Brilliant Bertie: Chased By A Tiger

More from the Algy-and-Bertie-packed Works It Out. Here is Bertie sharing a recurring nightmare he had as a child with Biggles, Algy, and Ginger:

"When I was a kid I used to dream a tiger was after me. There I was, all alone, no gun, nowhere to go, not even a bally tree to climb, with the horrid brute, all teeth and hair, getting closer and closer till I could feel its hot breath on my--"
"Okay--okay," broke in Biggles impatiently. "What are you trying to do--give yourself a nervous breakdown? I gather it never caught you?"
"Not quite. I always woke up just in time."
Biggles sighed. "What a pity."

--Biggles Works It Out

Really, Biggles! You're getting to be as rude as Ginger!  I love Bertie's description of his dream, though.

Great Biggles Mysteries #8: Which Eye Does Bertie Have The Monocle?

Astoundingly, although Bertie’s monocle is constantly referred to (at least in the first few books he was in), there is no clue as to which eye the monocle was placed in. Was it even the same eye, or did he alternate eyes at times?

Bertie
Image from nerfherder.fateback.com/

The business of the monocle has puzzled on so many fronts. First of all, how would one wear it? It looks to me like a piece of glass attached to a chain, with nothing to hold it in place when it’s in the eye. No wonder Bertie’s often fell out in moments of stress!

Secondly, we know from Spitfire Parade that Bertie flew with (or should that be “in”) a monocle. Wouldn’t that be awkward when he had to stare into the sun for signs of enemy planes? Wouldn’t the monocle work like a magnifying glass and set fire to his eye?

Is Bertie even short-sighted enough to need a monocle, anyway? He’s constantly mentioned to be a good marksman, which I always thought had to be people with fairly good vision in both eyes. Does he take the monocle off when he goes huntin’ with Gimlet? And if not, which eye does he sight with? The monocled one or the non-monocled one?

Great Biggles Mysteries #7: Why Bertie?

At the risk of bringing the wrath of Bertie fans worldwide on my head, does anyone have any thoughts as to why Bertie was chosen to be the fourth member of the team over all other members of 666?

Biggles Fails to Return
Image from yabs.isambard.com.au

I don’t know whether or not Johns initially intended for Bertie to join the team when he penned Spitfire Parade. Certainly Bertie is the first character introduced in that book, and he is also a flight commander, the same as Algy. When Ginger is ticked off for stunting in his Spitfire over another squadron, it is Bertie and Algy who dress up as brass hats to teach the squadron’s acting C.O. a lesson. And in “Bertie Picks the Lock”, the last story of Spitfire Parade, it is Bertie who volunteers to take over Biggles’ mission when Biggles is unable to go. Are these clues of Johns’ future intentions, or simply coincidence?

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.

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?

Character Close-Up: Bertie's First Appearance

I feel like it's time I posted a character close-up of Bertie, as he seems to have been sadly neglected until now.

Bertie from Biggles' Second Case
Image from yabs.isambard.com.au/

The first time we meet Lord Bertie Lissie is in Spitfire Parade, where he more than lives up to Raymond's description of him as "mad as a hatter":

"...a tall, slim young man in Air Force uniform, bearing the badges of rank of a Flight Lieutenant on his sleeve. Over his left arm, in disarray, hung a bundle of flying kit. His jacket was undone, revealing a yellow suede hunting waistcoat with silver, crested buttons. In his hand he held a small brass hunting horn."

--Spitfire Parade

Looks like he's untidy enough to be a friend of Algy's!

We further learn that:

"Nobody, not even his best friend, would have called Lieutenant Lord Bertie Lissie handsome, or his face a strong face...his small aristocratic features had...once inspired an adaption of his name to 'Cissy'. But only once. Such decorations as his face boasted, a wisp of hay-colored moustache and a rimless eyeglass, did nothing to correct this impression, however. But his eyes were extraordinarily blue and curiously bright."

--Spitfire Parade

Somehow I find it hard to imagine Bertie with facial hair. I always thought of him as being a clean-shaven sort of chap. Also, since he's the same rank as Algy, doesn't that make him Captain Lord Bertie Lissie? Strange.

He greets Biggles with, as Johns informs us, "a slight lisp", a speech characteristic that he mercifully seems to have lost in later books.

Biggles' brief conversation with his new flight commander is not encouraging. After Bertie leaves, Biggles' immediate reaction is, "That fellow's off his rocker...if the rest of the officers they send along are anything like him...this won't be a squadron, it'll be a madhouse." And then, slightly later, as the reality of meeting Bertie finally sinks in, "'What have I done to deserve this?' [Biggles] whispered plaintively."

One feels compelled to point out that his initial reaction to Algy was similarly negative!

Bertie and the Paperchase

Bertie’s squadron has been detailed to do propaganda work, dropping leaflets over the German side of the lines. But now two Fokkers are attacking him, and his guns have jammed. Could this be the end of the road?

New Bertie short story posted!

Just to remind you, these short stories assume that Bertie fought and flew in France in WWI, so don't be surprised to find him young and monocle-less.

Click here to read Bertie and the Paperchase.

Great Biggles Mysteries #2: What Is Bertie’s Full Name?

Cover of Biggles: Spitfire Parade.
Image links to Amazon

Bertie first appears in Spitfire Parade, the “devil with a Spitfire and wizard with a gun but mad as a hatter” addition to Biggles’ team. He bursts into Biggles’ office blowing a hunting horn and looking for his dog. Whereupon W. E. Johns informs us,

“Nobody, not even his best friend, would have called Lieutenant Lord Bertie Lissie handsome, or his face a strong face.”

 And afterwards, for the rest of the war and all the Air Police books thereafter, Bertie is simply Bertie. Like Ginger, his nickname has become his only name.

What is Bertie short for? Bertram? Albert? Cuthbert, even? Or could it possibly be something like Bernard? Or, is it something horrific like Habblethwaite Hebblethwaite, so he decided to keep it a secret for life?