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Biggles #34
Biggles Hunts Big Game
A Story Of Sergeant Bigglesworth CID And His Special Air Police: The scene would not by ordinary standards have been judged remarkable. It was remarkable only in that Ginger, in all the years that he had known his chief, had never seen him reveal more interest in a postage stamp than was required to stick this on an envelope.
211 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1948
59 people want to read
About the author
W.E. Johns
571 books113 followersInvariably known as Captain W.E. Johns, William Earl Johns was born in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Eastman Johns, a tailor, and Elizabeth Johns (née Earl), the daughter of a master butcher. He had a younger brother, Russell Ernest Johns, who was born on 24 October 1895.
He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.
In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.
On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.
With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.
He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.
He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.
He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.
In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.
On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.
With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.
He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.
He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 19, 2016
As always, I can think of nothing wrong to say with this book. The characters are great. Ginger will never grow old in my imagination. I just love reading more of the adventures of Biggles and Co. The mysteries and crime cases always intrigue me. And Biggles is a fast paced, fun read.
October 14, 2017
De lezer moet zich absoluut over een aantal onmogelijkheden heenzetten (dat doet de auteur trouwens ook) anders heeft het weinig zin om dit boek te lezen. Bijvoorbeeld de manier waarop Biggles meteen weet waar in de ganse wereld hij de valsemunters kan vinden of het feit dat de valsemunters gelijk welk bankbiljet perfect en op het juiste papier kunnen namaken.
De essentie is natuurlijk het avontuur dat de helden beleven bij het ontmakseren van de bandieten. Bloedstollende spanning in de jungle. Alles overgoten met een (dun) laagje humor.
Zoals gewoonlijk zijn de sfeerbeelden vanuit de lucht en de landschapstekenigen op de begane grond weer van hoge kwaliteit. Genoeg stof om een dubbel zo dik boek van te maken.
De essentie is natuurlijk het avontuur dat de helden beleven bij het ontmakseren van de bandieten. Bloedstollende spanning in de jungle. Alles overgoten met een (dun) laagje humor.
Zoals gewoonlijk zijn de sfeerbeelden vanuit de lucht en de landschapstekenigen op de begane grond weer van hoge kwaliteit. Genoeg stof om een dubbel zo dik boek van te maken.
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September 7, 2021Read this because my Dad read these as a teenager in post war Britain. Exciting plot line, I can imagine perfect at the time. Some questionable language and stereotyping for people of colour, being written when it was, and being set in Africa, and the hunting of game not really my bag but it was the only one I could get my hands on. I think the kids who love the Blake and Mortimer and TinTin graphic novels would love these books, I will be trying out some of the new editions to see if they’ve been updated appropriately.
January 23, 2022
This is a decent Biggles, but by no means one of the best. As has been pointed out by others, the long lecture about counterfeiting at the beginning was a bit off-putting, and unnecessary. Everyone, even back in the day, knew what counterfeiting was. And as has also been pointed out, it is extremely unlikely that Ginger could fool lifelong hunters with his ferocious lion imitation. However, you just have to suspend belief for awhile and go with the flow, otherwise poor Bertie is up for the chop.
It does seem like Johns kind of breezed through this one, and it was a bit sad not to have seen more of Biggles in this book than we'd like to have. There aren't a lot of twists and turns in the plot, but it is still a good story nonetheless.
A word of advice to all; don't read books from the 1920's-1940's and then be "shocked" that you found racism or sexism. Not all the characters are going to be modern and liberated by the standards of 2022, and not everyone is going to live together in colour-blind peaceful harmony. This was the way the world was like, so if it upsets people to read about these things, stick to contemporary books. Poor Johns is long gone, so there is no point our giving him a piece of our minds about life in 1948.
If this was your first Biggles, you can look forward to even better stories!
Enjoy!
