soon, he was posted to 169 Squadron to fly two-seaters. He managed to get himself transferred to 266 Squadron, and flew Sopwith Camels for the rest of the war. During his adventures at 266, he also met Algernon Lacey (Algy) - his cousin, the first of his lifelong companions (Biggles of the Camel Squadron - 1934). He also took a break into espionage in the Middle East, during which he first met Erich von Stalhein, who was to become his implacable enemy for many years (Biggles Flies East - 1935). Late in the war he had an encounter with a girl named Marie Janis, who eventually turned out to be a German spy. Biggles was promoted to Major by the end of the war. After the war, Biggles and Algy  accompanied Biggles' uncle Dr. Richard Bigglesworth to South America, looking for lost treasures (The Cruise of The Condor - 1933). After working in South America for a while, Biggles and Algy flew back to England via the Pacific and Asia (Biggles Flies Again - 1934). While escaping from the villian Blackbeard, Biggles and Algy met Ginger, the second of Biggles' companions (The Black Peril - 1935). Adventures followed, including a visit to Africa (Biggles in Africa - 1936), a treasure hunt in the Caribbean (Biggles Flies West - 1937), and an assignment to form the Air Force of a tiny East European country (Biggles Goes to War - 1938), before they became involved in the Spanish Civil War and then the opening skirmishes of World War II. A few missions were also carried out on behalf of the British Government, these being initiated by his friend and mentor Colonel Raymond, formerly of British Intelligence. One such involved a visit to uncover a secret enemy base in South-East Asia (Biggles Air Commodore - 1937) - a region to be revisited many times later.Biggles and his friends rejoined the RAF during the war, the first assignment being to raid Germany from a secret base in the Baltic Sea (Biggles in The Baltic - 1940). Two trips to Occupied Europe followed, before Biggles took over 666 Squadron during the Battle of Britain (Spitfire Parade - 1941). At this time he also met Bertie Lissie, who was |  to become the third and last of his permanent companions. Later, most of the pilots in this squadron served in the Sahara (Biggles Sweeps The Desert - 1942), and in two assignments to South-East Asia (Biggles in The Orient - 1945 and Biggles Delivers The Goods - 1946) , before the end of the war.Almost as soon as the war ended, Biggles and his three companions found themselves in the police force, chasing down former Nazis (Sergeant Bigglesworth, CID - 1947). Several more police cases followed, one being to Antarctica to recover lost gold (Biggles Breaks The Silence - 1949). A few trips were also made behind the Iron Curtain on special missions (e.g. Biggles Gets His Men - 1950 and Biggles in The Gobi - 1953). Another trip to Africa was to catch the Black Raider (Biggles And The Black Raider - 1953). On many of these missions, Biggles continued to come up against von Stalhein, who was now working for the Russians (e.g. Biggles in The Blue - 1953, Biggles in Australia - 1955, and No Rest For Biggles - 1956). Eventually, von Stalhein was imprisoned by his employers, and rescued by Biggles from a Soviet prison, thus ending their long enmity. (Biggles Buries a Hatchet - 1958). Air Police cases continued to take Biggles and his friends both around Britain (Biggles And The Poor Rich Boy - 1960, Biggles Takes it Rough - 1963, Biggles And The Dark Intruder - 1967) as well as overseas (Biggles Goes Home - 1960, Orchids For Biggles - 1962, Biggles And The Blue Moon - 1965). Almost all of the 65 books published after the war deal with Air Police cases and special missions. |
Biggles and Me
Biggles was my childhood hero. The air adventures of Biggles gave me a hunger for reading and taught me most of the geography that I know, they gave me an interest in aviation and a strong sense of good and bad, right and wrong. In simple terms he was a hero and if it was good enough for Biggles then it was good enough for me. Some people follow James Bond as their hero, but for me there was only ever one - Biggles! Indeed, my "grail' watch was born out of my affection for Biggles, as it is the watch I believe he would be wearing if he were alive today - a Breitling Navitimer! For the fuller picture warts and all read up on him at Wikipedia - Biggles at Wikipedia.PS and never forget Algy, Ginger and Bertie.
Biggles.Com
www.biggles.com A wonderful site showing the front covers of all The Biggles Books on the opening page. Click on any book to read a resume of each book. A simply delightful site for any lover of Biggles.
www.biggles-online.com Another useful mine of Biggles information.
www.abebooks.com Collecting Biggles Books is a keen hobby for many, myself included and at Abebooks the adventure goes on!
www.stellabooks.com Based in Tintern these have a great collection of Biggles books, all catalogued and available to order on line.
Biggles on Wiki - Find out about Biggles - warts and all on Wikipedia.
www.biggles-online.com Another useful mine of Biggles information.
www.abebooks.com Collecting Biggles Books is a keen hobby for many, myself included and at Abebooks the adventure goes on!
www.stellabooks.com Based in Tintern these have a great collection of Biggles books, all catalogued and available to order on line.
Biggles on Wiki - Find out about Biggles - warts and all on Wikipedia.
Biggles Forum
A forum about flying hero James C Bigglesworth (known to his friends as Biggles) and all the creations from the books of Captain W.E. Johns. Talk about any subject: books, reading, writing, collecting, aircraft, model making, media, life, etc.
