Biggles

James Bigglesworth, better known in flying circles as "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer created by W. E. Johns. He first appeared in the story "The White Fokker", published in the first issue of Popular Flying magazine, in 1932. The first collection of Biggles stories, The Camels are Coming, was published that same year. The series was continued until the author's death in 1968, eventually spanning nearly a hundred volumes - includin... more

James Bigglesworth, better known in flying circles as "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer created by W. E. Johns. He first appeared in the story "The White Fokker", published in the first issue of Popular Flying magazine, in 1932. The first collection of Biggles stories, The Camels are Coming, was published that same year. The series was continued until the author's death in 1968, eventually spanning nearly a hundred volumes - including novels and short story collections - most, but not all, of the latter with a common setting and time frame. Biggles first appears as a teenaged scout (fighter) pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during World War I. He has joined the RFC in 1916 at the young age of 17, having conveniently "lost" his birth certificate. W.E. Johns was himself a First World War pilot, although his own career did not parallel that of Biggles particularly closely. There are however some episodes in the WW1 Biggles stories which may be autobiographical. The... less