BIGGLES SWEEPS THE DESERT

by Captain W. E. Johns

VI. BIGGLES STRIKES AGAIN (Pages 71 - 83)

Hymann has lunch with our heroes and gives his parole - that is he promises not to escape and as a result is allowed the freedom of part of the oasis. Biggles has another plan. This time he will send out a radio signal that the Whitley is returning down the route and he will fly it with a crew of five. When attacked he will land. When the car is sent out to pick up survivors they will find a mini-army waiting to meet them. They draw lots and Biggles takes Bertie, Tex, Tug, Taffy and Ferocity with him as a result. Algy is left in charge of the oasis with Ginger and Henry. Biggles flies the route in the Whitley and is soon attacked by three Messerschmitts and when they open fire, he lands between two outcrops of rocks. However, the lead Messerschmitt continues to attack even though the Whitley is on the ground and our heroes have to evacuate the plane which is soon left a blazing inferno. The two other Messerschmitts leave for their base, when suddenly Ginger's Spitfire appears on the scene and chases after them. The lead Messerschmitt, which has a blue nose, shoots Ginger's plane down and it crashes not a hundred yards from where Biggles is standing. The blue nosed Messerschmitt then lands as the pilot is expecting to capture Biggles but he is suddenly confronted by the rest of the group and finds himself the prisoner. "Biggles made him out to be a man of about twenty-five, tall, agile, and virile, but with that hardness of expression common to the fanatical Nazi". They have captured Hauptmann Rudolf von Zoyton. Biggles hopes to capture the German car that he expects will be sent out but first he will use the Messerschmitt to scout out the Nazi aerodrome and then he will fly back to their oasis to fetch water for his men.