Biggles and the Secret Mission

Biggles

by W.E. Johns

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Adventure

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Invariably 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.

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw this book recently on a bookseller's shelf I was surprised that I did not remember the title from my boyhood days when I read practically all the Biggles books. I then discovered why, it was originally published as Biggles Air Commodore. I suspect that was done to bring it more up to date for a modern young reader, the new title was perhaps a little more meaningful - although I must confess the original seems fine to me.

Be that as it may, it does not alter the book, which is typical Biggles with a mission to accomplish to save the nation, plenty of action and a foreign power eventually defeated. Biggles, Algy and Ginger never fail and in this there are plenty of twists and turns which look like spelling defeat for the trio but, not at all, they can overcome everything! It is very definitely all gung ho and great reading!

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1937, 'Biggles and the Secret Mission' was originally published under the title 'Biggles Air Commodore' and features a plot in which Biggles and his team are tasked with investigating some strange goings-on in the vicinity of the Mercui Archipelago of the coast of Thailand. Despite some hazy technical details, I found this one of the better novels in the series, and I even recalled previously reading and enjoying it over 50 years ago, the many standout moments in the tale bringing it all back.

[Nicholas Cavalier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read the Biggles books as a Teenager and now coming back to them as an adult they haven't lost their lustre at all unlike many childhood memories when revisited as an adult.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.”