Biggles in the Jungle

Biggles #25

by W.E. Johns

Biggles learns the law of the jungle.It is the late 1930s. With the after-images of the Roaring Twenties fading and the world heading once more towards conflict, Biggles, Algy and Ginger head for tropical climes, and the trio layover in Belize.

While there, Biggles looks up his old pal Carruthers, Acting Governor of the territory, who is having problems. Someone – rumours abound about a self-styled ‘King of the Forest’ – is interrupting the flow of the nation’s chief export, chicle, which is used to make chewing gum. In addition, three Americans have gone missing in the jungle, reportedly looking for treasure.

Belize has no air force, and so Biggles volunteers to take his amphibious aircraft, Wanderer, upriver to investigate…

Biggles flies again on another international adventure, perfect for fans of Derek Robinson and Max Hennessy.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Childrens, Aviation, Military Fiction, Classics

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1942

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

[Philip]

A nice, light-hearted treasure hunt story is just the escapism readers needed during the intense WWII period of Biggles books (and real life I guess). Not that things are smooth-sailing here, Biggles and co are captured plenty of times, have near misses with crocodiles and waterfalls and run up and down a perilous jungle staircase, the geography of which I can't quite get my head around.

Unfortunately the side characters (other than the problematically-named Dusky) are a little underdeveloped, in fact I think Johns tries to pack such a lot of plot into this book that elements can not live up to their potential. The King of the Forest could have been a brilliant and scary villain, however he ended up being introduced so quickly that I didn't notice it had happened.

4 stars.

[Ian Anderson]

Set in the 1930s, Biggles, Ginger and Algy are on a flying holiday in Central America and they call in on an old friend of Biggles, who is acting Governor of British Honduras. He tells of an organised criminal gang in the jungle and of 3 white men who disappeared on a treasure hunt. Biggles and friends offer to investigate. They immediately run into a series of adventures getting in and out of trouble with the King of the Jungle, his pet snake and a black panther, indians armed with poison arrows and of course ants and spiders. There are also caves, secret trap doors, idols and treasure. Some elements of the plot remind me of Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor (though my recall of that book could be far from perfect). No page is left unturned in incorporating all the elements of jungle adventures.

On the other hand, the casual disregard for the health and comfort of one of the locals who spends most of the book helping Biggles and Co is jarring.

[Edwin]

Samen met Ginger en Algy onderneemt Biggles een vakantie door met hun vliegtuig een reis door Zuid-Amerika te maken. In de hoofdstad van Brits Honduras ontmoetten zij hun vriend Carrutters, die hun op de hoogte brengt van de "Tijger", oftewel "Koning der bossen", die in de jungle een waar schrikbewind uitoefent bij het zoeken naar een schat. Met de hulp van een Indiaan weten de helden uiteindelijk de (koloniale) rust en orde te herstellen.

Weer een verhaal waarin de blanke superioriteit duidelijk aanwezig is.

[Salome]

Classical adventurous story with natives, local slaver and a golden treasure.

Klasický dobrodružný příběh s domorodci, místím otrokářem a zlatým pokladem.

[Tommy Verhaegen]

Een spannend Biggles verhaal uit een lange reeks maar toch een tikje speciaal. Niet omdat een vliegtuig een centrale en levnesreddende rol speelt en ook niet omdat het meermaals onder vuur wordt genomen of zelfs gesaboteerd. Maar wel omdat de jungle uit de titel een prominente rol in het verhaal speelt. Zoals altijd weet Johns zijn achtergronden meesterlijk te beschrijven en hier krijgen we een jungle (in verdiepingen!) met zijn woeste en gevaarlijke planten-, dieren- en mensenleven.
Een oude beschaving, een schat, meerdere geheime gangen, slaven, een verloren gewaande expeditie,... Het lijkt wel of alles wat avonturenboeken en -films iteressant maakt hier bijeen gebracht werd in 1 geweldig boek dat je dan ook in 1 ruk uitleest. Eigenlijk ongelooflijk dat Johns er ook nog vuurgevechten, gevangennames en bevrijdingen in verwerkt krijgt.
Spannend, vol aktie, een dosis humor, woeste fauna- en flora, ... alles zit erin.

[Bjorn]

Like all Biggles novels, it's very much of its time. Johns was probably fairly progressive for his time, with his racism more Kiplingian than Mosleyan. "These poor child-like unfortunates are British subjects [not citizens, obviously] and will be treated as such" etc. Live with that and we have a story clearly inspired by the discoveries of Inca and Maya cities, with a... let's say child-like glee at discovering "lost" civilizations that's pretty contagious. But seriously, can Ginger just fall off a cliff already?

[Robert Hepple]

First published in 1942, 'Biggles in the Jungle' is an adventure set in 1930s British Honduras. the plot entails buried treasure deep in the jungle, brigands, lots of army ants and tarantulas, some unlikely escapes from almost certain death and some unfortunate racial stereotyping. Classic Biggles, and very quick to read.

[Katka]

The plot of this one is sadly a rather standard Biggles fare, the greatest highlight of which for me is the dramatic takeoff from the plateau with the holed tank and the subsequent scene in the rapids.
No wonder poor Algy was so browned off towards the end :D

[John]

The book is a fun Indiana Jones type adventure full of hair raising escapes, ancient ruins, missing treasures, giant anacondas and tarantulas, natives with blow guns, nasty bad guys and of course Biggles, Algy and Ginger there to save the day.

[Paul Morrison]

Great escapism set deep in the jungles of Central America. I read many of the Biggles books when I was young, (back in the 1960s) and am now revisiting them once more. The stories are simple but enjoyable, filled with plenty of action and adventure.

[Hans]

Especially in the beginning of the book, the plot lacks reality.
Unless you're extremely well-off, who could afford flying such distances for no obvious reason?

[Scott Gardner]

Not as good as the previous ones , Set well after the war , a trip to Belize

[Chris B]

While published 10 years later than some of the earlier books, it feels more dated

[Cameron]

A classic an exciting Biggles tale in Honduras! Lots going on as always, with the heroes prevailing just in the nick of time.

[Sonia]

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.”

[Gerry]

Another rip-roaring adventure from Biggles, who, at the start of the book, is enjoying a relaxing holiday with Ginger and Algy. However, it does not last long as he volunteers to go into the jungle to find out more about 'The King of the Forest' who is causing trouble with the natives.

The usual trials and tribulations abound, Biggles and his pals have some hair-raising escapes but in the end good triumphs over evil and they all survive to live happily ever after - or more to the point to enjoy more escapades in succeeding volumes!

[Sem]

A cracking good yarn. There was a moment towards the end when I thought that Algy and Ginger were about to meet Gollum but it was not to be. And then there was Dusky, Biggles' native guide who provided some light comic relief à la Manton Moreland's Birmingham Brown along with the necessary jungle savvy. Dusky was almost as silent as Flight Sergeant Smyth which was a Very Good Thing because surely no one said 'massa' in 1942.

[Andy Gore]

The usual boys own sort of stuff.