BIGGLES IN THE BALTIC
First Published in June 1940 - 256 pages
The story was originally published in “THE WAR THRILLER” as “STORM-TROOP OF THE BALTIC SKIES”
“The Thriller” became “The War Thriller with issue 579 and this
story ran from issue 579 (9th March 1940) to issue 589 (18th
May 1940) – the last issue due to wartime paper shortages.
As the
momentous words "England is now, therefore, in a state of war with
Germany" came sombrely over the radio, Biggles knows that they are all in
for another spot of war flying. Almost immediately Air Commodore Raymond is in
touch. He is back at his old job in Air Intelligence and has a proposal for
Biggles. Britain has purchased from a neutral country a small island called
Bergen Ait in the Baltic Sea, which has a huge cave inside. This has already
been fitted out as an air base and fully stocked with supplies. Biggles, Algy
and Ginger, together with Flight Sergeant Smyth, his son Roy (as wireless
operator) and Raymond's old cook William Salt (known as 'Briny'), form 'Z'
Squadron and are taken to the Baltic island by submarine. Their four aircraft
are already there and are all given Australian names as they intend to strike
and return like Boomerangs. Ginger's is called Dingo, Algy goes for Didgeree-du and Biggles calls his aircraft Willie-Willie.
The fourth plane, a spare is named the Duck-billed platypus. Various
dangerous missions take place. A German U-boat, U159, arrives and has to be
quickly sunk before it can give away the position of their base. This has a
particularly fortunate side effect when the German codebook is washed ashore
amongst the debris. A German Dornier flying boat follows and has to be shot
down, but not before Ginger's plane is hit. Ginger lands in the sea and Biggles
lands to pick him up. The Dingo is set alight in order to destroy it.
Weather conditions prevent them all from returning to their base and so both
Algy and Biggles, with Ginger on board, fly to the first available land, which
is a sandbank. They soon discover they are on German soil and find the German
liner Leipzig, now being used as a troop ship, hidden in a channel. When
the weather improves they all return to Bergen Ait but find that Briny has
disappeared. Convinced that our heroes were down on the water he had set off in
a boat to look for them. The following day, Biggles and Algy split up and set
off to look for Briny. Algy finds Briny stranded on the same sandbank they had
previously landed on, whilst Biggles separately finds his boat by a neutral
ship. Landing, Biggles is captured by none other than Erich von Stalhein himself, who is flying a false flag. Biggles'
aircraft is destroyed and Algy later finds the wreckage. Meanwhile Ginger goes
exploring a cave at the back of their island base and finds himself
stranded at the top of the island. Biggles is taken to the Leipzig and
tried and sentenced to be shot. He is saved when Algy torpedoes the Leipzig.
Biggles swims back to the sandbank where he unexpectedly meets Algy who has
come to blow up a German supply depot there. An exhausted Biggles is returned
to Bergen Ait where Algy leaves him to sleep whilst he, Algy, continues with
the destruction of the depot. Biggles wakes up to find von Stalhein
standing over him! The Germans have found and taken their base! Algy returns
and is forced to land on top of the island where he meets up with Ginger.
Smyth, Briny and Roy have all taken refuge in the cave at the back of the base,
which leads them eventually to Ginger and Algy. Ginger returns to the base in
time to see Biggles about to be shot and manages to open fire and get him away.
Our heroes are reunited. Biggles blows up an underground lake in order to
destroy their base and wash away the Germans. Algy tries to take off but
crashes in the sea. A British submarine arrives in order to collect the German
codebook and this is enough to see the remaining Germans off. Algy then uses a
captured German flying boat to drop parachutes to our heroes stranded at the
top of the island after the explosion. They use these to jump off and are
collected from the sea by Algy who then flies them all home to England.
Click here to see the story illustrations from this book
Biggles in the Baltic
Publication Details - published by Oxford University Press
Frontispiece
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