BIGGLES FORMS A SYNDICATE
Book First Published on 6th July 1961 - 160 pages
This story was first published, in ten parts, as BIGGLES FORMS A
SYNDICATE in Express
Weekly issues 274 to 283, dated 30th
January 1960 to 2nd April 1960
First edition dust jacket showing the original price of 8
shillings and 6 pence
Biggles is visited by an old
friend, Squadron Leader 'Dizzy' Digswell, who has an interesting tale to tell.
After being forced to parachute out of his plane flying over the Aden
Protectorate in Arabia, he thinks he has come across the ancient ruins of the
city of Ophir. He found a cave, which he believes to be filled with ancient
coins of gold and silver. Biggles and the team decide to form a syndicate to go
and recover the coins. Bertie and Ginger go with Dizzy, while Biggles and Algy
remain at home. Biggles is later shocked to read that their Dakota plane has
been found deserted and the three of them have disappeared off the face of the
earth. Travelling to Arabia, Biggles and Algy find Bertie and Dizzy have been
trapped inside the cave for many days by a rock fall. They are lucky to be
alive. Ginger's disappearance is a surprise to Bertie and Dizzy who are unable
to give an explanation for it. Attacked by hostile Arabs and an Ethiopian named
Majoli, who has found out about the coins and arrives
by boat (as depicted on the dust cover of the book), Biggles and the rest
suddenly find themselves facing a crowd of approaching Arabs on horseback, one
of whom is .......... Ginger! Ginger had been taken by a group of Arabs to help
heal the son of a Sheikh, who was very ill after being bitten by a camel. The
Sheikh's men see off the hostile enemy and work to open the cave for Biggles'
party. The coins are taken and given to the British Museum, for a substantial
reward. The Museum will send an expedition to the site to investigate it for
its historic interest, employing Dizzy as their guide.
Click here to see the story illustrations from this book
Biggles Forms a Syndicate
Subtitle - An off-duty adventure of Biggles and his comrades of
the Air Police at the hottest spot on Earth, sometimes known to members of the
fighting services as Hell's Gates
Publication Details - published by Hodder and Stoughton
Frontispiece
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