The Adventure of the Golden Shirts is the 12th short story in the Biggles - Charter Pilot , published in 1943. The story first appeared in Boy's Own Paper in May 1942 under the title The Mystery of the Golden Shirts. In Charter Pilot, this story is preceded by The Adventure of the Haunted Creek and followed by The Adventure of the Inquisitive Dodos.
As far as is known, this story was not adapted in comic form by French publisher Artima (later Aredit), something which was done with many other stories in Charter Pilot.
Synopsis[]
Ginger explains to his 666 Sqn mates his motivation for collection newspaper clippings of unusual stories and narrates an experience when Biggles and friends search in Southeast Asia for a community whose inhabitants used body armour made of gold.
Plot[]
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Dr Duck cross references two newspaper clippings from his files: a ten year old report of a shark which had been caught. Inside its stomach was piece of what experts thought was a piece of ancient armour. It was made of gold discs tied together with fish sinews. Five years later, there was a second report of a British destroyer which had come across the body of a white man in a canoe floating in the Indian Ocean. He was wearing an intact garment also made of gold discs. Dr Duck studies the pattern of oceans currents with the intention of tracing the origin of the canoe. The track passes through far too many islands in Southeast Asia but Biggles and co. decide to try searching anyway.
After passing through Rangoon and Penang, they end up in Surabaya where Biggles has a brainwave. He had spoken with a Chinese merchant and had bought an old gold coin, dated 1717, minted by V.O.C., the Dutch East Indies company. Flattened with a hammer, the coin became a disc of the same size as found on the armour. From the Dutch records office, Biggles learns that in 1718, a ship, the Van Husen had sailed from the Netherlands for the East Indies with 11 barrels of gold coins dated 1717 intended as pay for the Dutch garrisons. The ship had called at Batavia and then was never seen again.
The Chinese merchant had found the coin at Gelden Island, so Biggles and co. head there. After landing, Ginger spots the wreck of a ship but they are soon attacked by a group of men all clad in gold armour. Biggles disables a large man who had charged at him with a cutlass. They drag the man on board the Wanderer and head for Batavia to hand the man to the Dutch authorities.
It turns out the inhabitants of Gelden island were the descendants of the original crew and passengers the Van Husen. Their ancestors had decided to bolt with the gold but the ship had been wrecked on Gelden Island. The survivors, which included some women, had set up a colony but had found no use for the gold except to make armour to protect themselves from attacks by natives.
The Dutch authorities eventually helped the inhabitants re-establish the colony on modern lines. According to Ginger, Biggles and co. had been dealt with generously when they put in a claim for the gold and so, this was one of the rare occasions when Dr. Duck's adventures ended up with the expedition in the black.
Characters[]
Narrated story[]
- Biggles
- Algy
- Ginger
- Dr Augustus Duck
666 Sqn personnel in preamble[]
- Angus Mackail
- Bertie Lissie
- Tex O'Hara
Aircraft[]
- Wanderer