It does seem like Johns kind of breezed through this one, and it was a bit sad not to have seen more of Biggles in this book than we'd like to have. There aren't a lot of twists and turns in the plot, but it is still a good story nonetheless.
A word of advice to all; don't read books from the 1920's-1940's and then be "shocked" that you found racism or sexism. Not all the characters are going to be modern and liberated by the standards of 2022, and not everyone is going to live together in colour-blind peaceful harmony. This was the way the world was like, so if it upsets people to read about these things, stick to contemporary books. Poor Johns is long gone, so there is no point our giving him a piece of our minds about life in 1948.
If this was your first Biggles, you can look forward to even better stories!
Enjoy!
September 13, 2015
Short review: More cowbell.
Longer review: It began with a tedious passage of exposition in which Biggles channelled the author's opinions on the perils of postwar life, the probable existence of at least one evil mastermind, and the likelihood of the criminal use of technology outstripping its use by the police. A lecture at the outset is a poor way to snag the reader's attention. Once it got going it was quite pleasant but there wasn't enough flying or enough Biggles or anywhere near enough Algy. The criminal mastermind was a damp squib and I don't for a second believe that Ginger could imitate a lion.
Longer review: It began with a tedious passage of exposition in which Biggles channelled the author's opinions on the perils of postwar life, the probable existence of at least one evil mastermind, and the likelihood of the criminal use of technology outstripping its use by the police. A lecture at the outset is a poor way to snag the reader's attention. Once it got going it was quite pleasant but there wasn't enough flying or enough Biggles or anywhere near enough Algy. The criminal mastermind was a damp squib and I don't for a second believe that Ginger could imitate a lion.
January 14, 2024
Boys own adventure from late 40s. Biggles second war is over and Bigglesworth is working for the CID Special Air Police - the gang is all there - Algy has little to do in this one. Resourceful Ginger and the foppish Bertie - polishing his monocle and after clean breeches in the heat of the action - are the main team at first. Tough guy Tug is the B team. Biggles takes charge after a bit. They are after a gang of international forgeries working out of an African hunting lodge as unlikely cover - the printing press is on a floating building on a crocodile infested swamp. Puff ladders, water buffalo and lions are the other non-human threats to life and limb. The locals don't really feature - a local Arab thief is a witty assistant who agrees at the end to turn over a new leaf and work for the British colonial police. The Africans don't feature. Perhaps to avoid the book feeling too racist colonial the henchman have been replaced by Afro-American gangsters though, if that's the reason, it's success is somewhat limited by John's continued reference to them as "the blacks". Of course, it all comes out alright though the fact that the team have to be rescued by the Egyptian police feels a little anti-climactic.
November 14, 2020
Biggles is working as Flying Air Police at Scotland Yard with his friends Algy, Bertie and Cinger (really Ginger) and has just been introduced to a problem with fake pound notes when a man enters and try to bribe him to leave the police. So of course Biggles decides to focus everything on the current case instead.
In this book we get to meet Tug, an old pilot friend of Biggles (I can't recall when/if I've read about him in some earlier book) who becomes the hidden card when they try to infiltrate the suspect's organization.
As so many other books, this also takes place in Africa and there are lions, and buffalos and other predators.
For a Biggles book, this is rather good so four stars it is (it's still a simple youth/young adult adventure novel so don't expect anything else).
In this book we get to meet Tug, an old pilot friend of Biggles (I can't recall when/if I've read about him in some earlier book) who becomes the hidden card when they try to infiltrate the suspect's organization.
As so many other books, this also takes place in Africa and there are lions, and buffalos and other predators.
For a Biggles book, this is rather good so four stars it is (it's still a simple youth/young adult adventure novel so don't expect anything else).
November 12, 2022
Wow! read this as a kid, along with about 50 others of his books. I was obsessed with these novels and tried to read every one I could. The characters and adventure were everything a 12 year old boy could ask for. Interesting to look back on them now when he has been censored. Clearly I survived the alleged racism in these books. Whatever cause you are pursuing, the censorship of books is not the answer. If you don't like the ideas, get them out in the open where they can be interrogated. "Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance" - Laurie Halse Anderson.