Biggles Bibliography
| TITLE 1. The Camels are Coming - 1932 2. The Cruise of the Condor - 1933 3. Biggles of the Camel Squadron - 1934 4. Biggles Flies Again - 1934 5. Biggles Learns to Fly - 1935 6. The Black Peril - 1935 7. Biggles Flies East - 1935 8. Biggles Hits the Trail - 1935 9. Biggles in France - 1935 10. Biggles & Co - 1936 11. Biggles in Africa - 1936 12. Biggles - Air Commodore - 1937 13. Biggles Flies West - 1937 14. Biggles Flies South - 1938 15. Biggles Goes to War - 1938 16. The Rescue Flight - 1939 17. Biggles in Spain - 1939 18. Biggles Flies North - 1939 19. Biggles - Secret Agent - 1940 20. Biggles in the Baltic - 1940 21. Biggles in the South Seas - 1940 22. Biggles Defies the Swastika - 1941 23. Biggles Sees it Through - 1941 24. Spitfire Parade - 1941 25. Biggles in the Jungle - 1942 26. Biggles Sweeps the Desert - 1942 27. Biggles - Charter Pilot - 1943 28. Biggles in Borneo - 1943 29. Biggles Fails to Return - 1943 30. Biggles in the Orient - 1945 31. Biggles Delivers the Goods - 1946 32. Sergeant Bigglesworth CID - 1946 33. Biggles' Second Case - 1948 34. Biggles Hunts Big Game - 1948 35. Biggles Takes a Holiday - 1948 36. Biggles Breaks the Silence - 1949 37. Biggles Gets His Men - 1950 38. Another Job for Biggles - 1951 39. Biggles goes to School - 1951 40. Biggles Works it Out - 1952 41. Biggles Takes the Case - 1952 42. Biggles Follows On - 1952 43. Biggles - Air Detective - 1952 44. Biggles and the Black Raider - 1953 45. Biggles in the Blue - 1953 46. Biggles in the Gobi - 1953 47. Biggles of the Special Air Police - 1953 48. Biggles Cuts it Fine - 1954 49. Biggles and the Pirate Treasure - 1954 50. Biggles Foreign Legionnaire - 1954 51. Biggles Pioneer Airfighter - 1954 52. Biggles in Australia - 1955 53. Biggles' Chinese Puzzle - 1955 54. Biggles of 266 - 1956 55. No rest for Biggles - 1956 56. Biggles Takes Charge - 1956 57. Biggles Makes Ends Meet - 1957 58. Biggles of the Interpol - 1957 59. Biggles on the Home Front - 1957 60. Biggles Presses On - 1958 61. Biggles on Mystery Island - 1958 62. Biggles Buries a Hatchet - 1958 63. Biggles in Mexico - 1959 64. Biggles' Combined Operation - 1959 65. Biggles at World's End - 1959 66. Biggles and the Leopards of Zinn - 1960 67. Biggles Goes Home - 1960 68. Biggles and the Poor Rich Boy - 1960 69. Biggles Forms a Syndicate - 1961 70. Biggles and the Missing Millionaire - 1961 71. Biggles Goes Alone - 1962 72. Orchids for Biggles - 1962 73. Biggles Sets a Trap - 1962 74. Biggles Takes it Rough - 1963 75. Biggles Takes a Hand - 1963 76. Biggles' Special Case - 1963 77. Biggles and the Plane that Disappeared 1963 78. Biggles Flies to Work - 1963 79. Biggles and the Lost Sovereigns - 1964 80. Biggles and the Black Mask - 1964 81. Biggles Investigates - 1964 82. Biggles Looks Back - 1965 83. Biggles and the Plot that Failed - 1965 84. Biggles and the Blue Moon - 1965 85. Biggles Scores a Bull - 1965 86. Biggles in the Terai - 1966 87. Biggles and the Gun Runners - 1966 88. Biggles Sorts it Out - 1967 89. Biggles and the Dark Intruder - 1967 (paperback) 90. Biggles and the Penitent Thief - 1967 91. Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea - 1967 92. The Boy Biggles - 1968 93. Biggles in the Underworld - 1968 94. Biggles and the Little Green God - 1969 95. Biggles and the Noble Lord - 1969 96. Biggles Sees too Much - 1970 97. Biggles Does Some Homework - 1997 98. Biggles - Air Ace - 1999 99. The Biggles Omnibus - 1938 100. The Biggles Flying Omnibus - 1940 101. The Third Biggles Omnibus - 1941 102. The First Biggles Omnibus - 1953 103. The Biggles Air Detective Omnibus - 1956 104. The Biggles Adventure Omnibus - 1965 | Copy held 6th 5th 1st 1st | Type Hardback Hardback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Hardback Paperback Hardback Paperback Hardback Paperback Hardback Hardback Hardback Hardback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Hardback Paperback Hardback Paperback Hardback Hardback Paperback Hardback Hardback Hardback Paperback Paperback Hardback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Paperback Hardback Hardback | Publisher Dean and son Dean and son Armada Armada Armada Knight Armada Armada (3rd Biggles Omnibus) Armada (3rd Biggles Omnibus) Armada Armada (1st Biggles Omnibus) Armada Hodder and Stoughton (1st Biggles Omnibus) Hampton Hodder and Stoughton Armada Armada Armada Armada Armada Knight Dean and son Armada Dean and son Armada Brockhampton Hodder and Stoughton Knight Hodder ans Stoughton Hampton Brockhampton Knight Knight Dean and son Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Oxford Hodder and Stoughton |
