Biggles – Air Commodore by W. E. Johns was first serialized as Biggles Fights Alone over 10 issues of The Modern Boy issues 452 to 461, from 3 Oct 1936 to 5 Dec 1936. It was first published in book form by Oxford University Press in 1937. There have been 12 editions altogether in the English language, with the most recent being the 1994 edition by Red Fox under the title Biggles and the Secret Mission.
A graphic novel adaptation loosely based on the original plot was published in Dutch by Studio Vandersteen in 1965. Entitled Biggles in het verre oosten (Biggles in the Far East), it was the first of a series of Biggles comic strips by this publishing house.
Synopsis[]
British supply ships have been disappearing mysteriously in the Indian Ocean. Some people are inclined to dismiss these as accidents, but Biggles notices something peculiar. The final distress signal by the ships all seem to contain the same spelling error. Soon he is invited by the British government to test his suspicions in a hazardous secret mission.
Plot[]
Note: The sections below contain spoilers. In particular, the plot subpage (click here) has an extended summary of the narrative in the book
Characters[]
- Colonel Raymond
- Biggles
- Algy Lacey
- Ginger Hebblethwaite
- Mrs Symes
- Squadron Leader Tom Lowery
- Ramsay
- Giles
- Fellowes
- Jerry Laidshaw
- Gilson
- Lord Lottison
- Admiral Sir Edmund Hardy
- Air Marshal Sir Dugan Wales
- Commander Michael Sullivan
- Lieutenant Rupert Lovell
- Captain Angus McFarlane
- Chief Petty Officer Turrell
- Lea
- Ladgrove
- Gilmore
- Squadron Leader Gore-Alliston
Aircraft[]
- Storm amphibian
- Gannet flying boat
- single seat seaplane fighter
- Vickers Vildebeest
Ships[]
Places[]
Visited[]
- London
- Mount Street
- Simpson's Restaurant
- Lottison House
- Calcutta
- Dum Dum Airport
- Mergui Archipelago
- Hastings Island
- Elephant Island
- Tavoy
- Singapore
Mentioned[]
- Melbourne
- Shanghai
- Madras
- Akyab - Tom's letter to Biggles arrives there and is picked up by the Seafret.
- Rangoon - Tom's last point of departure before overflying the Mergui Archipelago.
- Jakarta - mentioned as Batavia
- Farnborough
- Manila
Research Notes[]
- Aerial Victories - Ginger shoots down a red seaplane using a mobile Lewis gun from the cockpit of the Storm amphibian. Algy seems to imply that this is Ginger's first kill.
References to the past[]
- Harry Marton
- Li Chi affair (The Oriental Touch)
Incongruities[]
- Biggles refers to having met up with a political officer named Gilson in Rangoon after the Li Chi affair, with a footnote to Biggles Flies Again (The Oriental Touch), however this is never mentioned in Flies Again but he does meet up with an espionage officer named Pat O'Neilson slightly later in Karachi who he briefly discusses Li Chi with (Three Weeks).
Chronology[]
Editions[]
International titles[]
- Czech: Biggles vzdušný komodor (Toužimský & Moravec 1939)
- Portuguese (Brazil): Biggles comodoro do ar (Ediçao da Livraria do Globo 1941)
- Norwegian: Biggles, lufthelten (N.W. Damm & Søn 1947)
- Danish: Biggles i hemmelig mission (Branner & Korch 1948)
- French: Biggles dans l'Ocean Indien (B. Arthaud 1953)
- Swedish: Biggles - Eskaderchef (Bonniers 1953, Wahlströms 1971)