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Biggles #41
Biggles Works It Out
Pátrání se vedou ve Francii a saharské části Afriky, což přináší aktérům neuvěřitelné potíže. Letci vítězí svou odvahou, důvtipem a notnou dávkou štěstí a na druhé straně nechápavostí protivníka. Slušná kniha ze seriálu o Bigglesovi.
188 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1951
63 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 3, 2014
Biggles has always been a favourite of mine. His competence in solving a mystery is refreshing especially after finishing a book revolving around a TSTL protagonist(I'm looking at you Grace Wells).
Anyway.
The plot of this one is a little bit dodge. I can't believe that even back then those dealing in the gold business would be so gullible.
In this book, the gang meet Marcel their French counterpart for the first time.
Marcel - “His name is Monsieur Bourdau. Always he goes to the great deserts, to sit and watch.”
“Watch what?” inquired Biggles curiously.
“The beast that is called the ibex. But this man loves the ibex.” Marcel spoke as if he could hardly believe this himself.
Biggles looked incredulous.
“Why a man should love the ibex is a thing not easy to understand,” admitted Marcel, with another shrug. “But there, men love different things. This one loved the ibex. Why he loved the ibex—”
“Never mind why he loved the ibex,” interposed Biggles. “Let’s agree that he did love them. What about it? Go ahead.”
I'm not sure why I found this so funny but I make it a point to include in my reviews things that tickle me pink so I don't have to go search through the book again. Nobody reads my Biggles' reviews anyway. ;)
The book opens up with Biggles' showing off his great criminal mind. And I do admire it. He knows how the bad guys think.
“That is all. The ibex drink, but there is no one to watch. Then one day a holy man comes to the French government and says someone should be in the desert to see that the water flows so that the ibex may drink. He will go, and with some friends make a religious house for the memory of the good Bourdau. So they go. Everyone is happy.”
“Including the ibex,” murmured Biggles sarcastically.
and
”...but an ibex watcher is something that might occur once in a lifetime. Yet here, apparently, we have a party of them, all content to live alone in the middle of a million square miles of sand, for the pleasure of watching a fool animal wet its whiskers.”
Marcel is half Biggles' age, which surprises me. In the later books I always thought he was quite old.
“I could ask them if a strange aeroplane sometimes passes that way.”
“No, I don’t think I’d do that,” answered Biggles quickly.
“I might annoy the ibex, you think?”
“You might annoy the men who sit there watching them drink.”
Bertie gets to have a little action.
“What other man wears an eyeglass when he flies?”
“Let me tell you something,” put in Ginger seriously. “If Bertie was flying that Hurricane, and wanted to shoot you down, you wouldn’t be here now. What he shoots at he hits.”
I do love how W.E. Johns' likes to surprise his characters. It's always so much fun.
As Algy stepped out of the Douglas, Marcel poked a pistol into his ribs. Then, of course, he recognized the man he had captured.
The expression on his face was photographed indelibly on Algy’s mind. His eyes opened wide. His lips parted. His lower jaw sagged. He clapped a hand to his forehead, muttering incoherently.
Algy took him by the arm. “Come on,” he said. “You’re the very man I want to talk to. Where the deuce did you spring from?”
and
The only face on which there was any sign of recognition was Bertie’s, and his expression was so ludicrous that it was all Algy could do to refrain from laughing.
And I do appreciate the way Johns' backs his characters into a corner and forces them to assess and reassess. I love protagonists that can think on their feet.
Nothing else, Algy had declared, could save Bertie. What would happen when he got to El Asile, he admitted frankly that he did not know. The next move would depend on what happened when he got there.
Anyway.
The plot of this one is a little bit dodge. I can't believe that even back then those dealing in the gold business would be so gullible.
In this book, the gang meet Marcel their French counterpart for the first time.
Marcel - “His name is Monsieur Bourdau. Always he goes to the great deserts, to sit and watch.”
“Watch what?” inquired Biggles curiously.
“The beast that is called the ibex. But this man loves the ibex.” Marcel spoke as if he could hardly believe this himself.
