BIGGLES
– AIR ACE
by Captain W.
E. Johns
First
published, as a paperback in May 1999, then as a hardback, in April 2008
(Page references are for the paperback first
edition, followed by the hardback second).
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: by Norman Wright (Page 11/Page 13)
INTRODUCTION – BIGGLES OF THE ROYAL
FLYING CORPS
by Jennifer Schofield (Page 12/Page 15)
CHAPTER GUIDE
I. BIGGLES’
XMAS-BOX! (Pages 17 – 30/Pages 19 – 32)
This story was originally published in
“Modern Boy” number 358 – dated 15.12.34
“Biggles was deep in thought as he
picked his way through a thin layer of fine snow towards the officers’ mess
…. Happy Christmas, everybody!” he
announced. Biggles says he is not flying
today as it is Christmas and he is a “firm believer in the old motto Goodwill
Towards Men – and all that sort of thing”.
“But this Goodwill Towards Men stuff doesn’t include the enemy,”
declared Mahoney. “Certainly it
does. Even Germans, when we are at war
with ‘em, are human beings. And Peace on
Earth is the program for to-day”.
MacLaren jokes that Biggles will be talking about sending the Germans a
Christmas-box next. Biggles takes him
seriously and decides to send them ten pounds of sausages. Biggles says he will land at a German
aerodrome, dump the sausages over the side and then take off again. Biggles flies off, despite the weather, to
carry out his self-imposed task and he sees, and is attacked by, a German
Fokker D.VII on the way. Biggles tries
to fire back but his guns jam.
Pretending to spin down through the cloud Biggles recovers control and
waits at the bottom of the cloud layer.
The German plane comes down to see if Biggles has crashed and Biggles is
able to approach within 20 feet of the unsuspecting German and throw his
package of sausages at him. To his great
surprise, Biggles not only hits the plane but sends it crashing down. The German pilot is unharmed when he hits a
snowdrift. “Fancy having to admit you
were shot down with a packet of dead pig” says Biggles. “Funny,” he thought to himself, as he flew
on, keeping an alert eye on the skies in case any more enemy planes hove in
sight. “I came out on a friendly
mission, and it’s only by the biggest fluke imaginable that I haven’t lost my
life or killed somebody else”. Back at
his aerodrome, Mahoney finds it hard to believe that Biggles has “knocked a Hun
down with a parcel of sausages”. Biggles
decides to order a tender to go over and fetch the pilot. If he saved the sausages they could give them
to him as a gesture of Goodwill.