August 27, 2021
More detective Bigglesworth. What I like about this one, and a couple of others, is how the story splits into several parts as different characters work separately from each other. This means you're left on cliffhangers after every few chapters, which I think makes a good adventure.
January 25, 2023
I love these books because they were part of my childhood, but holy racism, Batman! Definitely recommend adult supervision for younger readers.
August 27, 2021
Set just after World War Two Biggles and his pals have left behind air combat and dog fights and in this romp of an adventure take on an international counterfeit gang hidden behind a company offering air tours and African big game hunting trips. With an ex Nazi war criminal, exploding cigars and international criminals posing as legitimate businessmen this is a real old fashioned boy’s adventure book of the sort I love, and delivers action and adventure on every page. Obviously some of the attitudes and stereotyping seem old fashioned to say the least today, but I love this kind of stuff and Biggles has always been one of my favourites.
It seems I read this last in 2016 (above) but have just read it again (August 2021) and add the following comments:
I’d forgotten how much I enjoy Biggles' books! They are the epitome of boys own adventures. I didn’t read them as a child because by they they were already starting to be seen as a bit old-fashioned, which indeed they are. You have to read them today and accept a certain amount of uncomfortableness with hints of racism, snobbery and sexism. They certainly are from a different time and need to be read in that context and not taken too seriously. In this one for example one of the potential villains being observed is categorised as not being British because of ‘the flash of a diamond tie-pin of a size so vulgar that no British visitor would be likely to wear it’, and these books certainly give an insight into the thinking of our parents and grandparents. As I say uncomfortable at time s but still great fun.
Biggles are his pals get themselves involved in some really exciting adventures, pitted as they are against super-villains, criminals and scoundrels of all sorts. The plot in this particular novel involved a huge international counterfeiting gang who set out making so much illicit money they threaten the economies of Britain and other countries and Biggles and his fellow member of the Special Air Police Department of Scotland Yard are brought in when it is realised the criminals are so wide spread and are operating so quickly and efficiently they must be using aircraft. Seems a little contrived, but obviously gives an excuse of our ex-RAF flyers to get involved and it turns out the counterfeiters printing press is located in the wilds of an African jungle in the middle of nowhere that can only be reached by aeroplane. Adventure therefore follows involving wide animals such as lions and oversized snakes and it’s easy to imagine children of the 1940s and 50s learning for the first time about far-off places and dangerous animals for the first time from these pages. Needless to say the values of selflessness and bravery shown by the plucky Biggles and his fellow Brits carry the day and all the baddies get their rightful comeuppance whether its capture by the authorities or a grisly death at the hands of a giant poisonous snake, having refused the chance to surrender themselves.
Not everybody’s cup of tea. Very old fashioned and un-PC, but providing you can separate some of the questionable values and recognise we have moved on and improved over the years, great unsophisticated fun and adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to revisiting my collection of these books again in the near future.
It seems I read this last in 2016 (above) but have just read it again (August 2021) and add the following comments:
I’d forgotten how much I enjoy Biggles' books! They are the epitome of boys own adventures. I didn’t read them as a child because by they they were already starting to be seen as a bit old-fashioned, which indeed they are. You have to read them today and accept a certain amount of uncomfortableness with hints of racism, snobbery and sexism. They certainly are from a different time and need to be read in that context and not taken too seriously. In this one for example one of the potential villains being observed is categorised as not being British because of ‘the flash of a diamond tie-pin of a size so vulgar that no British visitor would be likely to wear it’, and these books certainly give an insight into the thinking of our parents and grandparents. As I say uncomfortable at time s but still great fun.
