Book description
He tilted the machine on to its side, holding up his nose with the
throttle, and commenced to slip wing-tip first towards the ground.
Whether he was over British or German territory he neither knew nor
cared; he had to get on to the ground or be burnt alive.
This is the story of the very beginning - of the Air Service and of
Biggles. It's the First World War and Biggles is just 17; the planes
are primitive; combat tactics are non-existent; and pilots and their
gunners communicate by hand signals and have no contact with the
ground. This is where Biggles learns his craft and finds he has a
certain aptitude for flying in battle...
Captain W. E. Johns was born in Hertfordshire in 1893. He flew with
the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and made a daring escape
from a German prison camp in 1918. Between the wars he edited Flying and
Popular Flying and became a writer for the Ministry of Defence. The
First Biggles story, Biggles the Camels are Coming was published in
1932, and W. E. Johns went on to write a staggering 102 Biggles titles
before his death in 1968.
