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Biggles #51
Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter
This contains thirteen short stories, eleven of which were originally published in "The Camels are Coming" (1932) and two (The Thought Reader and Biggles Finds His Feet) which were originally published in "Biggles of the Camel Squadron" (1934).
The stories are:
THE CARRIER
Biggles' propeller kills a carrier pigeon but Biggles finds the message and goes to rescue a spy.
SPADS AND SPANDAUS
Biggles and his squadron join up with some Americans for a major air battle with the Germans.
THE ZONE CALL
A captured German pilot tricks Biggles, but he realises in time to foil a German attack.
THE DECOY
When Biggles loses one of his pilots to a German trick he goes all out to get the plane responsible.
THE BOOB
Biggles first meets a new pilot who happens to be his cousin and whose Christian name is Algernon.
THE BATTLE OF FLOWERS
Algy takes revenge when a German raid on the Squadron's aerodrome destroys his garden.
THE THOUGHT-READER
Biggles discovers a German plane receiving secret signals from a spy using corn in a field.
BIGGLES FINDS HIS FEET
Engine trouble forces Biggles down in 'no-man's-land' where he has a taste of trench warfare.
THE BOMBER
Biggles attacks a heavily defended new German bomber and has to devise a way to shoot it down.
ON LEAVE
Biggles is forced to take leave but manages to shoot down 2 German seaplanes that bomb the UK.
FOG!
Biggles gets lost in fog and is shocked to discover he has landed by a German gas supply dump.
AFFAIRE DE COEUR
Biggles meets the love of his life, Marie Janis, only to discover that she is a spy.
THE LAST SHOW
Biggles gets promoted to Major and is shot down only to discover the armistice has been signed.
The stories are:
THE CARRIER
Biggles' propeller kills a carrier pigeon but Biggles finds the message and goes to rescue a spy.
SPADS AND SPANDAUS
Biggles and his squadron join up with some Americans for a major air battle with the Germans.
THE ZONE CALL
A captured German pilot tricks Biggles, but he realises in time to foil a German attack.
THE DECOY
When Biggles loses one of his pilots to a German trick he goes all out to get the plane responsible.
THE BOOB
Biggles first meets a new pilot who happens to be his cousin and whose Christian name is Algernon.
THE BATTLE OF FLOWERS
Algy takes revenge when a German raid on the Squadron's aerodrome destroys his garden.
THE THOUGHT-READER
Biggles discovers a German plane receiving secret signals from a spy using corn in a field.
BIGGLES FINDS HIS FEET
Engine trouble forces Biggles down in 'no-man's-land' where he has a taste of trench warfare.
THE BOMBER
Biggles attacks a heavily defended new German bomber and has to devise a way to shoot it down.
ON LEAVE
Biggles is forced to take leave but manages to shoot down 2 German seaplanes that bomb the UK.
FOG!
Biggles gets lost in fog and is shocked to discover he has landed by a German gas supply dump.
AFFAIRE DE COEUR
Biggles meets the love of his life, Marie Janis, only to discover that she is a spy.
THE LAST SHOW
Biggles gets promoted to Major and is shot down only to discover the armistice has been signed.
158 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
80 people want to read
About the author
W.E. Johns
613 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 2, 2020
This volume of Biggles adventures during WW I consists of separate stories, mostly of air strikes, in all of which Biggles proves to be a hero after all. Nostalgia for me, nice to have gotten reaquainted with. JM
June 29, 2020
A nice wander down memory lane with a book I read as a kid. Found it when sorting through others and since it is about the RFC which have always had a soft spot for I indulged for the Bank Hols weekend as a quickish read.
One of those Armada paperbacks that I had loads of as a kid but have long since gone, it is lightweight in all respects. In fact it reminded me of a Leo Kessler novel but without the rude bits and ultra-violence and set in the air in WW1 not grubbing about on the Ostfront in WW2. Sometimes you need such books to amuse and yet inform as WE Johns seems to know his stuff even tho he was not actually a Captain let alone a fighter pilot. No Camels for him, DH9s in fact but he conveys the misery and pathos of that conflict agreeably with being patronising. Shall read some more when I can...
One last point, one of the other Biggles books I have is "Biggles in the South Seas" though it is not the original I bought with pocket money in Northampton when out shopping as a kid. This was the very first "proper" book I ever read so I hope my age was still in single figures. Well, we had lots of comics around back then! When I can refind that replacement it might become my next Biggles foray but sometimes you don't want shatter those ancient memories....
