BIGGLES TAKES CHARGE
Book First Published in June 1956 - 192 pages
I believe this story was first published, in four parts, as
BIGGLES TAKES CHARGE in Junior
Mirror issues 72 to 75, dated 8th
February 1956 to 29th February 1956
This book was also serialised in the Australian Comic “Chucklers’ Weekly”
in August/September 1956 (exact details not known)
First edition dust jacket showing the original price of 7
shillings and 6 pence
Algy pays a visit to an old
friend, with a view to returning a key he has been given and gets caught up in
helping Prince Karl of Moldavia (also known as Charles Zarrill) when agents
from behind the Iron Curtain try to kill him. Zarrill's cousin is the Grand
Duke Boris Nicolas Zarrill Detziner-Romanov and the young Prince is desperately
trying to find him. After a confrontation with the baddies, lead by a certain
Erich von Stalhein, Algy takes the Prince down to Monte Carlo and enlists the
help of Biggles (who doesn't appear in the book until page 90!) and Marcel
Brissac. Later, joined by Bertie and Ginger, Boris is eventually traced. The
team then embarks on a hazardous mission to recover the Royal Family's jewels from
Moldavia and they find themselves in a bullet holed dingy, sinking on a
Moldavian lake, desperately awaiting rescue. It is this event that is depicted
on the dust cover of the book.
With the exception of the frontispiece, there are no story illustrations
in this book.
Biggles Takes Charge
Subtitle - A 'Biggles of the Air Police' Adventure
Publication Details - published by Brockhampton Press
Frontispiece
Click on the above to see it in more detail