Biggles in the Baltic by W. E. Johns was first published in book form by Oxford University Press in June 1940. Prior to that it had been serialised in 11 parts in The War Thriller from No. 579 to 589, (9 March 1940 to 18 May 1940), under the title Storm Troop of the Baltic Sky. The story also appeared in the 1941 in The Third Biggles Omnibus published by Oxford University Press. There has been at least 13 subsequent edition in the English language. The events in the book take place just after the declaration of war on 3 September 1939.
Synopsis[]
War has just been declared and Biggles is asked to take charge of a secret squadron operating from a cave inside a barren rock in the Baltic Sea. His orders are to cause as much trouble to the enemy as possible, for as long as possible.
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[]
- Air Commodore Raymond - at this point he is still referred to as Colonel Raymond, but has a job at Air Intelligence at the Air Ministry.
- Biggles
- Algy Lacey
- Ginger Hebblethwaite
- Flight Sergeant Smyth
- Corporal Roy Smyth
- William Salt
- Erich von Stalhein
Aircraft[]
- S.I. Mk 1A
- twin engine Dornier flying boat - shot down by Biggles. Probably a Dornier Do 18.
- four engine Dornier flying boat - stolen by Biggles and Co. Not a Do 24. This leaves the Do 26.
Ships[]
Places[]
Visited[]
- Bergen Ait
Mentioned[]
Research Notes[]
- In the first sentence, Johns misquotes Chamberlain's declaration of war on Germany: a bad slip!
- In chapter 5, when asked to blow up a railway tunnel, Biggles said he had done such a job before. Where?
- Biggles Flies East - blows up a reservoir?
- Biggles' Exciting Night - a canal?
Chronology[]
- In the first chapter Biggles gets his call from Raymond moments after the announcement of the outbreak of war on radio on 3 Sep 1939.
Editions[]
International titles[]
- Swedish: Biggles i Östersjön (Bonniers 1943, Junior Förlag 1981)
- Norwegian: Biggles i Østersjøen (N.W. Damm & Søn 1947)
- French: Biggles dans la Baltique (B. Arthaud 1951)
- French (Belgium): Biggles dans la Baltique (Lefrancq in Biggles, La seconde guerre mondiale 1 1994)
- Czech: Biggles a podivná válka (Toužimsky & Moravec 1997)