Kill or Be Killed

Kill or Be Killed

This list will be uncomfortable reading for some. Our friends have often been called upon to kill in the course of their duties. At other times they have had to take actions which directly or indirectly lead to the death or injury to those opposing them. This list does not attempt to explore the intentionality or the ethics. These require in depth research into the context surrounding each incident.

Story	Parties	Location	Remarks
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Bertie v. von Zoyton/Scaroni	Enroute from sanseviera to Khartoum	Chapter 16. The Wolf is intercepted and shot down by Bertie in the Spur. Scaroni is killed. Von Zoyton seriously wounded. Later escapes from hospital.
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles v. Grindler	El Zufra	Chapter 17. Indirect. Biggles and Grindler engage in a shootout. Grindler steps into a dellhole where landmines had been stacked and they detonate.
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles v. Preuss	Castel Benito	Chapter 18. Preuss just tried to crash his Swan into Biggles' Spur which is touching down on the runway. Biggles evaded by going around. Biggles and then turns and shoots Preuss as he alighted from his aircraft and attempted to run away. Most likely Preuss was killed: "...he ran on, with bullets tearing up the sand around him; then he crashed headlong, and after roling over and over like a shot rabbit, lay still."
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles/Ginger v. Baumer/Gontermann	Somewhere in the Sahara	Chapter 18. Biggles/Ginger in the Spur intercept the Renkell transport and shoot it down. Baumer is killed in the crash.
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.	Biggles v. Gontermann	Somewhere in the Sahara	Chapter 18. Gontermann parachutes to the ground. Biggles confronts him. He pretends to surrender and then pulls a gun. Biggles is ready and evades while returning fire. Gontermann is killed.
Biggles' Second Case	Ginger v. crew of U-517	Corbie Island	Chapter 12. Biggles is about to be executed by a firing squad. Ginger commandeers a harpoon gun on the whaler and shoots it at the firing party which scatters. Thom is impaled by the harpoon and is killed outright. A free fight breaks out on the whaler and ALgy and some norwegian sailors also attack from the landward side. In the ensuing fight, some U-517 crew would probably have been killed, but we don't know the details.
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles v. crew of U-517	Kerguelen	Chapter 14. Biggles's first depth charge attack deals the U-517 "a glancing blow across the bows before half burying her under foam which swept across her deck and carried overboard at least two members of a gun crew." What happened to these 2?
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles v. crew of U-517	Kerguelen	Chapter 14. Biggles's first depth charge attack deals the U-517 "a glancing blow across the bows before half burying her under foam which swept across her deck and carried overboard at least two members of a gun crew." What happened to these 2?
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles v. crew of U-517	Kerguelen	Chapter 17. After the U-517 crew rejects Biggles's terms of surrender, Biggles strafes them with the machien guns on the Tarpon. One killed and one other wounded.
Biggles' Second Case	Biggles, Ginger, Bertie v. crew of U-517	Kerguelen	Chapter 17. During a firefight on the ground, Biggles brings down one, Bertie and Ginger a second. Some more are killed later but we don't have the details.
Biggles Breaks the Silence	Ginger v. Lavinsky's gang	Antarctica	Chapter 14. Throughout the firefight, there have been no serious casualties except Grimy getting a flesh wound. however Algy lands in the middle of the battle and some of Lavinsky's gang advance on his aircraft. Ginger runs towards the aircraft "firing past it with his automatic at some men who had jumped up and were making towards it. One of them fell...."
Biggles Gets His Men	Ginger v. Lunz	Manchuria	Chapter 12. Ginger is suspicious that the hut where the prisoners are is so quiet and dark. He carefully opens the door and switches on the light but keeps the switch at arms length. Lunz fires a shot at the switch but Ginger is not there. Ginger fires back and kills him.
The Case of the Unknown Aircraft	Biggles v. crew of unknown aircraft	Nethy Marshes	Indirect. 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. Both die.
