Name three questions you would ask Biggles if you ever met him in person...
My three picks:
1. Why didn't you like Algy when you were younger?
This continues to irk me every day of my life. It would be interesting to get a real description of what Algy looked like when he was ten or eight or whatever.
2. Why on earth did you fall for someone like Marie?
Seriously, Biggles...
3. What is your middle name?
It's probably Charles. Or maybe Calvin? Maybe it's something horrible like Carlton...
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This requires SERIOUS thought! I'd like to know what the 'C' stood for too, although I am sure in my own mind it is Charles :-)
ReplyDeletePerhaps...
1) Why didn't you retire with Marie after you rescued her - was it because Algy wouldn't let you? Or was it because you were sorry for Erich who you felt had a prior claim?
2) Would you and Algy like to come to dinner?
3) I haven't quite decided about question number 3 yet :-)
I refuse to believe it is Carlton!
ReplyDeleteMe, neither! What names were popular in 1899?
ReplyDeleteThat was me, anonymous.
ReplyDeleteI just did a quick internet search FB, and Charles was one of the top names in 1900. Others included Cornelius (surely not), Christopher, Colin (don't see him as a Colin).
ReplyDeleteNo, but Christopher is an idea. But maybe Charles is the best bet.
ReplyDeleteSA said: "2) Would you and Algy like to come to dinner?"
ReplyDeleteIf they do say yes, you'd better make sure to invite me too!! Or else...
James Christopher sounds rather nice. (Better than Carlton at any rate)
My three questions would be:
ReplyDelete1. (Accusingly) Why do you keep leaving poor Algy behind to guard the plane/office/phone all the time? Why do you never leave Ginger/Bertie/yourself for a change and let Algy, clearly one of the most reliable, trusted and most valuable members of your team in on some of the action once in a while? (Technically that is two questions in one but I feel they are both matters which are long overdue some explanation, and Biggles had better have some good answers at hand that's all I can say!)
2. Exactly how are you and Algy related to each other? First cousins? Second cousins? Second cousins once removed....?
3. Spitfires or camels. Which do you like best?
Yes Soppy, I will invite you too. One each :-))))
ReplyDeleteI still prefer James Charles, although I don't actually like the name Charles and I do like Christopher. I think it is more likely he was Charles and maybe he didn't like it either which was why he dropped it. Or maybe he dropped it because his brother died...
Maybe the C stands for Clive?
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about how Biggles and Algy might be related, I hear the voice of Pippin Took from Lord of the Rings: "He's my second cousin, once removed, on his mother's side..."
On an entirely unrelated point altogether, I sometimes wondered when younger if Algy could himself (somewhere in the BookWorld behind the scenes) have been a distant relation of the spoilt, dislikeable Gwendoline Lacey from Malory Towers (though obviously they have absolutely nothing in common other than the fact that they were both memorable characters from childrens' books by popular authors who were widely read by generations of children who might be expected to have read both authors). Their mothers seem to have had a similar approach to parenting! The Malory Towers series was written by Enid Blyton in the 1940/50s though, so Algy is old enough to be her father... hmmm.. though please do not take that at face value and certainly NOT as a suggestion to come up with "Algy married"!
What a wonderful idea - I love the notion that Algy and Gwendoline Lacey might be distantly related.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine how much fun it would be if, for unavoidable reasons,she was sent to stay with her older cousin for a while at the Mount Street flat?
Poor Biggles, I can't imagine how he would cope helping to look after the spoilt and conniving young miss, but I can certainly visualise the disgusted expression on his face when he first learns she is arriving! :)
I don't think women would ever be allowed in the Mount Street flat, cousins or otherwise - I can imagine Biggles being quite strict about it (though perhaps he would have tweaked the rule where wives such as the strictly non-canonical Jane were concerned of course!)
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Biggles and his unwise relationship with Marie, let's not forget that other great British adventure hero Hornblower who got into a very unwise relationship with a lady called Maria (this it seems to be catching) which led to a long-running sticky situation along the lines of "Hornblower Married", literally, except that it was canon! Good thing our hero did not ever meet with such a fate! (After all Marie Janis, ex-spy and all, could VERY WELL have ended up a canon Jane! One shudders at the thought!)
As SA commented, this requires serious thought - and I've been pondering for days. After all, we only have three questions and I have soooooo many!
ReplyDelete1. Same as Soppy - What ticked you off so badly about little Algy the last time you saw him? Was he really a little horror? (Okay, strictly speaking that's 2, but part of the same question, so please read as Part 1 and Part 2);
2. If I rent a two seater Spitfire, will you take me for a flight, please, pleease, please, please, please, please......???
3. What is the real reason you never rose about Squadron Leader in WWII?
Dear Biggles, I'm looking forward to your answers, very best regards, RSG
Biggles to RSG: "Why rent when you can simply steal one...?"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I think of the idea that Gwen is related to Algy. I should hope that if Algy ever met a child like that he would sit on her quite hard...
I too would like to ask Biggles why Algy keeps getting left behind, now that JJ has mentioned it.
Joanna suggested Clive.
ReplyDeleteThat would be suitable - James Clive of India!
I don't see Biggles as a Clive somehow...
ReplyDeleteRe women in Mount Street. Coul dyou imagine Biggles face (and Bertie's for that matter) when they discovered stockings etc hanging in the bathroom to dry? That is, if they were everf able to get in the bathroom....
ReplyDeleteI never considered Bertie's reaction :-)
ReplyDeletePoor man I don't think he'd ever recover from the experience!
Not many people do, which is why I'm here to look after him.
ReplyDeleteJJ Would they not just assume Ginger was being forced to dress as a woman again? Poor soul.
ReplyDeleteGinger in stockings!!! Save us all!
ReplyDeleteI think the C stands for Cecil.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not Charles, because why would he have the same name as his brother?
Good point 03.
ReplyDeleteIt could well be Cecil. Could explain why Biggles was so careful never to reveal what the 'C' stood for. : )
Oh no, please NOT Cecil :-(((
ReplyDeleteMaybe the C stood for nothing at all, like Ulysses S. Grant...
ReplyDelete