Biggles Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Affaire de Coeur is a short story which formed the second last chapter in the very first Biggles book The Camels are Coming which was published in September 1932. The story was subsequently republished in The Modern Boy Issue 297, 14th October 1933 where it was given the title Biggles Falls in Love.

The story also appeared in Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter published in 1953 where it was also the second last chapter.

The story is probably one of the most well-known and pivotal of the Biggles short stories and is the one where he would first meet Marie Janis.

Synopsis[]

Biggles has engine trouble and force-lands in the grounds of a chateau. "You looking for me, perhaps?" asks a girl who is mistress of the property. "Mademoiselle, I've been looking for you all my life," was Biggles' reply.

Plot[]

(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)

Characters[]

Aircraft[]

Places[]

Visited[]

  • 266 Squadron, Maranique
  • Marie's chateau
  • 287 Squadron
  • Chateau Boreau, at Vinard near Lille

Mentioned[]

Editorial Changes[]

Other Research Notes[]

  • Other R.F.C. and R.N.A.S. Units mentioned:
    • 287 Sqn
    • 319 Sqn - Sopwith Snipes. Biggles was to have taken command of this squadron on 11th Nov 1918.

References to the past[]

Incongruities[]

Chronology[]

(see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories)

  • The story ends with the Armistice on 11th November 1918.

Publication History[]

  • The Camels are Coming, John Hamilton, 1932
  • The Modern Boy, Issue 297, 14th Oct 1933 (as Biggles Falls in Love)
  • Biggles in the Camels are Coming, Boys' Friend Library, 1938 (as Chapter 16: Biggles Falls in Love)
  • Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter, Thames, 1954, reprints and further editions (as Chapter 12: Affaire de Coeur)
  • Biggles: The Camels are Coming, Red Fox, 1993 and subsequent reprints and editions
  • The Oxford Book of Spy Stories, Michael Cox (ed.) OUP US, 1996
  • The Camels are Coming, Norman Wright, 2010

References[]

Advertisement