Fisticuffs

All kinds of confrontations in the works of W. E. Johns

All kinds of violent confrontations. Typical our friends had fire-arms but not always. Sometimes it is down to bare hands. The criteria for this list is an open confrontation. Silent and stealthy disposal of a guard, for example, comes under this other list of Stealthy Disposals. This list also does not count air to air engagements or air to ground engagements. Both parties are on on their feet or otherwise on the ground. For peacetime air to air/air to ground engagements see: Fisticuffs - airborne.

Story	Parties	Location	Remarks
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles, Algy, Ginger v. Gontermann's gang	Sanseviera	Chapter 16. Brief firefight at base of the gang in the sanseviera. Ends with Biggles lobbing two grenades and setting the buildings on fire.
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles v. Max Grindler	El Zufra	Chapter 17. Had an explosive ending.
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles v. Gontermann	Somewhere in the Sahara	Chapter 18.
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles v. Thom	iceberg in near Corbie Island	Chapter 9. Thom has just taken Biggles and Ginger prisoner. He throws two punches at Biggles, on the stomach and in the face, drawing blood.
Biggles' Second Case	Ginger v. U-517	Corbie Island	Chapter 11, 12. Biggles is lined up in front of a firing squad. Ginger commandeers the harpoon gun on a whaler and shoots it at the firing party, disrupting the proceedings and killing Thom. Simultaneously, Algy and some Norwegian sailors launch an attack from landward while Bertie attacks the U-517 from his Tarpon.
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles and co. v. U-527	Kerguelen	Chapter 14. "A three-sided battle" ... the U-517 attacks Algy and the men on a Norwegian whaler while Biggles, Ginger and Bertie, having landed nearby, snipe at the Germa submarine crew with rifles.
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles, Ginger, Bertie v. crew of U-527	Kerguelen	Chapter 17. Firefight on land around a bog. Algy later brings reinforcements.
Biggles Hunts Big Game	Bertie v. Kisumo	Kudinga	Chapter 8. Kisumo confronts Bertie and is about to shoot him but Bertie evades.
Biggles Hunts Big Game	Biggles and co. v gang at Kudinga	Kudinga	Chapter 16. Biggles and co. are in a tight corner at the power station of Kudinga. First a technician shoots at them. Then they are almost cornered in the building as a large force of enemy advance on them. They try to reach a plane but are cut off.
Biggles Takes a Holiday	Biggles, Ginger v. Liebgarten, von Stalhein	Paradise Valley	Chapter 9. Biggles and Ginger are taken prisoner by Liebgarten and von Stalhein but Biggles successfully turns the tables on them with the help of a decanter of sherry and a standard lamp.
Biggles Breaks the Silence	Biggles and co. v. Lavinsky's gang	Antarctica	Chapter 13-14. Firefight on the ice. Not much in the way of casualties. Ginger noted that the strange light made marksmenship difficult. Ended when Algy arrived with reinforcements.
Biggles Gets His Men	Ginger v. Ling Soo's guards	Manchuria	Chapter 11. Ginger encounters a guard who wants vodka from him. Ginger is hit several times. He is armed but does not retailiate because that would mean breaking his cover.
Biggles Gets His Men	Ginger v. Lunz	Manchuria	Chapter 12. Shoot out between Lunz and Ginger as he opens the door to the prison hut. Lunz misses. Ginger hits.
Biggles Gets His Men	Biggles and co. v. Ling Soo's guards	Manchuria	Chapter 15. What the chapter calls "The Battle of Kossuri". A general firefight.
Another Job for Biggles	Bertie v. pilot of a Moth	Aerodrome 137	Chapter 10. Bertie has a shootout with a pilot flying a Moth. The pilot attempts to take off but Bertie shoots out a tyre. The pilot then escapes on foot
Another Job for Biggles	Bertie v. Ambrimos and his gang	El Moab	Chapter 14. Bertie confronts Ambrimos at El Moab. They think he's crazy but he's got a blast up his sleeve.
Biggles Works It Out	Algy v. Canton	In a DC-3 over the Mediterranean	Chapter 10. Algy attempts to hijack Canton in a DC-3. A fist fight ensues. Algy prevails.
Biggles Works It Out	Algy, Bertie v. gold robbery gang	El Asile	Chapter 15. Algy and Bertie witness a Tuareg raid on El Asile. They then had to engage in a brief firefight of their own in order to secure water and cover the arrival of Biggles. Joudrier and French police arrive to mop up.
