Biggles of the Camel Squadron

Biggles #3

by W.E. Johns

Fictional (based on fact) stories of experiment, trial, and error in the Royal Flying Corps, in World Wat 1 (The Great War):


Forward
How 'Biggles' Was Born
Glossary Of Terms Used
The Professor
The Joy Ride
The Bridge Party
The Bottle Party
The Trap
The Funk
The Professor Comes Back
The Great Arena
The Dragon's Lair
Biggles's Day Off
Scotland For Ever!

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Historical Fiction, War, Young Adult, Historical

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1934

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

[Julian Worker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting set of stories about how Biggles and his chums Algy and The Professor manage to survive for another few weeks of life near the front line.

Biggles is flying Sopwith Camels and manages to shoot down enemy aircraft without obtaining a single scratch himself. He and his team destroy infernal German machines that create phosphorus clouds which then rain down on unsuspecting Allied aircraft, shoot down barrage balloons, and take their revenge on German units who have killed their pals.

Biggles becomes extremely angry in one story and shoots at all manner of German targets on the ground but he draws the line at shooting at cavalry as he doesn't want to hurt the horses. Biggles is also saved by the chivalry of a German fighter ace who doesn't shoot at Biggles when his guns jam. Later in the story, Biggles returns the favour by signalling in a dogfight to the German ace that British reinforcements are on their way and he'd better scarper.

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Inspired by the lead story, "The Professor")

Wittgenstein of the Camel Squadron

1. Let us consider an individual, we may call him L, who joins a World War I fighter squadron. L says to himself that there is no problem. Aerial combat is merely geometry; one projects the trajectories of the two aeroplanes and the machine-gun bullets, and computes the appropriate times and angles. But when he describes these reflections to his new comrades, he is met with howls of derision. Why?

The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)

[^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Capt. W.E. John's first-hand knowlege, his text is highly evocative, both in the detail of strategy, machinery, logistics, and above all in the language he uses.

Though he portrays war in the air as an adventure (remember: this is a childrens book), he does describe moments of sickening uncertainty; he does not trivialise war. His young reader is left older and wiser. By comparison, many childrens books published today seem thoroughly childish and lifeless.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have happily returned to the world of Biggles. This one, unlike my last review, did not disappoint. It was much like the first two I read. Biggles, a fearless pilot, is still fighting the Germans during the First World War.

At first I thought this one would have the same things happen again like the others, but a few new characters were introduced (gotta love the Professor and Hartcourt) and the chapter when Biggles crashes at the British lines (during a fierce battle) was epic and unique.

A war book that will certainly appeal to 12-13 year olds boys, and to those who enjoy a good airplane story :)

*A couple uses of deuce, blinking, blamed, and confounded.

[Tim Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few characters span so much time so well, and I remember how much I loved this book having read some of the WWII adventures and detective books before it. If like me you have not read the earlier books first, pick this up this is not a prequel - it's a birth of a hero!

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard about the series yeas ago but no library was able to find me a copy of the first book to read. Yes I know this is book #4, but it's the first one I ever saw in the wild at a reasonable price so I bought it and read it.. - Side Note: the copy I have was presented to a schoolboy in Wales for perfect attendance in 1963 but somehow made it's way to an Amish Thrift shop in Lancaster, PA in 2023.

The stories themselves are clean and concise - pure action and adventure. I look forward to reading ...wait, there's almost a hundred of these? Damn my compulsive need for series completion.

[David Hambling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old School adventure done properly - jolly good show. Easy to mock, hard to copy, simple but technically meticulous stories give a fascinating insight into early flying - seen from a very particular perspective.
Also, very much darker than the 'jolly japes' image might suggest. Death, loss, grief and the futility of war are not far from the surface. Well worth a read.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biggles is involved in 13 different action-packed incidents in 'Biggles of the Fighter Squadron'. It is towards the end of World War I and he has to be at his best to devise some outrageous, cunning and desperate schemes to down some German ace pilots, to rescue some of his pals or simply to stay alive to fight another day.

