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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[]

Aircraft[]

Ships[]

Places[]

Visited[]

Mentioned[]

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[]

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)
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