BIGGLES WORKS IT OUT

A STORY OF AIR DETECTIVE-INSPECTOR BIGGLESWORTH AND HIS COMRADES OF THE AIR POLICE

 

by Captain W. E. Johns

 

First published October 1951

 

 

TITLE PAGE – Page 1 – This page has a small vignette of a pilot, presumably Biggles, sitting on down, with palm trees in the background.  Opposite this is the frontispiece which is a portrait of Algy

 

CONTENTS – Page 3

 

List of illustrations – Page 5 (Frontispiece by Stead plus an illustration of Biggles on the title page, then seven other colour plates between pages 32 & 33, 40 & 41, 56 & 57, 96 & 97, 128 & 129, 132 & 133 and 156 & 157.  There are also small pen and illustrations by the same artist at the beginning of chapters two, four and five on pages 22, 42 and 54.

 

List of Other “Biggles” Books by Captain W. E. Johns – Page 7 – featuring 12 books

 

I.                      BIGGLES HAS SOMETHING TO SAY  (Pages 9 – 21)

 

“A cold east wind blustered across the home airport of the Special Air Police, bringing with it ragged curtains of trailing nimbus cloud that dripped their contents in a dreary drizzle on the shining concrete runways”.  “Ginger” Hebblethwaite, Algy Lacey and Bertie Lissie are all sitting around.  Algy is reading Flight magazine.  Biggles is sat at his desk going through newspaper clippings.   Ginger asks him what is on his mind and Biggles replies “Natural history”.  Biggles says that dangerous beasts have to retire before civilisation to some inaccessible spot or submit to captivity.  Biggles continued “The example of the wild beasts has been followed by a species of human being, and I don’t necessarily mean native races.  Most of those have now been tamed, although there are still a few that, having retired to a distance, by means of fast horses or camels play a merry game of tip and run with their hard-working brothers of the plains”.  Biggles talks of criminals who refuse to work like other fellows and try to live the easy way by toting a cosh and raiding the property of respectable folk.  “Gold, cash, and precious stones are the meat he seeks”.  They can travel far by aeroplane.   By dawn, a crook can be five thousand miles away.  The snag for the criminal is when they make a raid, they have to park their aircraft near the scene of the operation.  Bertie says “It’s one thing to be a cop on the old home beat, but a nag of a different colour when you have the whole bally world to cover”.  Biggles said if they were crooks with plenty of money, he would find a remote abandoned airstrip as a hideout.  There are loads on every continent following the war.  An aircraft with extra tanks could outfly anything the police had.  Biggles reads a newspaper clipping about a raid on the gold mining operation at Barula Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia.  A convoy of gold on its way to Port Darwin was attacked and five men killed.  “Black trackers were bought in.  They found some foot-marks – but nothing else”.  Ginger asks about the International Police Commission.  Biggles says every country should have its air police and all should constantly be in touch to exchange views and information.  Ginger sees a French aircraft arrive – a military Morane and the pilot comes and knocks at their door.  “Good morning, sirs” he says cheerfully.  Biggles invites him to take a seat and offers him a cigarette.