Would things have been different for
Biggles had his older brother survived the war?
For starters, I don’t know that James was
all that close with Charles. There is no mention of him in Biggles the Boy, so presumably when Biggles was in India getting
recurring bouts of fever his brother was in England attending school. Once
Biggles got to school, Charles of course was no longer there, having left to
join the army. Any communication between the two would have been through
letters (and we all know how much young boys like to write letters!) Certainly
it seems unlikely that Biggles and his brother would have the close
relationship of the Fortymore brothers from The
Rescue Flight.
However, upon his return to London in Pioneer Air Fighter Biggles’ first move
is to attempt to find out where his father and brother are, so one would
suppose that they did at least get on.
Did Biggles idolize his older brother? (If
he did, why did he choose to become a pilot rather than join his brother?)
Would they have gone on adventures together, with or without Algy? Was Johns
worried that the presence of an older sibling would detract from Biggles’
greatness?