For instance he teaches a cocky young pilot, Henry Watkins fresh out of flying training, how to attack the Germans and return safely. Watkins, who does shoot down a German flyer, ignores Biggles' advice and fails to return from a sortie so Biggles has to fly out to find him, shoot down a few Germans on the way, and escort Watkins safely home; he then gives him a dressing down and stresses that he must follow orders in the future. Watkins is suitably chastised.

Biggles also gets entangled in a German squadron's flight and has to cleverly work his way out of it before he is spotted by the other German flyers or shot down by anti-aircraft fire by his own side as he flies over British lines. He manages to perform a miracle by disappearing in cloud and then finding his way safely back home.

He also encounters an eccentric old man who has designed and manufactured from bits of all sorts of metal his own aircraft, complete with a special bomb that he reckoned would undoubtedly end the war if the government would sanction it. Biggles flies the 'plane, drops the bomb but with disastrous consequences! However, once more, this time bedraggled, he eventually finds his way safely back to base.

In a bizarre way he also befriends an ace German flyer when meeting in combat; Biggles' aircraft develops a fault and, sportingly, the German escorts him safely home rather than shoot him down. Biggles later comes across the same flyer in a mass dog-fight and he returns the favour by not finishing the German off when his 'plane develops problems - all very gentlemanly!

Whilst the stories are all relatively exciting and action-packed I prefer Biggles when he is involved in a full-length adventure where the action is continuous throughout and the reader wonders what is going to happen next. The stories are so short in 'Biggles of the Fighter Squadron', the full thrill of the read is disseminated every dozen or so pages when one short story ends, sometimes abruptly, and another begins.

[Tony Calder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty standard fare for a Biggles book - the books set in WWI tend to be a collection of short stories with a general timeline running through them, whereas the books set between the wars and after tend to be complete stories.

If you have read many Biggles books (I grew up reading them) then you know what to expect. If you haven't read any Biggles, then this is a reasonable starting point (as are most of the books set in WWI). However, be warned that these are definitely books of their time - don't expect to find any strong female characters (or, often, any female characters at all). This applies even moreso to non-white characters. Johns did change this in some of his later books, although female and non-white characters were always secondary characters.

[Mick Scrimshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read a few Biggles books lately although they have been more about his post-war adventures around the world. This is the first i’ve read for a while that goes back to what Biggles is famous for - his World War One flying antics.

Made up of eleven separate chapters each detailing a particular story or anecdote from his experiences of aerial combat, the book also features a helpful glossary of military terms from the period and a forward by the author explaining that the events depicted in the book are all based on real events that happened during the war. I’m not entirely sure that is true and at the very least there may have been some artistic license, but they certainly made exciting reading and I really enjoyed Biggles going back to doing what Biggles did best.

I’ll be honest as well and admit that I’ve never had much of an interest in the air combat of World War One and know virtually nothing of the aircraft involved. Certainly not as much as World War Two because as I child I was brought up on stories and films from that war and automatically picked up Knowledge of the iconic planes such as Spitfires and Hurricanes as well as German Messerschmitts and Stukas. The mention of different planes in these stories therefore meant nothing to me but did inspire me to find out, and with my trusty friends Google and Wikipedia I spent a good hour or so looking up mentions from the book and now not only have a very rudimentary knowledge, but also have developed a bit of an interest about the aircraft from the time and as I continue reading Biggles expect to continue reading and learning about the planes.

One piece of controversy though, and something I wouldn’t’ mind getting other people’s opinion about, is the difference between the things in children’s book back then compared to now. For example in this book there are references to the behaviour of the various combatants and whether or not they are acting fairly or according to the unwritten rules of war. But then there is also an example of the British dropping a mannequin dressed as a pilot full of explosives and packed with nails which was designed to decimate the German soldiers that went to investigate it. Hardly playing by the rules, and generally the book depicts some horrific and violent behaviour that would never get into a children's book today. Have we got soft-hearted over time? Was any harm done by writing about war and the horrific violence it involved back then? At the time these books were written children would presumably be aware of some of the actions of their fathers and grandfathers in the two world wars, but does that mean it was right to write about this with more honestly and explicitness than we would today? I’m genuinely interested. By nature I’d describe myself as a liberal and often agree would expect myself to agree with sheltering our young from some of the worse realities of life, but did this really hurt? I can’t help feeling that children can probably cope with the cold realities of war far better than we might give them credit for, and I certainly didn’t mind reading things like this as a child and don’t think it did me any harm.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nostalgic trip back to my youth & yet again Biggles delivered. His adventures are every bit as exciting today as they were all those years ago.
Light but captivating storylines that are easy to follow for readers of all ages & a must for any family bookshelf, with stories that Grandparents & Grandchildren alike will enjoy.

[Vincent Chenzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for a lad to read in the 1960s

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the early Biggles books, Biggles of the Camel Squadron is set in France during World War I. Captain James Bigglesworth ‘Biggles’ is a flight commander at the aerodrome at Marinique, from where he and his men cross over to wreak destruction in the German-held territory nearby. This is a set of connected stories, not a single novel, and each story has its focal point: a mysterious weapon the Germans start using; a harebrained new pilot (the Professor) who thinks air battles are all about mathematics, no more; the plight of new pilots; and more.

I read a lot of Biggles in my childhood, and loved them. This one, read as an adult (and a somewhat jaded one at that) is still pretty good. Captain WE Johns manages to bring alive WWI from the perspective of a young pilot very well: you learn stuff, you get a hint of the thrill and adventure, and a taste of all the mad coincidences and mishaps that often befell pilots (Johns’s preface to the book mentions that many of the episodes in the Biggles books were based on real-life incidents). I also find it interesting that Johns, even though he’s writing for young readers, doesn’t shy away from reality. There are deaths here, and there are soldiers who break under the strain.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

(1956 hardback edition?) This is the third Biggles book that I've read and my favourite so far. Unlike the other two, this is a collection of 11 short stories and an interesting foreword. The stories are about as varied as a collection of stories starring a WW1 pilot could possibly be and surprisingly educational and action-packed for something written so long ago. About 3/4 of the way through this 215 page book come The Funk, The Professor Comes Back and The Great Arena, which I enjoyed the most. W.E. Johns' writing of the action scenes actually has my pulse racing on occasions which is something very few writers ever manage to pull off, especially as dogfights are a chaotic affair that are difficult to describe well. If you can't find the Biggles books in order, this would be a good one to start with. 4.25/5

[peter coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every schoolboy should read this book to get some understanding of WW 1

Excellent book. All Biggles books are first class reading with a touch of reality. Every one a thoroughly good read

[Gerard Mc Mahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

First real book I ever read (in 1960 at age 8) - 1956 Dean hardback copy without the dust cover - my teacher had a little class library. I duly read all Biggles, followed by Gimlet, mostly as 2/6 Armada paperbacks.

[russell barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to be 12 again...

[SierraKiloBravo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/OJu-jo6rRN0

Biggles of the Camel Squadron is the third of just under 100 Biggles books written by Captain W.E. Johns. The first was a collection of short stories set in the First World War, the second was a full length novel adventure, and in Biggles of the Camel Squadron we again return to the short story format at the front lines on France between 1914 and 1918.

Published in 1934 these stories first appeared in the magazines Popular Flying and The Modern Boy. They are exactly the kinds of stories to get a young boy's mind caught up in the “adventure” of war.

Like the first book, this one, for what is essentially a kids book, is pretty up front about the realities of war. There’s friends lost in battle, pilots described as slumping dead in their seats before diving into the earth, people falling out of planes without parachutes, and soldiers getting blown up on the front lines. While there is a sense of adventure about it, there are some cold realities presented too.

It’s quite a short book, with just 13 stories in it, and it took me about a week to get through it.