Biggles looked incredulous.
“Why a man should love the ibex is a thing not easy to understand,” admitted Marcel, with another shrug. “But there, men love different things. This one loved the ibex. Why he loved the ibex—”
“Never mind why he loved the ibex,” interposed Biggles. “Let’s agree that he did love them. What about it? Go ahead.”
I'm not sure why I found this so funny but I make it a point to include in my reviews things that tickle me pink so I don't have to go search through the book again. Nobody reads my Biggles' reviews anyway. ;)
The book opens up with Biggles' showing off his great criminal mind. And I do admire it. He knows how the bad guys think.
“That is all. The ibex drink, but there is no one to watch. Then one day a holy man comes to the French government and says someone should be in the desert to see that the water flows so that the ibex may drink. He will go, and with some friends make a religious house for the memory of the good Bourdau. So they go. Everyone is happy.”
“Including the ibex,” murmured Biggles sarcastically.
and
”...but an ibex watcher is something that might occur once in a lifetime. Yet here, apparently, we have a party of them, all content to live alone in the middle of a million square miles of sand, for the pleasure of watching a fool animal wet its whiskers.”
Marcel is half Biggles' age, which surprises me. In the later books I always thought he was quite old.
“I could ask them if a strange aeroplane sometimes passes that way.”
“No, I don’t think I’d do that,” answered Biggles quickly.
“I might annoy the ibex, you think?”
“You might annoy the men who sit there watching them drink.”
Bertie gets to have a little action.
“What other man wears an eyeglass when he flies?”
“Let me tell you something,” put in Ginger seriously. “If Bertie was flying that Hurricane, and wanted to shoot you down, you wouldn’t be here now. What he shoots at he hits.”
I do love how W.E. Johns' likes to surprise his characters. It's always so much fun.
As Algy stepped out of the Douglas, Marcel poked a pistol into his ribs. Then, of course, he recognized the man he had captured.
The expression on his face was photographed indelibly on Algy’s mind. His eyes opened wide. His lips parted. His lower jaw sagged. He clapped a hand to his forehead, muttering incoherently.
Algy took him by the arm. “Come on,” he said. “You’re the very man I want to talk to. Where the deuce did you spring from?”
and
The only face on which there was any sign of recognition was Bertie’s, and his expression was so ludicrous that it was all Algy could do to refrain from laughing.
And I do appreciate the way Johns' backs his characters into a corner and forces them to assess and reassess. I love protagonists that can think on their feet.
Nothing else, Algy had declared, could save Bertie. What would happen when he got to El Asile, he admitted frankly that he did not know. The next move would depend on what happened when he got there.
June 19, 2025
This Biggles in anthropological mode. He posits that the dangerous beast retreats to an inaccessible place as civilisation advances, raiding as it suits him.
The human equivalent includes the criminal using aircraft, but they have to park their kites near the scene of the operation (and this could be their Achilles heel). Biggles adds that if he were a flying crook (Heaven forbid!), he would find a remote abandoned airstrip as a hideout.
This musing naturally leads Biggles and the boys to a mysterious gold robbery in a remote part of the Northern Territory (Australia), which is pretty remote to begin with. Biggles amazes the outback Aussie mine manager when Bertie uses the engines of their stationary Wellington bomber to blow away the desert sand to reveal the tracks of the bad guys’ aircraft. That was pretty neat. What is even more neat is the procedure allows Joe the indigenous tracker to find a toothpick wrapper (!) and a button which lead them to Monte Carlo, naturally, and onward to the foreshadowed remote abandoned airstrip at El Asile, in the Ahagger Mountains (Algeria), with mainly ibex for company.
Happily there’s a lot of flying and the story includes two of my favourite Biggles scenes: Algy stowing aboard the bad guy’s aircraft and overpowering the pilot after an epic fight in the cockpit. And Erich von Stalhein’s dyspeptic reaction when he finds that his idiot associate Canton has hired Bertie as a pilot. The former Nazi quizzes his henchman:
The human equivalent includes the criminal using aircraft, but they have to park their kites near the scene of the operation (and this could be their Achilles heel). Biggles adds that if he were a flying crook (Heaven forbid!), he would find a remote abandoned airstrip as a hideout.
