“’What’ll you have to drink?’ invited Biggles.
‘Have you any ginger ale?’
‘I shouldn't think so,’ replied Biggles. ‘We don’t get much demand for it.’”
--“The Boob”, Biggles, Pioneer Air Fighter
And remember his mother’s letter to
Biggles?
“…see he changes his laundry regularly, doesn't drink, doesn't get mixed up with the French minxes, and a dozen other ‘ doesn'ts’.”
--“The Boob”, Biggles, Pioneer Air Fighter
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| Algy (on the left) getting some flying advice from Biggles "The Boob" Image from http://www.algylacey.0catch.com/ |
Just what happened to Algy during WWI? By
the time the inter-war years roll round, with Ginger hanging about, Algy is drinking,
smoking (in fact, as Biggles informs us in Goes
to War, Algy is “smoking too much”. Smoking too much! From Biggles! Who can
smoke ten cigarettes in about five minutes! And appears to have whole pockets
filled with expensive cigarette cases!), and (if we are to believe Rescue Flight) certainly not changing
his laundry regularly. The only thing he seems to have not done is get mixed up
with the French minxes. But then again, he saw first-hand what happened to
people who got mixed up with French minxes, so no doubt that put him off.
Why would Algy who “treated the war as a
joke” and showed no sign of nerves need to drink or smoke? And who was it that
poured him his first drink? And gave him his first cigarette?
By the way, I often wonder if Tug’s aversion to alcohol
in Spitfire Parade was a deliberate
echo of Algy’s request for ginger ale. Of course, Tug has good reason to avoid
drink in any case, as his father was an alcoholic, but I like to think of Johns
going through his WWI short stories and putting some aside to recycle for WWII,
then coming across “The Boob” and thinking, “That’s Algy’s. Can’t recycle that.
But maybe I can tweak it a bit…” (Recall that Tug also shot down his first Hun
within the first day of arrival to his new squadron. Though I think Tug had
had war flying experience before, so Algy is still way cooler.)
What happened to Algy? I expect he grew up - fast!!!!
ReplyDeletePilots nearly all smoked and drank (and played pranks...). Well, I suppose the latter wasn't exactly grown up. Rather public schoolboy-ish. But they had to let off steam somehow, when they knew every day might be their last.
And as to who offered him his first drink and cigarette - bound to be Biggles don't you think :-)
"I won't tell your mother if you don't..."
"I won't tell your mother if you don't..."
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that have been said about most of their adventures together?? :D
I wonder what Mrs. Lacey had to say when she saw Algy after the war doing all the things he shouldn't have done.
ReplyDelete"Cousin Biggles made me do it..."