The Case of the Unknown Aircraft	Biggles. Ginger, Bertie v. crew of unknown aircraft	Nethy Marshes	Crewman of aircraft alights and is surprised to see Biggles. He draws a gun and fires. Biggles returns fire. Both miss. Crewman attempts to run but gets hit by propellor. Pilot attempts to take off with shattered propellor but is unsuccessful and crashes.
The Renegade	Biggles v. Vandor and his man	Marapang	Biggles holds up Vandor and cuts Alan MacDonald free. Later he sees Vandor's Malay foreman about to creep up on Alan MacDonald with a dagger. Biggles fires and shoots him dead, saving MacDonald.
The Renegade	Biggles v. Vandor's men	Marapang	During egress, Biggles and Alan MacDonald are pursued all the way to the lake. Biggles tosses two explosive charges at them.
Biggles Baits the Trap	Ginger v. robbery gang	Gatwick	Biggles is running off after snatching the pearls. Robbers pursue. Ginger fires two shots into the ground close to them to dissuade them.
Biggles Baits the Trap	Bertie v. robbery gang	Margon	Biggles and Ginger are confronted by the robbery gang at Margon. One of the gang is about to shoot Biggles but Bertie is there, disguised as a priest. He fires his revolver, shatters the arm of the robber who drops his pistol.
African Assignment	Biggles v. Hilda Steiner	Lake Ubeni	Biggles arrests the Steiners but Hilda resists and pulls a gun. She fires but Biggles steps aside and the shot ends up injuring the chief of the Ubeni tribbe.
[[All in the Day's Work]	Ginger v. foreign agent	Marignane	As the foreign agent is about to board a taxi, Ginger needs to prevent him from getting away. He "charged as if he had been on a football field" and knocked him to the ground. Ginger then snatched the portfolio of stolen documents and ran. The agent fired shots at him but missed.
[[All in the Day's Work]	Biggles v. Brund, Heckel	Sudd	As Biggles tries to arrest them, they resist arrest, one tried to snatch a rifle to shoot at Biggles but the rifle was not loaded. They run towards their aircraft. Biggles raises his pistol but does not fire because he knows they won't get far.
Biggles Makes Ends Meet	Biggles, Ginger v. an airport clerk	Kutaradja	Chapter 9. Biggles and Ginger confront a murder suspect at Kutaradja Airport. He produces a knife but Biggles is quicker with his gun and he is arrested and made to confess.
Biggles Makes Ends Meet	Biggles, Bertie v. smuggling gang member	island in the Nicobars	Chapter 14. Biggles and Bertie have to take down an unfortunate cook belonging to a smuggling gang. He might have given their position away. Bertie claps a pot of rice porridge over his head. Ginger felt sorry for the cook later.
Biggles Makes Ends Meet	Biggles, Algy, Bertie v. smuggling gang	island in the Nicobars	Chapter 17. Biggles, Algy and Bertie are cornered by a smuggling gang which also employs a DC-3 to drop bombs on them.
Biggles and the Black Raider	Biggles, Bertie, Algy v. Black Elephant's man	Bamboo swamp by Lake Albert	Chapter 7. A group of the Black Elephant's men charge at Biggles, Bertie and Algy. Our friends open fire but retreat to the Mosquito as as they are about to be overwhelmed.
Biggles and the Black Raider	Biggles, Bertie, Algy v. Black Elephant's man	Bamboo swamp by Lake Albert	Chapter 7. Continuation of the above attack. Biggles, Bertie and Algy retreat to the Mosquito. Bertie and Algy lift the taiplane, allowing Biggles to train and fire the aircraft's machine guns at the attackers, forcing them to retreat with multiple casualties.
Biggles and the Black Raider	Haynes, Biggles, Ginger, Bertie v. Bronnou	Near Latonga	Chapter 11. Haynes attempts to arrest Bronnou but he resists and shoots, injuring the officer. Biggles returns fire and Ginger also has to shoot one of Bronnou's men who is about to throw a spear at Biggles. Bronnou scuffles on the ground with Haynes, Biggles and Bertie until Ginger is able to subdue him by tying his legs with a length of tent cord.
Biggles in the Blue	Ginger v. Napoleon Morgan	Inagua	Chapter 7. Ginger meets Morgan who charges at him with a razor. Ginger already had his gun in his hand and fires instinctively, injuring Morgan.
