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| Biggles Fails to Return Image from yabs.isambard.com.au |
I have often thought, by the way, that Tug
would have made an interesting fourth addition to Biggles’ team. He, like
Ginger, is different from Biggles and Algy in that he isn’t well off, and, like
Ginger in the early books, he has a tendency to do what he wants, when he
wants, and how he wants.
Angus, the often overlooked third flight
commander of 666, would also have been an interesting addition to the group.
Not only is he adept at being left behind to hold the reins (count all the
times during WWII when he is left in charge while Biggles, Algy, and often
Ginger go gallivanting off somewhere), he is also sarcastic and fiery-tempered,
as we learn from Spitfire Parade.
The first time Bertie really comes apart
from the others in the squadron is in Biggles
Fails to Return, when he joins Algy and Ginger in a secret mission to
rescue Biggles. His assistance is invaluable in that book, as he knows the area
in question quite well. But it does somewhat surprise me that Algy and Ginger
would have shared the details of Biggles’ need for rescue with Bertie—didn’t
they usually keep that sort of thing to themselves? In Burneo, for example, Biggles, Algy, and Ginger go off on their own
secret mission without inviting anyone else along.
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| Biggles Flying Detective/ Sergeant Bigglesworth, CID Image from qbd.com.au |
Why is Bertie the only one still in the
squadron office along with Biggles, Algy, and Ginger in the beginning of Sergeant Bigglesworth, CID? Biggles,
being squadron leader, would naturally be the last to leave, and with him Algy
and Ginger, but what is Bertie still doing there? And why is it that the others
left so fast? Surely a few more of them would have stayed behind for a chat or
a drink? It is interesting to note, too, that when Raymond comes in and offers
Biggles the chance to be an air detective, he comments that, “I don’t think you
need consult Algy and Ginger. Where you go they’ll go” with no mention of
Bertie.
It puzzles me that Biggles, who is so often
impatient at Bertie’s lack of intelligence (sorry, Bertie fans. Please don’t
hit me!), would choose Bertie as the fourth member of the team.
With their similar background and rank, it
wouldn’t surprise me if Bertie was closer to Algy than he was to (the highly
impatient) Biggles. In the air police books the two of them often go off to
investigate together while Biggles works on other aspects of the case with
Ginger. In Biggles Works It Out,
there is a brief mention of how Algy often teases Bertie for carrying a red
handkerchief, which suggests a friendly bantering type of relationship. In Biggles Hunts Big Game, it is also Algy
who expresses the most shock when receiving bad news about Bertie. Was it Algy
who suggested to Biggles that Bertie would be a good fourth member of the team?
You raise some very interesting questions!
ReplyDeleteAt the start of Fails to Return, Algy is about to tell Ginger that he, Algy, has been promoted to lead 666 squadron when Bertie just happens to come in and make some casual remark. Algy tells him to stop fooling or push off, but quite why Algy would encourage Bertie to come in, we are not told.
But presumably Bertie was the next most senior in the squadron after Algy and so might become second-in-command, and so Algy might hsve felt Bertie ought to know what was going on.
In In Borneo of course, Biggles had no intention of taking anybody along with him. Algy and Ginger decide to challenge this because they think he shouldn't go on his own in case anything goes wrong (and how right they were!). Bertie is in on Algy and Ginger's discussion, but declines to challenge Biggles - after all he doesn't know Biggles as well as Algy and Ginger do.
I think WEJ would have thought four was too many to go, and would deplete the squadron too much. In fact really it's surprising that Biggles agreed to both Algy and Ginger going with him, let alone anybody else. You would have thought that in a wartime story, Biggles would have insisted on his second-in-command staying behind to take charge.
As to the end of WWII, I always imagine that by the time Raymond arrives at the start of the story, they are long past the 'end of the war' celebrations and chats and drinks. As you say, Biggles would be the last to go and naturally Algy and Ginger would wait for him.
