Well, to begin with, he would have been walking for a long, long time (especially if he actually did set out from Yorkshire and was trying to walk to London through Newcastle). Having little or no money on him, he would have no doubt done quite a lot more "food finding" along the way, which would likely have resulted in an arrest sooner or later.
Wearing rags he would have been unlikely to get commissioned into the Royal Air Force, which I believe was his first port of call:
"'What are you going to London for?'
'To join the Royal Air Force. If they won't have me, I'm going to Heath Row to watch the air-liners.'"
--Biggles and the Black Peril
Is "watch" another Ginger-word for "steal"? I wouldn't put it past him!
Either way, I don't see any way that Ginger's life would have been better for not meeting Biggles and Algy. I can think of dozens of scenarios where the inevitable ending is Ginger getting arrested and thrown into jail for being too clever for his own good.
Ooh interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right - things might have turned out pretty bleak for Ginger whatever he tried. Jobs were thin on the ground back then and times were hard for a lot of poeple. A ragamuffin turning up at an airport with dreams of flying would probably not have been taken very seriously by anyone.
Unless he happened to turn up at Brooklands where he watched a Vickers Vandal land, and just happened to help out the pilot who just happened to be called Biggles.... : - )
I think if he ended up in jail his resourcefulness would soon get him out. Or at the very least he'd end up as top dog!
ReplyDeleteBut I think JJ's on the right track. Sooner or later he would have heard of Biggles and made it his business to get involved.
But why would Biggles or Algy take any notice of him at any airfield? As it says in Black Peril, "Algy took no notice; [of Ginger] he was accustomed to the curious stares of small boys".
ReplyDeleteSomebody will have to write the alternative story :-)))
Ginger had already heard of Bigglesworth. When Biggles found Ginger's hut and gave his name Ginger said "Bigglesworht. Not the war pilot by any chance" and later "I know all about you so you needn't tell me any more". hero worship had obviously started long before.
ReplyDeleteI think that had Ginger not met and helped Biggles out at a dire moment, he would have been unlikely to become as close to Biggles and Algy as he eventually did. Neither Biggles or Algy would have been likely to notice Ginger very much under other circumstances.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, reading that quote about how Algy took no notice of the stares of small boys annoys me suddenly. I've never really thought about it before, but Biggles was 17 when he began flying, and Algy perhaps 18. Ginger was 16 at the time of Black Peril, hardly a small boy! "Small boy" makes him sound like an 8 year old!
Ginger is described as about 15 or 16 in Black Peril - but given his background I wouldn't be surprised if he was small for his age.
ReplyDeleteI think Ginger would have made it as a pilot somehow. In Black Peril his knowledge of aviation surprises Algy and it was all self-directed learning. It's obvious that his father didn't encourage that avenue, given that he hit him for wanting to be a pilot.
I doubt that he was THAT small. He was brought up in a mining village and a mining family, so if anything, he should be on the hefty side rather than otherwise. He would be unlikely to have hands like a girl's, for example...
ReplyDeleteGinger could well have been malnourished. Given the fact that it was the mid-thirties, his father's attitude and the fact it was the poverty-stricken north I think he would have been lucky if he got one square meal a week (possibly given by a motherly neighbour). I don't think he would have been hefty, a lot of children in those circumstances were suffering from vitamin deficiencies, etc.
ReplyDeleteIn Black Peril when Ginger is trying to persuade Algy that he Ginger should do the reconnaissance
ReplyDeletearound the crooks house, the reason he gives is that: "For one thing, you are twice as big as I am and therefore twice as likely to be seen."
Algy is often described as slim, and of a similar build to Biggles, so he is not a giant.
Most fifteen year olds are usually pretty near their full height so I think it can be accepted poor Ginger was small for his age and undernourished - he probably looked a lot younger than he actually was.
Wonder if he met a growth spurt after he fell in with Biggles and Algy.
I thought that was just Ginger being rude...
ReplyDeleteHe must have done some growing after he met Biggles and Algy. There's one book where Mrs Symes brings up tea for four because she thinks Raymond will stay for tea, but he doesn't, and Biggles says, never mind, Ginger can manage his share.
So Ginger must have eaten quite a lot. More than Algy, even.
Or he's basically honest, only steals to survive but ends up down the pits. And once WWII started he wouldn't have had a chance to get out until after the war. By then it might have been too late.
ReplyDeleteHe might have ended up as a happy miner with a nice wife and ten kids...
ReplyDeleteVery true, and that would be lovely for him, but would he have been able to let go of his wish to join the RAF? Would he have been content?
ReplyDeleteWell, we all have might-have-beens. Biggles was going to collect stamps until he joined the RFC.
ReplyDeleteIf Ginger had never met Biggles he wouldn't even be called 'Ginger'!
ReplyDeleteHe'd be going around still using his embarrassing first name, whatever that might be.
"Hello, my name's Habblethwaite Hebblethwaite"
Poor kid ..it would have a detrimental effect on his life if everyone sniggered whenever he introduced himself....
Good point--I hadn't thought of the name issue. But with his ginger hair wouldn't it be inevitable that someone somewhere along the way would call him Ginger, or Carrot-top, or Firebrand or whatever else name red haired people get?
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, he would probably simply say his name was "Hab"...
As long as nobody starts with 'ranga'!
ReplyDeleteHe might have taken a name from his favourite gangster movie. Can't think of one myself but I bet someone else will be able to.
ReplyDelete'Scar-face Hebblethwaite' hmm - I suppose it does have a cetain ring to it.... and if he didn't have a scar he could always draw one on ....
ReplyDeleteDon't they usually have "gun" somewhere in their name? Six-shooter Luke, or Topgun Mark, that sort of thing? :P
ReplyDelete