Biggles in the Blue	Ginger, later Bertie v. Napoleon Morgan	Inagua	Chapter 11, 12. Ginger meets Morgan again, but Ginger's gun jams at the critical moment and things would have gone badly for him but fortunately Bertie arrives in time.
Biggles in the Gobi	Ginger, Algy, Kirghiz v. Chinese soldiers under Ma Chang	Nan-hu	Chapter 5. Ginger is captured by Ma Chang and beaten with a whip. Algy takes a shot at Ma Chang but misses but the shot seems to trigger an attack by some Kirghiz brigands who were in hiding. The Chinese troops are killed but Ma Chang escapes.
Biggles in the Gobi	Biggles and co. v. Chinese soldiers under Ma Chang	Nan-hu	Chapter 13. Bertie and later Algy use the machine guns in the turrets of the Halifax to hold off Ma Chang's troops while Ginger and the rescued missionaries get on board. Algy shoots Ma Chang down.
Biggles Cuts It Fine	Algy, Bertie, Ginger, Marcel v. unknown custodian of secret military base	Hog Island	Chapter 10. A brief firefight as our friends approach the secret military base in order to sabotage the radio.
Biggles Cuts It Fine	Ginger, Marcel v. unknown custodian of secret military base	Hog Island	Chapter 11. Ginger is trapped in a gun emplacement by the custodian. The latter notes Marcel approaching and sets up an ambush. Ginger shouts a warning to Marcel and a brief firefight ensues. The custodian disappears into the fog and was heard falling down some rocks. His ultimate fate remained unknown and indeed is not made clear in the rest of the book.
The Case of the Ivory Idol	Biggles and co., Hobbs v. Prince Yuan and Mr Kling	Kahore	After Hobbs reveals the true identity of the "Prince" and his hidden motives, Biggles confronts them. In fact he is ready for trouble--"His hand went casually into a side pocket". The Prince draws an automatic but Hobbs also has a revolver. "Two shots crashed as one" and the Prince is killed. Mr Kling tries to run away but Hobbs shoots him.
Biggles Buys a Watch	Biggles and Ginger v. Roderick McDew and unknown pilot	Dubh Chtai, Scotland	As Biggles and Ginger move in to arrest McDew and the pilot, McDew runs away but the pilot attempts to take off in his helicopter. Ginger shoots at the rotor and damages it enough so that it is grounded.
Biggles Foreign Legionnaire	Biggles and Ginger v. Arab assassins	Zebrit	Biggles and Ginger intervene to stop some assassins who are about to attack Marcel in a palm grove.
Biggles Foreign Legionnaire	Biggles and Ginger v. Cy Lindsay	Alexandria, Hotel Continentale	A brief scuffle with Cy Lindsay who is intent on killing anyone wearing the Aladdin's Lamp badge which Biggles and Ginger had on.
Biggles Foreign Legionnaire	Biggles, Ginge, von Stalhein v. Kurdish tribesmen	Valley of the Tartars	Chapter 14. Biggles, Ginger and von Stalhein hold off kurdish tribesmen from a fort.
Biggles in Australia	Biggles, Bill Gilson, Ginger v. group of aborigines	Outback south of Broome	Chapter 9. They are confronted by a group of aborigines. The situation becomes tense as Bill Gilson refuses to back down. One of the aborigines throws a spear but misses. Ginger defuses the situation by starting the Halifax and turning it to use the engines to blast sand at the hostile group and disperse them.
Biggles in Australia	Biggles, Bill Gilson, Ginger v. Roth and co.	Tarracooma	Chapter 10. Bill Gilson arrrests Roth but he refuses to go quietly and calls to his friends for help. Charlie reacts by drawing a knife, obliging Biggles to shoot him in the arm.
Biggles in Australia	Ginger, Bertie, Cozens v. group of aborigines	Daly Flats	Chapter 14. Ginger, Bertie and Cozens are confronted by a group of aborigines. The aborigines throw their spears and begin an attack, preventing Ginger and co. from getting back to their aircraft. The aborigines set the aircraft on fire and Ginger and co. are forced to retreat to the farmhouse.
Biggles in Australia	Ginger, Bertie, Cozens v. group of aborigines	Daly Flats	Chapter 15. The Battle of Daly Flats. As Smith and his men approach the farmhouse, the aborigines launch an all out assault. Ginger, Bertie and Cozens defend themselves from inside the farmhouse. The battle is finally decided when Ginger remembers the tear gas grenades which Smith kept in his armoury. Our friends toss the grenades which disperse the aborigines.