This musing naturally leads Biggles and the boys to a mysterious gold robbery in a remote part of the Northern Territory (Australia), which is pretty remote to begin with. Biggles amazes the outback Aussie mine manager when Bertie uses the engines of their stationary Wellington bomber to blow away the desert sand to reveal the tracks of the bad guys’ aircraft. That was pretty neat. What is even more neat is the procedure allows Joe the indigenous tracker to find a toothpick wrapper (!) and a button which lead them to Monte Carlo, naturally, and onward to the foreshadowed remote abandoned airstrip at El Asile, in the Ahagger Mountains (Algeria), with mainly ibex for company.
Happily there’s a lot of flying and the story includes two of my favourite Biggles scenes: Algy stowing aboard the bad guy’s aircraft and overpowering the pilot after an epic fight in the cockpit. And Erich von Stalhein’s dyspeptic reaction when he finds that his idiot associate Canton has hired Bertie as a pilot. The former Nazi quizzes his henchman:
“This picking up of new hands casually is dangerous…”Naturally there is a grand finale at the oasis, the bad guys turn on each other and Biggles remembers some useful school boy science concerning gold. But of course von Stalhein makes good his escape.
“I can’t see what you’re fretting about,” said Canton impatiently. “This fellow is dumb, anyhow. Just bone from ear to ear, judging from the way he talks.”
“That means nothing,” asserted von Stalhein. “One of Bigglesworth’s men talks more blah than anyone I ever met. As if that isn’t enough he fools about with a monocle. He looks and sounds the complete ass- but he isn’t.”
“This fellow Smith sports an eyeglass,” said Canton, a suspicion of doubt creeping into his voice…
“You blundering idiot! It may interest you to know that the man you picked up is Lissie, one of Bigglesworth’s best men…Lissie must have trailed you from England. You picked him up! Don’t flatter yourself. He picked you up.” (p570, page number from Biggles Air Detective Omnibus)
August 11, 2018
Het schijnt dat de Engelse luchtvaartpolitie tijd kan besteden aan het vinden van een man die een knop van zijn jas mist. Wat een geluk dat die man niet intussen iets anders heeft aangetrokken.
Op diverse plaatsen in de wereld vinden overvallen plaats. Steeds lijkt het er op dat er een vliegtuig gebruikt wordt. Samen met Bertie en Ginger vliegt Biggles naar Australie, waar een goudmijn is beroofd van het goud. De verdere ontwikkelingen spelen zich voor een groot deel af in Frans Afrika.
Bertie krijgt een baan aangeboden bij de dieven, en neemt deze aan, zodat hij dichter bij de bandieten zit. Toch blijkt al snel dat hij in gevaar is.
Erich von Stalhein speelt een kleine, doch belangrijke, rol in dit boek. Aan het eind van het verhaal schiet hij een van zijn mede-daders in de maag, zodat hij kon vluchten.
Als ik halve sterren kon uitdelen, had ik dit boek 3 1/2 ster gegeven. Nu blijf ik op 3 hangen.
Op diverse plaatsen in de wereld vinden overvallen plaats. Steeds lijkt het er op dat er een vliegtuig gebruikt wordt. Samen met Bertie en Ginger vliegt Biggles naar Australie, waar een goudmijn is beroofd van het goud. De verdere ontwikkelingen spelen zich voor een groot deel af in Frans Afrika.
Bertie krijgt een baan aangeboden bij de dieven, en neemt deze aan, zodat hij dichter bij de bandieten zit. Toch blijkt al snel dat hij in gevaar is.
Erich von Stalhein speelt een kleine, doch belangrijke, rol in dit boek. Aan het eind van het verhaal schiet hij een van zijn mede-daders in de maag, zodat hij kon vluchten.