It’s good simple stuff that is entertaining, but also a history lesson at the same time.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third Biggles and back to the pattern of the first - essentially 13 short stories about flying in the First World War ... stories aimed at English public schoolboys. The good guys will win, Biggles will get the job done, it's all jolly japes. Entertaining enough for young boys, and almost pure fantasy ... except, like the first book, there's an intriguing sense of history here. Johns flew in the First World War. You get glimpses of the reality, the scariness, the sounds and panoramic vision of fragile little aircraft with open cockpits looking down on a mechanised battlefield and a frontline which extended for mile after mile. You get glimpses of what it was like to be a pioneer, inventing the art of flying and the skills to survice aerial combat. Interesting, entertaining, worth reading and, while you know it's all fantasy ... you have to think of how terrible a death it was for many flyers, how hideous a life it was for millions on the ground.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1934, 'Biggles of the Camel Squadron' is a collection of 11 short stories covering the exploits of Biggles as a pilot with 266 Squadron, RFC, over the Western Front in WW1. The stories have a gritty realistic veneer, drawn from the authors experiences as a pilot in the same conflict, a value noticeably lacking in later Biggles books set from the 1950s. The stories themselves are very short and snappy with some great plot idea as well as some very silly plot ideas. The stories, in my edition are preceded by a short Foreword and a short piece entitled 'How Biggles Was Born'. Judging by the references to events in WW2 mentioned in these, I guess they will either be absent or differ considerably in early editions. Great fun.

[Yorkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally speaking, I'm more of a fan of short stories than full novels, but with Biggles, I think I would have to say the opposite. Whilst this was an enjoyable book in the end (I felt it got off to a rather slow start), it really felt as though there wasn't enough time for each story to develop enough before you were moving onto the next, so it wasn't quite as exciting as the novels tend to be. That being said, I did get into it and it kept me reading, and that's all I can really ask for.



(Probably would have given it 3.5 stars, but since I can't do halves, decided to round up as rounding down seemed unnecessarily harsh).

[Wilson E. Stevens Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of World War One English Flying pilots that is attributed to the fictus pilot Biggles. In WWI they started by dropping rocks on the german trench's as they flew over them, and moved up to 20 pound bombs loaded on the bottom of the wings. There were no rules or guidelines, so it was any thing goes, and try any thing. This is a fun read and shows the development of aerial warfare in the modern world. Fun read, and a must for any one interested in History.

[Allan Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Biggles books when I was an adolescent, 65 years ago. So I thought I would read one again just to see the difference. It's not for me to make criticism as it is indeed written for adolescents but I would note a couple of things: one is the issue of mortality - the risk and danger and continual survival are less credible to me as an oldie; and the horror of war - not a jolly adventure to an oldie.

[Sam Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first foray into Biggles literature. I absolutely loved it! What impressed me most was that Johns either had first or second-hand experience with each episode in the book. I will definitely buy more of these. The second most impressive feature of these stories is that they are not meant to be anything more than fun adventure stories. If you like anything about the Great War, this is for you!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of short stories of our gallant hero Biggles. Although in some of these we see a war-torn version occur and in these he is far from the gentlemanly pilot we know. Although no better not worse than previous books these stories are evidently based on stories that W. E. Johns must have heard at some time. This means that they sometimes begger belief, but are enjoyable all the same.

[Declan Cosson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biggles of the Fighter Squadron is a straightforward pulp adventure story about a fighter pilot fighting in the First World War. But as a result it shows that just because your book is simple and straight forward doesn't it mean that it is bad or low-brow. Personally, I thought it was a solid story with a coherent plot in which Biggles goes on a series of adventures across the Western front during World War One.

All in all, it is a book that I would certainly recommend to others.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars I enjoyed this book very much. It was interesting an eyewitness account of the early times of war aviation. Weird to think they had no radios and had to communicate visually with basic hand signals.

[Lee Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Biggles book and this book would lead me to collect many of the other stories. Without a doubt a real fictional hero and was an inspiration to my love of aircraft and military history. A childhood favourite! An adult fond memory.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining book.
In intro explains that the stories are
reworked from real stories.
Also its been simplified for a reader
that has no idea what aerial nomenclature is.
If you enjoy adventure stories from the first
world war then gives these books a read.

[Jennsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in the early 1930s, this is an adventure book about some stories (some based on truth) of a flight squadron in world war 1. The book is written as an adventure series for young adults interested in planes and the wars.