Biggles are his pals get themselves involved in some really exciting adventures, pitted as they are against super-villains, criminals and scoundrels of all sorts. The plot in this particular novel involved a huge international counterfeiting gang who set out making so much illicit money they threaten the economies of Britain and other countries and Biggles and his fellow member of the Special Air Police Department of Scotland Yard are brought in when it is realised the criminals are so wide spread and are operating so quickly and efficiently they must be using aircraft. Seems a little contrived, but obviously gives an excuse of our ex-RAF flyers to get involved and it turns out the counterfeiters printing press is located in the wilds of an African jungle in the middle of nowhere that can only be reached by aeroplane. Adventure therefore follows involving wide animals such as lions and oversized snakes and it’s easy to imagine children of the 1940s and 50s learning for the first time about far-off places and dangerous animals for the first time from these pages. Needless to say the values of selflessness and bravery shown by the plucky Biggles and his fellow Brits carry the day and all the baddies get their rightful comeuppance whether its capture by the authorities or a grisly death at the hands of a giant poisonous snake, having refused the chance to surrender themselves.
Not everybody’s cup of tea. Very old fashioned and un-PC, but providing you can separate some of the questionable values and recognise we have moved on and improved over the years, great unsophisticated fun and adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to revisiting my collection of these books again in the near future.
December 22, 2025
I am reviewing the series as a whole, rather than the books individually
The Biggles series is great adventure fiction: we get high stakes, aerial action (in most of the books), and a hero who is endlessly loyal, competent, and calm under pressure.
I love the dogfights, recon missions, and wartime scenarios.
Where the series falls short is character depth. Some attitudes and simplifications reflect the period in which the books were written. There are very definitely dated elements, but considering the era the books were written - overall the series performs well. More than a few of the stories defy plausibility, but who doesn't love to curl up with a good adventure book or 10?
“Never say die.”
The Biggles series is great adventure fiction: we get high stakes, aerial action (in most of the books), and a hero who is endlessly loyal, competent, and calm under pressure.
I love the dogfights, recon missions, and wartime scenarios.
Where the series falls short is character depth. Some attitudes and simplifications reflect the period in which the books were written. There are very definitely dated elements, but considering the era the books were written - overall the series performs well. More than a few of the stories defy plausibility, but who doesn't love to curl up with a good adventure book or 10?
“Never say die.”
August 25, 2016
I do love Biggles dry humour. In reference to a bribe, he says,
“..we’ve already had a visitor. He thought he was in a Woolworth Store and tried to buy us...”
Biggles likes to look after his boys from his squadron. Even the prickly Tug is still happy to be called upon in times of need. He enjoys adventure, so he abandons his taxi service for a bit in favour of seeing Biggles through his latest gig. I was surprised to see that despite Tug's temperament he's awfully good at the subtlety of spy work.
“..we’ve already had a visitor. He thought he was in a Woolworth Store and tried to buy us...”
Biggles likes to look after his boys from his squadron. Even the prickly Tug is still happy to be called upon in times of need. He enjoys adventure, so he abandons his taxi service for a bit in favour of seeing Biggles through his latest gig. I was surprised to see that despite Tug's temperament he's awfully good at the subtlety of spy work.
June 28, 2016
De Tweede Wereldoorlog is over, en Biggles en zijn vrienden hebben luchtgevechten achter zich gelaten en jagen in dit verhaal op een internationale bende valsemunters, die, verborgen achter de dekmantel van een reisbureau dat rondvluchten en jaag-reizen op groot wild organiseert.
Een ex-nazi , exploderende sigaren en internationale criminelen zijn de ingrediēnten voor een spannend jongensboek
De stereotypische houdingen van de karakters doen tegenwoordig ouderwets aan, maar passen goed bij de tijd waarin het verhaal speelt.
Een ex-nazi , exploderende sigaren en internationale criminelen zijn de ingrediēnten voor een spannend jongensboek
De stereotypische houdingen van de karakters doen tegenwoordig ouderwets aan, maar passen goed bij de tijd waarin het verhaal speelt.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews