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Bigges Flies East by W. E. Johns was published in by Oxford University Press in August 1935. It was subsequently serialised in The Modern Boy issues 399 to 412 from 28th September 1935 to 28th December 1935.

The book is notable for being the first appearance of Erich von Stalhein. It was also the first book length Johns story of Biggles in the WW1.

Synopsis[]

Biggles, on leave in London, is mistaken for another officer and offered a chance to fight on the side of the German forces. British intelligence wants him to accept the offer and soon Biggles finds himself in Palestine, a member of the German intelligence service and pitted against a deadly German masterspy who is only known by his codename "El Shereef".

Plot[]

Note: The sections below contain spoilers. In particular, the plot subpage (click here) has an extended summary of the narrative in the book

Characters[]

Aircraft[]

Ships[]

Places[]

Visited[]

  • London
    • Caprice Restaurant
    • Hotel Cecil
  • France
    • Maranique
    • Paris
    • Marseilles
  • Palestine
    • Heliopolis
    • Kantara
    • Zabala
    • Abba Sud
    • Sidi Arish
    • Jebel Tel
    • Jebel Hind
    • Gadala
    • Wadi Baroud
    • Pauta
    • Jebel Zaloud

Mentioned[]

  • London
    • Alhambra

Research Notes[]

  • Aerial victories of Biggles and friends: Biggles 2, Algy 1
  • There are multiple mentions of spinning and in Chatper 10, Biggles applies the correct spin recovery technique to his Halberstadt after his pilot, Mayer, was incapacitated and the aircraft had entered an uncontrolled spin.

References to the past[]

  • General Pendersby mentions that Major Raymond had spoken highly of Biggles who had done a number of intelligence missions for him before.

Incongruities[]

  • Chapter 13. "He found Algy examining the Halberstadt with professional interest...." Biggles had flown there in a Pfalz!
  • Chapter 21. "Clear-cut through the still morning air, far away over the German side of the lines, came the sound...." Obviously Johns had to make the site of von Stalhein's crash far away, to preculde anyone examining the wreckage for his body. But he had just taken off from Kantara, which, being the site of British General Headauqarters, would have been very far away from the lines.

Chronology[]

(see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories)

  • According to Johns in the foreword, Biggles was at the time of the story, a "war-hardened veteran of twelve months' active service in the R.F.C. so this would make it October 1917[1]
  • October 1917 fits the historical context quite well:
    • Deliveries of the Pfalz D.III to squadrons on the Western Front began around August 1917. To get it in Palestine by October would be considered quite fast.
    • Von Faubourg mentions "a British attack soon to be launched near Gaza" (chapter 16). This would be a reference to the 3rd Battle of Gaza which took place in early Nov 1917.
    • It would be true to say that things were going badly in the theatre for the British before this time. The British had lost several battles and there was a stalemate in the Sinai, so much so that General Allenby replaced General Murray in June 1917. After the 3rd Battle of Gaza, the British began to advance rapidly, capturing Jerusalem by December 1917. One might even say Biggles' work in exposing "El Shereef" and Major Sterne led to the remarkable British successes in the months thereafter!
  • However, in Chapter 1, there is the mention of Biggles' uniform looking distinctly shabby in "London's bright spring sunshine". One researcher notes this and posits an alternative timeframe set in April 1918.[2] This is the only available spring time with Algy around. March is not feasible as with the German spring offensive still in progress, Biggles would have been unlikely to get leave.
  • However there are problems with this timeframe as well:
    • Von Faubourg tells Biggles that Mayer had been sent to a hospital in Jerusalem, but the city had fallen to the British in Dec 1917.
    • Furthermore, General Allenby was making tremendous progress in his Palestine campaign by 1918 and in no way could it be said that things were going badly for the British.
    • The Sopwith Pup would also be looking rather long in the tooth by this time. The Pfalz D.III was still the current model in general use in April 1918 although newer models were being developed. Given that the D.III entered service in August 1917, how plausible is it that the German mechanics 8 months later would be "lost in admiration" at seeing the machine. However, Palestine was considered somewhat of a secondary front, and many of the aircraft in use there were older types, so maybe that's the reason.
  • Overall, October-November 1917 is the preferred timeframe for this story. We just have to assume that Johns got the season wrong in Chapter 1!

Editions[]

International titles[]

  • Danish: Spionflyveren (Gyldendal 1939)
  • Danish: Biggles og den Tyske spion (Grafisk Forlag 1952)
  • Swedish: Biggles flyger österut (Bonniers 1940, Röda Ramen 1971, Junior Förlag 1981)
  • Czech: Biggles jde do války (Toužimský & Moravec 1946)
  • French: Biggles chez l'ennemi (Presses de la Cité 1953)
  • Norwegian: Biggles på vingene (N.W. Damm & Søn 1946, Hjemmets Bokforlag 1988)
  • French (Belgium): Biggles chez l'ennemi (Ananké in Biggles l'Intégrale 2 omnibus 2002)
  • Spanish: Biggles en oriente (Edhasa 2011)
  • Sinhala: පෙරදිග සටන - peradiga satana (Tharanga)

References[]

  1. Ward Powers. "What Happened to Biggles in WW1?" Biggles Flies Again Vol. 3 No. 1, June 2009.
  2. Trevor Mason. "The Great German Spring Offensive of 1918" Biggles Flies Again Vol. 3 No. 12, February 2013.
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