Als ik halve sterren kon uitdelen, had ik dit boek 3 1/2 ster gegeven. Nu blijf ik op 3 hangen.
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March 29, 2021I read this book as it is another Biggles book in which the Tuareg feature. I first learned about the Tuareg as a pre-teen through reading Biggles books and, as a science teacher, I used their dark garb as an example of a practical application of convection when teaching Physics. However, as a Chemistry specialist I took particular interest in Biggles’ analysis of the ‘fertilizer’ and identifying it as containing gold. As Biggles explains, despite being a noble metal and therefore generally resistant to chemical attack, it can be dissolved in a mixture of nitric and ‘muriatic’ (hydrochloric) acids.
The product here is Chlor-auric acid, HAuCl4. In the complex ion [AuCl4]-, gold is in oxidation state +3 and may be regarded as AuCl3.HCl. This is commonly referred to as gold chloride or acid gold chloride.
Gold can be recovered from this by treatment with a reducing agent. In the book the reducing agent used is iron sulphate which Johns describes as being a ‘white powder’. However, iron (II) sulphate, once known as ‘green vitriol, is actually a green powder.
The chemical reaction may be represented as:
2AuCl3 + 6FeSO4 > 2Au + 2Fe2(SO4)3 + Fe2Cl6.
The gold (Au) appears as a brown precipitate in which the gold particles are so fine that they don’t reflect light in the way that smooth bulk gold does. One has to melt it to make it look like gold. Gold melts at 1064° . (”He poured the liquid off, returned the dish to the furnace and turned up the flame. The powder settled down into a small gleaming yellow disc”) .
This was a fascinating revision of some rather forgotten chemistry. Wish I was still teaching so that I could incorporate this into my lesson delivery 😀.
The product here is Chlor-auric acid, HAuCl4. In the complex ion [AuCl4]-, gold is in oxidation state +3 and may be regarded as AuCl3.HCl. This is commonly referred to as gold chloride or acid gold chloride.
Gold can be recovered from this by treatment with a reducing agent. In the book the reducing agent used is iron sulphate which Johns describes as being a ‘white powder’. However, iron (II) sulphate, once known as ‘green vitriol, is actually a green powder.
The chemical reaction may be represented as:
2AuCl3 + 6FeSO4 > 2Au + 2Fe2(SO4)3 + Fe2Cl6.
The gold (Au) appears as a brown precipitate in which the gold particles are so fine that they don’t reflect light in the way that smooth bulk gold does. One has to melt it to make it look like gold. Gold melts at 1064° . (”He poured the liquid off, returned the dish to the furnace and turned up the flame. The powder settled down into a small gleaming yellow disc”) .
This was a fascinating revision of some rather forgotten chemistry. Wish I was still teaching so that I could incorporate this into my lesson delivery 😀.
April 1, 2023
The last time |I went to see my late, great friend Mary Aitken she saw me reading a copy of the above book. "Not your cup of tea" i remarked. No, she said it had been her brothers. The only reason I had picked it out from several others was its title. There was a great tradition at my all boys grammar school of amending book titles. So Biggles Flies North became Biggles Flies Undone and Biggles works it out to "Constipation- Biggles works it out with a pencil...
August 13, 2021
First published in 1951, 'Biggles Works it Out' is a tale of intrepid pilot James Bigglesworth whilst head of the fictional Air Police, this time on the trail of a gang of international gold smugglers. It all goes along at a cracking pace with some fine aviation elements although the plot itself relies a lot on coincidences and incompetent villains.
March 30, 2019
Yet another stunning Biggles book. I’ll never be able to get enough of them. This book tends to feature Algy as the main character with Bertie which results in a great story. So addictive.
June 5, 2021
Fun little story with a rather unsatisfying ending.
May 22, 2025
Unfortunately a pretty dull entry in the Biggles series - the stakes feel low, the villains are pretty bland and not much hooked me in. 2 stars.
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.”
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June 3, 2012The legendary pilot takes on a gang of international gold hijackers in Algeria.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews