"'Mac was just talking about narrow escapes,' replied Mahoney.
'Narrow escapes? What are they?' asked Biggles curiously.
'Why, don't you have any?' inquired Algy Lacey, who had joined the squadron not long before.
'It depends on what you call "narrow",' Biggles replied."
--Biggles of 266
Really, Biggles! Pride does tend to go before a fall, you know!
Of course, as Biggles himself once said, as long as you escape, there's nothing to worry about, and if you don't escape, well, then you can't worry about much anyway, so why bother?
Very full of himself, as in another of the WWI stories where he lands his Camel feeling pleased with himself and doesn't realise he is talking (not at all politely) to a general.
ReplyDeleteThe general asks him if he has done any night flying. What does our full-of-himself-boy say but "Why, I go up every night to show the owls the way home."
Needless to say, he gets rather a shock when he finds out who he has been talking to, and also another mission. Serve's him right, you might say...
Which book was that in? How did I manage to miss a line like that???
ReplyDeleteBiggles in WWI seems to often be feeling pleased with himself. Algy does it too, on occasion.
Well, it is one of the Modern Boy stories - it may be in the book Air Ace, which encompassed the WWI stories that hadn't been collected into one or other of the books. I'll check later.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right - Algy also quite often feels pleased with himself, like near the beginning of Flies East - before he finds out that Biggles has been apparently posted to H.E.
And there is an occasion in one of the WWI tales when they fly home together exchanging light-hearted glances, or some such exchange - can't remember exactly what or exactly where, but they are both feeling pleased with themselves and life in general - so it must have been well before the end of the war, when life got more serious.
It is in Air Ace (originally in 'Modern Boy'). The story is called Biggles' Exciting Night.
ReplyDeleteWEJ wrote so many WWI stories for 'Modern Boy' and 'Boys Own Paper'. And serialised his books, from Condor, right through to the air police era.
Only a relatively small number of WWI stories were written for 'Popular Flying' (for young adults) plus the stories which go to make up Flies Again And many of these were subsequently republished in the boys' magazines, with refereneces to swearing and alcohol toned down!
To be fair, as long as you were alive at the end of the day in WWI, that was something to be pleased about, wasn't it? And if you'd shot someone down who was trying to shoot you down, that would have been something to be doubly pleased about.
ReplyDeleteI rather like the less-than-perfect, slightly big-headed Biggles of the early books. The very fact that he has flaws,(and a bit of an inflated ego) makes him seem so much more human.
ReplyDeleteHe could also be a bit snappy and rude to people back then too, but whatever his faults one never doubted his courage....
When it came to flying he may have thought he was the bee's knees - but the thing is, he was probably right.
I'm surprised Mac and Mahoney never sat on him. They were the senior flight commanders, and presumably knew more than he did.
ReplyDeleteSA said:
ReplyDeleteVery full of himself, as in another of the WWI stories where he lands his Camel feeling pleased with himself and doesn't realise he is talking (not at all politely) to a general.
The point WEJ makes, is that if the general had come along a couple of minutes later it would not have happened. Johns says it is because he is there as Biggles lands. Like an actor who needs a minute before coming out for a bow, a flyer needed a minute to "come to" after a sortie.
Johns says: "Biggles frowned, as with the reaction of his fight wearing off, his manner suddenly returned to normal."
Thank you ShirleyJay - I hadn't realised that but now you point it out, it is very telling. The young pilots must have keyed themselves up so much to go up and fight, always wondering if it might be 'their turn', and to return in one piece, as Sopwith said a few posts back, would be enough...
ReplyDeleteEach of those "uncollected" stories gave another important snippet of information. Strange they were not thought important enough to publish in a book, and then in the 300 edition from Norman Wright. Each of them helped to round out the character of Biggles.
ReplyDeleteIn that story, Biggles had gone out to down a particular enemy who had been causing trouble. He must have been even more than usually keyed up.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Johns knew he was creating a character in Biggles when he was writing the early stories? Quite a lot of the WWI stuff must have come from personal experience (or at least, rumors overheard in the mess and that sort of thing).
ReplyDeleteSo does it follow that most pilots tended to be boastful when returning from an OP? I've heard that quite a few of them spent all their time between patrols drinking and smoking, so their heads can't have been that clear, add to that the natural craziness of teenagers, and it's a wonder anyone ever got anything done at all!