One of those Armada paperbacks that I had loads of as a kid but have long since gone, it is lightweight in all respects. In fact it reminded me of a Leo Kessler novel but without the rude bits and ultra-violence and set in the air in WW1 not grubbing about on the Ostfront in WW2. Sometimes you need such books to amuse and yet inform as WE Johns seems to know his stuff even tho he was not actually a Captain let alone a fighter pilot. No Camels for him, DH9s in fact but he conveys the misery and pathos of that conflict agreeably with being patronising. Shall read some more when I can...
One last point, one of the other Biggles books I have is "Biggles in the South Seas" though it is not the original I bought with pocket money in Northampton when out shopping as a kid. This was the very first "proper" book I ever read so I hope my age was still in single figures. Well, we had lots of comics around back then! When I can refind that replacement it might become my next Biggles foray but sometimes you don't want shatter those ancient memories....
March 18, 2015
Warning this book contains a series of short stories some of which have been published previously in Biggles Learns To Fly and The Camels Are Coming and therefore only contains about 50% new material. In addition some of the extra tales are a bit Samey. Only 2 stars then but worth a read if you haven't read the other 2 books. One for completists.
February 13, 2021
Found after a speculative search for 'Michael York audiobook' on youtube. Have heard about the boys' hero Biggins for a while - first from John Crace? - was very enjoyable. A seemingly cookie cutter scene of a dying friend was very moving, was it just Michael York's acting chops?
June 12, 2023
This was an enjoyable enough collection of short stories featuring Captain James "Biggles" Bigglesworth, a fighter pilot in the First World War. The stories are all short, plainly told and exciting. There are dogfights, rookies, spies, and even a love interest. It's all very gung-ho, although there's a lot of respect for the fighters of the opposition, but still feels too close to propaganda for my tastes.
I read it mostly because I've never read any, and because my brother-in-law has been enthusing about them recently, so I borrowed this one to have a go. It was a fun, and quick read, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to read any more.
I read it mostly because I've never read any, and because my brother-in-law has been enthusing about them recently, so I borrowed this one to have a go. It was a fun, and quick read, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to read any more.
January 14, 2024
I probably read this at age ten or eleven and was interested to reread it sixty years later. It is full of (mostly) jolly, swashbuckling adventures as Biggles takes on gallant and (again, mostly) chivalrous opponents over the skies of Northern France.
A marked contrast to Monte Cassino by Matthew Parker, which I am reading at the same time, where war is the stench of rotting corpses and footsloggers are sacrificed in mistake after mistake. I found it fascinating to revisit both my own reactions of sixty years ago and the attitudes of the 1930s when the book was written.
A marked contrast to Monte Cassino by Matthew Parker, which I am reading at the same time, where war is the stench of rotting corpses and footsloggers are sacrificed in mistake after mistake. I found it fascinating to revisit both my own reactions of sixty years ago and the attitudes of the 1930s when the book was written.
July 15, 2021
Published in 1954, 'Biggles - Pioneer Air Fighter' is a collection of 13 short stories featuring WE Johns RFC fighter pilot character. 11 of the stories are reprinted from 'Biggles - The Camels are Coming' and the remaining 2 come from another collection, so whilst the stories are very good readers of Biggles books may be disappointed or misled if they find that they have already read them as a result.
March 4, 2018
Important part in the Biggles canon (Algy, Marie, end WW-1)
All bunch of unrelated stories, that deserved more...
All bunch of unrelated stories, that deserved more...
October 5, 2022
Pure nostalgia
November 25, 2025
Best book of Biggles WW2 short stories written
December 10, 2016
My son loved this Biggles enough to reread parts immediately!
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 9, 2008
In the early 1930s Captain W.E. Johns of the Royal Flying Corps crafted one of the enduring heroes of aviation stories: Biggles. Generations of British boys have thrilled to the adventures of Captain Bigglesworth and his pal Algy. Whether in the skies over France, flying East, West, North, or South, on vacation, or flying to work, Biggles upholds British pluck and fair play.
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007...
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007...
May 5, 2012
Written for the young male audience this is still a classic book - the first Fiction book I owned although I didn't actually read it till years later - lacks the gritty reality of more recent WW1 air books (which is not necessarily a bad thing) but makes up for this by having stories based on real events written by someone who was there.
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July 17, 2017This book contains short stories already published earlier.
July 22, 2018
classic English literature, good book that displays life for a WW1 pilot
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews