Character Close-Up: Algy in WWI

Having got out Biggles and the Rescue Flight to find last week's Algy quote, it seemed a pity to put it back without rereading it. (That's the way it is with all Biggles books--you can leave them to gather dust in a closet for years and years, but once you've found a reason to get one out and read it, the others will soon follow, until your whole room is littered with them.)

But here, from Thirty's perspective, is a close-up of our Algy in WWI:

"...of all their fellow officers the one for whom they formed the greatest attachment was a member of their own flight who invariably flew in formation at Biggles' right hand.He was an untidy youth with longish hair and a freckled face on which dwelt an expression of amused surprise. He was, they learned, a distant relative of Biggles', and had come straight out from school and caused a minor sensation at the squadron by shooting down an enemy aircraft on his first trip over the lines. His name appeared on the squadron roll as Second Lieutenant The Honorable Algernon Lacey, but he was never called anything but Algy, even by Major Mullen, the C.O."

--Biggles and the Rescue Flight

The term "untidy youth" puzzles me slightly. Does it mean he walked around with his shirt untucked? His hair unbrushed? Smudges of dirt on his face? Surely all these would be frowned upon by the C.O. (and Biggles)?

There is a later paragraph that attempts to show us more of Algy's untidiness:

"His Sidcot flying suit was flung carelessly over his shoulder; in his right hand he carried the rest of his flying kit--helmet, goggles, and gauntlets. On reaching Thirty and Rip he flung his kit in a heap on the dusty concrete and eyed them both with mock seriousness."

--Biggles and the Rescue Flight

Personality-wise, we learn that:

"Some of the older pilots sometimes showed signs of 'nerves', but Algy refused to treat the war as anything but a joke. The more his machine was shot about, the more he laughed, although on such occasions Biggles was apt to turn a reproving eye on him."

--Biggles and the Rescue Flight

Wonder what Biggles said when he turned on the reproving eye? And wonder what Algy said back? Knowing him, he probably shrugged it off and grinned.