The Scorer Posted 8 March , 2016 Share Posted 8 March , 2016 This is subtitled "The Life of Captain W E Johns" and is written by Peter Berresford Ellis and Piers Williams. I've just finished it, and I would like to say that it was very enjoyable. Applying my first law (You should always learn something new about the subject") yet again, this does exactly that, as I've found out a lot of new things about Bill Johns - and it's proved to me that I actually didn't know much about him at all! Although James Bigglesworth was a fictional character (oh, no, he wasn't; oh, yes, he was!), some of the stories are based on some of W E John's own experiences in the First World War. However, Bill Johns didn't start the war in the air but on the ground, as he served in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry) in Gallipoli and in Salonika between 1915 and 1917, and didn't actually become a pilot until 1918. He finished the war as a prisoner of war, having been shot down in September 1918, and left the Royal Air Force in 1919 after a short spell as a Recruiting Officer. However, he re-joined the RAF in 1920 and served until 1927, when he retired with the rank of Flying Officer. Another thing I didn't know was that his "rank" of Captain was completely self adopted, as he was never a Captain in the Royal Flying Corps and the rank didn't exist in the RAF. The book then goes on to tell how he became an author and how his most famous character (and all the others) were created. Another thing I didn't know is that he was a prolific writer of stories for magazines (and the editor of two of them), and also wrote many books on what would now be called "adult" themes, allowing that the "Biggles", "Worrals" and "Gimlet" stories were aimed at children. The book gives many details of his private and family life, which ended with his death in 1968 at the age of 75. There's quite a lot in the book about the efforts of many people to "write off" the characters and to accuse Bill Johns of racism, sexism and a few other "isms". These attempts are dealt with by the authors and rejected, and this is a good thing in my opinion. As I say, I enjoyed reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone. Incidentally, the second author's name is the pen name for Jennifer Schofield, so you might see a book with the same title under these two names; it is, however, the same book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 9 March , 2016 Share Posted 9 March , 2016 Top hole appreciation of a fascinating man. Than you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 9 March , 2016 Share Posted 9 March , 2016 Although James Bigglesworth was a fictional character (oh, no, he wasn't; oh, yes, he was!), I'd always thought he was, at least in part, based on Wellesley Bigsworth, CMG, DSO*, ex-RNAS, with whom Johns had worked at the Air Ministry post-war. Another illusion shattered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 10 March , 2016 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2016 I'd always thought he was, at least in part, based on Wellesley Bigsworth, CMG, DSO*, ex-RNAS, with whom Johns had worked at the Air Ministry post-war. Another illusion shattered! Well, the jury seems to be out on exactly who the character of James Bigglesworth was based on, at least according to the book. There's a chapter dealing with his creation, and it says that in the forward to "The Camels Are Coming", which was the first book (1932), Johns wrote "Captain James Bigglesworth is a fictitious character, yet he could have been found in any RFC mess during those great days of 1917 and 1918 ... ". The authors also say that Johns once stated that Bigglesworth was something like the name of the officer he had in mind. According to Mrs Marjorie Ellis (who was the sister of his second "wife" - they weren't actually married), that officer was Air Commodore C G Wigglesworth CB, AFC (1893 - 1961), whose long and distinguished career included serving during the First World War in both the RNAS and the RAF. This is a link to a short biography of the Air Commodore: http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/WigglesworthC.htm which rather sadly doesn't mention Biggles at all! Later in the same chapter, it records the following comment: " "In a way", admitted Johns during an interview, "He is myself" ", although it doesn't say to whom the interview was given or when it was given. It seems that Wellesley Bigsworth, CMG, DSO*, can also be seen as a candidate, for as you say, Johns worked with him at the Air Ministry in the early 1920s. However, I think that it's fair to say that (as is the case in many, if not all, fictional characters) he was a mixture of several people, and we'll never know exactly where the inspiration came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 10 March , 2016 Share Posted 10 March , 2016 Useless trivia: Cecil Wigglesworth served in Iceland during the Second World War alongside a rather superannuated Flight Lieutenant Air Controller called John B.C. Lamburn. He was the Bury-born author and naturalist brother of Richmal Crompton Lamburn and allegedly the main inspiration for her famous literary creation. In other words, 'Biggles' met 'Just William'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 10 March , 2016 Share Posted 10 March , 2016 I think my brain is going to explode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 10 March , 2016 Share Posted 10 March , 2016 There's a whole series of Comics written by Francis Bergèse, who also drawed the later Buck Danny series. They're actually quite good if you're in for this kind of literature... which of course every Belgian is!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 10 March , 2016 Share Posted 10 March , 2016 Is this a new edition of the book? It was first published in 1981. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 11 March , 2016 Author Share Posted 11 March , 2016 Is this a new edition of the book? It was first published in 1981. Mike Mine is a paperback edition published by Comet (the Paperback Division of W H Allen & Co) in 1985, so no, this one isn't a new edition. However .... I bought this from e-Bay a few months ago, having been outbid on a couple of other occasions for other editions. I seem to remember that at least one of these was much later than mine, possibly as recent as 2006 - although this date may well be wrong. In fact, in one of them the real name of Piers Williams (Jennifer Schofield) was shown as the co-author, which made me think at first that it was a different book entirely! A "Like New" copy of this version, dating from 2003, is currently on sale there for £110! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 11 March , 2016 Share Posted 11 March , 2016 Does it mention that he was the Recruiting Officer that recruited TEL in 1922 as John Hume Ross? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 13 March , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 March , 2016 Does it mention that he was the Recruiting Officer that recruited TEL in 1922 as John Hume Ross? Yes, it does. In fact, Johns actually rejected TEL at first because he didn't think the papers that he presented were genuine - and he was right. It was only after being "leaned on" by senior officers that he accepted TEL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 13 March , 2016 Share Posted 13 March , 2016 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 13 March , 2016 Share Posted 13 March , 2016 V.M. Yeates, author of the classic 'Winged Victory' told Henry Williamson: ' I read an awful book the other day called 'The Camels are Coming'...it was super-bunk.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 13 March , 2016 Share Posted 13 March , 2016 ' I read an awful book the other day called 'The Camels are Coming'...it was super-bunk.' Was that by T E Lawrence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 13 March , 2016 Share Posted 13 March , 2016 Good old TEL, he is all over this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 13 March , 2016 Share Posted 13 March , 2016 Back in 1993 Stuart Wavell wrote this: Stiffen the crows! The true identity of Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth, the intrepid air ace known to generations of schoolboys as Biggles, has finally been revealed. He was Air Commodore Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth, a highly decorated first world war pilot. The authoritative revelation by a friend of Biggles creator, Captain W E Johns, enfilades a theory prevalent last week that the fictional hero of more than 100 books was based on Lawrence of Arabia. Sir Peter Masefield, wartime personal adviser to Lord Beaverbrook, said that during during a 40 year friendship with Johns, the author had told him that Bigsworth was his prototype for Biggles. "We discussed it at some length over the years" Masefield said. "It emerged originally from John's meeting with Arthur Bigsworth just after the first world war. Bigsworth was the touchstone. "They did not really become friends. It was just the charisma of the man. Bigsworth was then an air commodore and went off to be air officer commanding the Mediterranean, based in Malta. Johns was a fairly lowly form of life at the Air Ministry recruiting office." Jenny Schofield, co-author of John's biography, 'By Jove! Biggles', commented "Sir Peter has solved the mystery. If Johns told him that Biggles was Bigsworth who am I to argue? But of course Johns was projecting himself, too, into the character." Schofield is chairman of the Johns Centenary Committee which is hosting a lunch at the RAF Club on Saturday, when Masefield as guest of honour will share more reminisces. Bigsworth, DSO and bar, AFC, died in 1961. According to Masefield, who met him briefly, he had an "amused understanding" of Johns's appropriation of his name. Masefield said Johns kept quiet about the source of his legendary inspiration, but did not regard it as a dark secret. "He saw Biggles as a fictional character and he called him Bigglesworth as an extension of Bigsworth. But in the long run I suppose he had no relation at all to Bigsworth, who pursued a steady career in the RAF without doing anything outstanding after the war." Masefield decided to reveal the truth in a letter to The Times on Friday, after being incensed by an academic's claim that Biggles was based on T E Lawrence, the former adventurer in Arabia whom recruiting officer Johns had admitted into the Air Force in 1922. "It's absolute rubbish," Masefield snorted. "Johns didn't like Lawrence at all. He regarded him as a homo, which was totally against his inclinations." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 13 March , 2016 Share Posted 13 March , 2016 Broomers' joke aside, TE Lawrence was an early admirer of 'Winged Victory', being sent an advanced copy and calling it 'one of the most distinguished histories of the war'. Since the book was written partly as a reaction against what Yeates saw as the 'super-bunk' Biggles stories, it is a little ironic given TEL's previous with Johns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 27 May , 2017 Share Posted 27 May , 2017 It appears that there was a real Major James Bigglesworth, claimed the Daily Mail in 2013. (So that's conclusive ) Given the number of us who enjoyed the Biggles books (and still do, in some cases), I'm surprised that this hasn't been mentioned here before. (Or perhaps it has?) And that no-one has checked out the real man. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 28 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 May , 2017 Err .... look at the date of the article! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 28 May , 2017 Share Posted 28 May , 2017 (edited) I always like reading the comments. Nice book collection as well ! Edited 28 May , 2017 by Black Maria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 28 May , 2017 Share Posted 28 May , 2017 Yes, Scorer, nothing since. Has the RAF Museum made any statement in the intervening four years? Is the combat report on an official form and, if so, from where did Johns get/purloin? it? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMeech Posted 28 May , 2017 Share Posted 28 May , 2017 3 hours ago, Perth Digger said: Yes, Scorer, nothing since. Has the RAF Museum made any statement in the intervening four years? Is the combat report on an official form and, if so, from where did Johns get/purloin? it? Mike Hi I believe the 1st April date is what Scorer was referring to. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 28 May , 2017 Share Posted 28 May , 2017 I'd love to meet Lynzey from Canada. Sounds like a real bundle of laughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 28 May , 2017 Share Posted 28 May , 2017 6 hours ago, The Scorer said: Err .... look at the date of the article! I didn't! Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 29 May , 2017 Share Posted 29 May , 2017 Check the search engine of the Mail and you will find that the article went on-line on 31 March at 8.03pm. Can't be an April fool joke then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now