BIGGLES IN AFRICA
Book First Published in August 1936 - 256 pages
This story was first published, in nine parts, as BIGGLES IN
AFRICA in The Modern Boy,
issues 443 to 451, dated 1st August 1936 to 26th September
1936
A rich
businessman called Felix Marton visits Biggles. Marton's son, Harry, has disappeared on a solo flight to
South Africa and Mr. Marton wants to hire Biggles to
go and try to find either him, or his body. Flying in a Dragon aeroplane down
to a remote aerodrome at Insula in Central Africa, Biggles, Algy and Ginger
start their search. Insula was the last aerodrome where Harry Marton was seen. Here they meet the villainous Luke Sarda, the manager of the hardly used aerodrome, who
immediately does his best to put them off staying. The next morning Biggles
finds a deadly Mamba snake in his cockpit. Algy hears Sarda
talking in his hut and they realise that Sarda has a
telephone. Investigating this, Ginger speaks on the telephone to Harry Marton! Hiding himself at the aerodrome whilst Algy and
Ginger conduct an aerial search, Biggles sees a mysterious man arrive in Harry Marton's aeroplane. This man is Leon Leroux.
Leroux leaves before Algy and Ginger return. That
evening, Biggles and Algy go and search for Sarda's
telephone line, to see where it leads. Whilst doing this they hear their Dragon
aircraft take off and find that Ginger has disappeared as well! Leroux has returned and stolen their plane. Ginger manages
to stowaway on board, just before Leroux takes off. Leroux flies to a nearby emergency store and Ginger is left
behind here. Ginger then finds Marton's Puss Moth
aircraft and tries to fly back to Insula, but the engine is faulty and he is
forced to land. Meanwhile, Sarda has offered Biggles
and Algy some fresh milk and poisoned them with it. Splashing petrol around
their hut, Sarda sets fire to it, planning to burn
them alive. He walks out of the burning hut straight into Ginger, who shoots
him. Ginger pulls the unconscious bodies of Biggles and Algy out of the burning
hut just in time. When Biggles and Algy recover, they set off with Ginger to
recover and fix the faulty Puss Moth. Here they have a confrontation with a
bunch of savages in the pay of Leroux. Later, Leroux and his African natives attack Insula but our heroes
escape in the Puss Moth and fly to Leroux's secret
store, where Ginger originally found the Puss Moth. An unfortunate encounter
with a Rhino sees the end of the Puss Moth and a long and thirsty walk for
Biggles, Algy and Ginger. They follow the telephone line, which links Insula
with the store and goes all the way to Leroux's base.
Their long journey is rewarded by capture by hostile African natives and they
face death in a primitive ceremony in the African village. Saved by the timely
arrival of an Army Officer called Collison and his
Seventeenth African Rifles, Biggles is arrested for the murder of Sarda. Biggles tells Collison the
truth about what is going on. With Collison's help, a
surprise attack is launched on Leroux's base and
Harry Marton is rescued. Leroux had kidnapped him and forced
him to act as mechanic to his own Puss Moth. Leroux
is pretending to grow tobacco but really he is growing hashish and he
was using the plane to transport the drug. Harry is returned to England to be
reunited with his father.
Click here to see the story illustrations from this book
Biggles in Africa
Publication Details - published by Oxford University Press
Dustjacket
Frontispiece
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