BIGGLES IN BORNEO
First Published in July 1943 - 185 pages
Biggles
is asked to take 666 squadron to Borneo to fight
against the Japanese from a secret airfield. Captain Rex Larrymore
had discovered the airfield prior to the start of the war when he had to make a
forced landing in Borneo. Larrymore has befriended
the local natives, dangerous headhunters, and had set
up as a prospector with a good supply of fuel and oil on this airfield, which
he had named "Lucky Strike". The base is used to good effect for
initial attacks on the Japanese. Our heroes are also able to rescue three men,
Jackson, Gray and Flannagan
who have escaped from Cotabato on the island of
Mindanao. They have tales to tell of the brutality of the Japanese commandant
there, a man called Yashnowada. While flying as rear
gunner for Algy in a Beaufighter aircraft, Ginger
finds that a deadly Krait snake has got on board the aircraft. Algy makes an
emergency landing but his plane is wrecked and the Japanese capture both Algy
and Ginger. They are transported by submarine to Cotabato.
Biggles is soon on their trail and with the help of Suba,
the chief of the headhunters they capture a Japanese
soldier to find out more information. Launching an air attack and dropping
escape equipment to Ginger and Algy, Biggles and his squadron succeed in not
only freeing Ginger and Algy but also approximately 40 other prisoners from Cotabato. Soon after, the Japanese discover Biggles' secret
airfield and make plans to attack it. One of the escaped prisoners is a
Chinaman called Fee Wong. He has information about a convoy of 100 Japanese
barges loaded with rubber and Biggles is asked to destroy them. Biggles sets
off with Algy, Ginger and Fee Wong, in a Cayman flying boat with just enough
petrol to get to Sarawak, where they are located, and back. However, the
monsoon arrives early and the weather conditions call for the use of so much
petrol that the machine is unable to return without refuelling. Landing at the
saw mills of Telapur on Sarawak, Fee Wong makes
contact with his brother and by making use of the monsoon flooded river and the
bravery of a Malay called Kayan,
Biggles is able to destroy the barges. With the flying boat caught up in the
flooded river, Biggles and Ginger find themselves separated from Algy and Fee
Wong. Biggles uses a surviving barge to get himself and Ginger back to Algy and
the plane. By using a captured Japanese uniform, Ginger lures a Japanese flying
boat down allowing Biggles to steal the aviation fuel. Returning to "Lucky
Strike" airfield, our heroes find the Japanese in all
out attack, with wave after wave of bombings and more troops trying to
force their way through the jungle to the airfield. Repairs are made to the
runway and Ginger is forced to fly their Liberator supply plane away towards
Australia to avoid it being destroyed in the next attack. Ginger finds an
Australian aircraft carrier and is able to return with a squadron of Fairey Fulmars to fight off the Japanese bombers. Suba and his headhunters deal
with the attacking ground force and they return with Yashnowada's
head on a spear. With their airfield safe, Biggles hands over to the Royal
Australian Air Force. The dust jacket depicts the headhunters
as a plane flies overhead.
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Biggles in Borneo
Publication Details - published by Oxford University Press
Frontispiece
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