BIGGLES SWEEPS THE DESERT

by Captain W. E. Johns

IV. SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT (Pages 44 - 58)

Biggles pours water into Ginger's mouth. He has found him only 100 yards from his Spitfire having been attracted by his shouting. Ginger tells Biggles about the crashed plane. It's a Rapide. As night is now beginning to fall Biggles doesn't want to take off. They see a mobile search light and realise it must be mounted on vehicle. As planes are shot down, vehicles are sent out to pick up survivors. Biggles surmises that the searchlight is a signpost - a rallying point for people out in the desert on foot looking for the Dragon. Climbing the rocks, Biggles and Ginger see camels passing by. (Magnified by the flat background behind them they were huge, distorted, more like strange spirits of the desert than living creatures – is the double page illustration on pages 40 and 41, although the line is on page 51). A party of Arabs are being led by two men, one German and one Italian and they are talking in German as they pass. The German is Hauptmann von Zoyton, and Biggles knows the name as a German pilot of some considerable skill. (“ . . . there has been a lot of talk up in the Western Desert about a star-turn pilot named von Zoyton – he commands a Messerschmitt jagdstaffel, and has some sort of stunt, a trick turn, they say, that has enabled him to pile up a big score of victories.” – is the illustration on page 53). The Italian is a man called Pallini. With the party are some survivors from the Dragon aircraft including the French General Demaurice. Biggles waits for an hour to allow the Camel train to pass out of earshot and then by moonlight both Biggles and Ginger take off and return to their base at the oasis. Biggles gives the others a concise account of all the things they have learnt. Bertie is sent to Karga where they have a Whitley aircraft with orders to have it disguised as a civilian plane. He is told to return at 10,000 feet and fly the route as he is going to be bait in a trap Biggles has planned.