The Renegade	Biggles v. Vandor's man	Marapang	Biggles sees Vandor's Malay foreman about to creep up on Alan MacDonald with a dagger. Biggles fires and shoots him dead, saving MacDonald.
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. At least some of the attackers are hit: "A native pitched headlong".
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. An indeterminate number were hit. As the text says, the attackers retreat, "those that were able to". When the attackers left, they took their casualties with them.
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. Text is silent about whether Biggles hits Bronnou. Ginger also has to shoot one of Bronnou's men who is about to throw a spear at Biggles. Ginger hits him but he is not mortally wounded: "the bullet having grazed a rib".
Biggles and the Black Raider	Haynes, Biggles, Ginger, Bertie v. Black Elephant's men	Near Latonga	Chapter 12. The Black Elephant's men hide in some elephant grass with their stolen cattle. Our friends stampede the cattle with their aircraft. The Black Elephant's gang to flee in terror, an indeterminate number are injured by the stampeding cattle.
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. "Morgan sprawled past him, stumbled, and crashed headlong...." It turns out that Morgan was only slightly injured after being hit in the arm.
Biggles in the Blue	Ginger, then Bertie v. Napoleon Morgan	Inagua	Chapter 11, 12. Ginger meets Morgan again but Ginger's gun jams. Morgan advances and things get critical. Bertie approaches and spots them at about 10 yards. "Bertie did not hesitate. There was no time for refelction, or even a challenge. Jerking out his gun he snapped a shot...." killing Morgan.
Biggles in Australia	Biggles v. Charlie	Tarracooma	Chapter 10. After Bill Gilson arrests Roth, Charlie whips out a knife. Biggles already has his gun in his hand. "Biggle hardly moved. His gun crashed...." Charlie is hit in the arm and drops his knife. The injury is slight.
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 open fire from the farmhouse and ..."two or three aborigines fell". Smith runs towards the house but is hit by a spear from a pursuing aborigine. He "also went down, hit perhaps by three bullets, for everyone (Ginger and co.) fired at him."
Biggles in the Gobi	Biggles, Bertie vs MiG	Gobi	Chapter 12. The MiG tried to attack Biggles' Halifax but Bertie, in the rear turret, shoots him down. The MiG crashed in flames. No parachute seen. "'Nice work, chum,' Biggles told Bertie, in the unemotional voice of one who has seen this dreadful spectable many times before." They didn't really relish the moment but as Biggles says, "This is no time to be squeamish."
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. "Algy could have asked for no better target. 'Ah!' he breathed, and his guns streamed a long burst, longer than was really necessary...." Later he tells Biggles he feels a bit limp.
Biggles in the Gobi	Biggles and co. v. Yak fighter	Gobi	Chapter 13. During the egress, Bertie, Ginger and Algy use the machine guns in the turrets of the Halifax to fight off an attacking Yak fighter. It was seen to trail grey vapour but the results are unknown.
**Biggles and the Pirate Treasure (short story)	Biggles v. crewman of yacht	Madagascar	Biggles and co. attempt to arrest the crew of a yacht. He orders them to stay below but an arm appears holding a revolver. "Biggles's pistol spat." "The arm was snatched back." We have no futher details of the injury but presumably the person survived.
**Night Flight	Ginger v. passenger on the Planet	Enroute	Ginger, playing the role of an air steward, discovers that a G two passengers (a German couple and would be hijackers) are wearing gas masks. He tears off the mask of the woman but the man attacks him and tries to draw a gun. Ginger fires first. "The man crumpled".
The Case of the Flying Clown	Biggles v. Nemo	Paris	Nemo, standing on the wing of a biplane which Biggles is piloting, pulls a gun on Biggles when he realises that Biggles his plot has been uncovered. Biggles, who is unarmed, has to thrown him off balance by manoeuvring and then goes into a slow roll to throw him off. Nemo falls to his death.
Biggles Foreign Legionnaire	Ginger v. Kurdish tribesmen	Fort in the Valley of the Tartars	Chapter 14. Biggles, Ginger and von Stalhein are holding off Kurdish tribemen from a fort. In the middle of the night, one Kurdish tribesman manages to sneek into the fort (apparently by scaling the wall to reach the upper level). Ginger spots him as he creeps down the spiral stairs and shoots him.