Bertie - well perhaps he had nowhere to go to, no close family left (a bit like Biggles at the end of WWI). So maybe he was hanging around hoping something would turn up.
Or maybe you are right and Algy had been a particular friend and had said 'Hang around, Biggles always gets us into some crazy scheme...'
It's interesting that Bertie is a Lord. Johns had introduced the working class and young Ginger to appeal to that demographic, so why then go to the other extreme with a member of the upper class? Was Johns trying to appeal to as broad a base as possible? Was he trying to keep the idea of Empire and British nobility alive at a time when it was coming under strain?
ReplyDeleteWhatever the reason, I'm still glad Johns did it - Bertie's a great character!
I think the combination of first and last stories in Spitfire Parade show that Johns was thinking of Bertie as another member of the team. In Fails to Return Bertie invites himself (as he does in Sergeant Bigglesworth). With Algy's tennis background, we might expect him to know the area, but that is given to Bertie.
ReplyDeleteI think I read somewhere that Bertie was put in to balance out people like Tug and Tex, who come from such different and not as well off backgrounds. I was surprised by that because I would have assumed that someone like Algy would have represented those upper-class people.
ReplyDeleteIn Fails to Return it's also strange that all three of them were allowed to go. With Biggles, that made four people absent from 666, and only Angus to hold the fort (poor Angus!)
Dash it. SA's given me an idea for a WWII Bertie fic. Sort of how Bertie got to join the team. Mind you, if he'd known what he was getting into, he might have run away as fast as possible and never looked back!
I love the idea that Bertie was at loose ends and Algy was a good enough friend that he invited him into the team.
ReplyDeleteAlgy's a good friend to everyone.
Wasn't it said that WEJ was trying to portray the type of people who were in the wars? Certainly a lot of men of Bertie's class were only too willing to join, so I think this is why Johns put Bertie in. As to why he was chosen as the fourth member of the team I haven't any thoughts on it at the moment, other than, of course, being a Bertie fan, I'm glad he did.
ReplyDeleteSC, Bertie's lack of intelligence?(Hatchet wielding emoticon here).He always comes up with the right thing to do when push comes to shove. I'd like to think Bertie is highly intelligent, he's just too laid back to think properly and just blurts out the first thing he thinks of.His 'silly ass' demeanour is more of a front than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI did say don't hit me...and if you read carefully, I said Biggles' impatience at Bertie's lack of intelligence, implying that that is what Biggles thinks, not me. :)
ReplyDeletePlease don't hit me *small voice*
Ok, I take it back and plead stress.Like a good student I should have read the question carefully before answering. With regard to your original question as to 'why Bertie' I think it's a case of group dynamics. Bravery, loyalty, trust etc, is not an issue as all the squadron had that in spades. But Bertie is quiet and unassuming and was quite content to fit in to whatever niche the group had for him. None of them have noisy characters and someone like Tug or Tex would have been constantly shattering their peace, I think.
ReplyDeleteAlgy perhaps saw Bertie as a companion to fool around with, as he could not with Biggles, who was his CO. A natural drifting together of like-minded individuals,it simply happened. From WEJ's point of view, at that time social class was still very much in place and perhaps he simply could not imagine Tex or Tug being so familiar with the others.
All good and valid points! I agree that of the four Bertie tends to be the most quiet and unassuming. He's not one to push himself forward or take charge of everything the way Biggles (and often Algy) does. Ginger, of course, is too bossy for words...Bertie is a good one for taking orders when in a team, and he can think on his feet when he's by himself. These are all good assets. I just find ti sad though he seems to have some aversion to thinking and leading (look how quickly he let Ginger take over in Defends the Desert).
ReplyDeleteHmm. Will have to think on that one.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you figure out! :P
ReplyDeleteI don’t know as it’s a case of Ginger taking charge in Sweeps the Desert as more of the fact that Bertie knows Ginger has the best idea of what to do. Bertie has never made any secret of the fact that he’s no good at thinking of ideas and this is one of his strengths. He has no intention of jeopardising a mission or lives by not taking advice, and this does not detract from his leadership one bit. So he asks for ideas. Ginger, of course, being Ginger comes up with something so Bertie goes along with it because no one else has any other ideas. But a nice touch, I think comes when Ginger says to Bertie “you’d better let me go first, I’ve had more experience at this sort of thing than you have. I know most of the tricks.” This indicates to me that he acknowledges Bertie’s position as commander but is saying he is the best man for the job, as indeed he is.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that Bertie's reply to that was, "Extraordinary fellow", indicating that he thought it was strange to be good at that type of thing!
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right, that's the impression I got too.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways I think Bertie could have led a very happy life just living at his estate and reading books by the fire between huntin' and fishin' with Gimlet. He's a good sport but I don't know if he really enjoyed all his adventures.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree that Bertie doesn't have good ideas, nor that he doesn't know what to do. When left to his own devices he does pretty well (better than Ginger usually).
ReplyDeleteOf the three who went to Monaco to rescue Biggles when he didn't come back, Bertie was the most successful: Algy got captured by the princess and Ginger got wounded in the leg. Bertie got it right and the princess then took Algy and Bertie to Biggles.
A lot of the time when Bertie appears to be making silly suggestions and gets squashed by Biggles I think he is just being lazy and saying the first thing that comes into his mind rather than thinking about it - and WEJ does like to feed Biggles the sort of line where Biggles can look superior in the air police books - too often, in my opinion.
Bertie probably secretly enjoys teasing Biggles too, as Biggles always reacts so predicably.
It was necessary for Bertie to shine in Fails to Return as it is the first time he really comes apart from the rest of the boys in 666. I don't know whether or not WEJ had planned for him to be the fourth member of Biggles' team as the story was set in WWII and Biggles didn't really need a team then, but just like Ginger seemed to have a Midas touch in Black Peril, everything Bertie does in Fails to Returns seems to be made of gold.
ReplyDeleteI'm highly suspicious of the way Algy was knocked on the head and captured and everything in that story. Algy is smarter than that!
I couldn't agree more Sopwith - that bit in Fails to Return always made me extremely cross. There's no way Algy would let himself get captured so easily - and then have to wait to be rescued by Bertie.I'm cross now even thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteAlgy is always the one who gets pushed to the background to make room for Ginger and Bertie, despite the fact that he's clearly the coolest of all of them. It's just too bad of WEJ. Algy was always the one who picked up the pieces whenever Biggles needed him to throughout the books, and he's never gotten enough credit for his awesomeness.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness there are sites like this one to redress the balance a bit... : - )
ReplyDeleteThis site shall remain resolutely Algy FOREVER. Maybe in time the books will come to be known as the Algy books instead of the Biggles books :)
ReplyDeleteSopwith, ever hopeful says "Maybe in time the books will come to be known as the Algy books instead of the Biggles books"
ReplyDeleteIn your dreams...
They will!!! They will!!!
ReplyDeleteWon't they? *small voice*
Ahem "small cough". This is about Bertie, Remember? B-E-R-T-I-E.
ReplyDeleteI know the chance of them calling it the Algy series is kind of slim, but I rather think that the likelihood of them calling it the Bertie series is even less, don't you? *smiles*
ReplyDeleteOf course the chances are slimmer, but that doesn't mean we Bertie fans should let you Algy fans take over what little mention he does get, particularly since in this case it's a BERTIE mystery. You can afford to be magnaminous, of course. Big cheesy smile here
ReplyDeleteI wonder why there are no rabid Ginger fans in the world? I mean, there are the Biggles fans, the Algy fans (obviously), and (some) Bertie fans. No Ginger fans? No one?
ReplyDeleteThis is maybe little late to say, but I am a Ginger fan. He's great, but he always gets into trouble... Biggles, Algy and Bertie are all good, but Ginger is the best.
ReplyDelete