This is a very brief biography of Captain W. E. Johns, the creator of Biggles. William
Earl Johns was born in 1893 in Hertfordshire, England - the son of a tailor. During World
War I, he first served with the British Army in the Middle East. In 1916 he transferred to
the Royal Flying Corps and eventually became a fighter pilot. He was shot down and taken
prisoner in 1918, escaped three times and was recaptured each time, and remained
imprisoned until the end of the war.
He continued to serve with the Royal Air Force until 1931, as a flight instructor and then
a recruiting officer. He left as a Flying Officer, but eventually, after he became a very
successful author, he added "Captain" to his name.
He started off as an aviation artist/illustrator. In April 1932, he helped start a
magazine called "Popular Flying". In the very first issue, Johns wrote the story
"The White Fokker", marking the first appearance of James Bigglesworth, the
foremost flying hero of juvenile fiction (or any fiction, for that matter). The first
Biggles book "The Camels Are Coming" was published in 1932, to be followed by
ninety-five more original books and several omnibus editions. Several more appeared in the
next few years, describing Biggles' adventures during and after WW I.
Several stories were published during WW II, describing the exploits of Biggles and his
friends against the Axis forces. These were extremely popular. During the war years, other
patriotic characters appeared in their own book series - "Gimlet" King of the
Commandos and Joan "Worrals" Worralson of the WAAF. These were meant primarily
as morale-boosters, and none continued beyond the war. Biggles, however, carried on.
After the war, Biggles and his friends joined Scotland Yard to form the Air Police. While
the earlier stories are mostly about Biggles' war experiences and wild adventures in
faraway lands, many of the stories from now on are about Air Police work. However, there
are also many desperate missions that take Biggles and his friends behind the Iron
Curtain. Johns' writing was more prolific during the post-war years - three or four
Biggles books were published almost every year from 1952 onwards.
Reflecting changes in aviation as well as in the rest of the world, the nature of the
stories changed too. With the passage of time the villians changed as well, from German
pilots and spies to Iron Curtain agents and international criminals.
Johns' books were published in more than twenty countries. Translations have appeared from
Netherlands and the Czech Republic, among others.
Johns died in 1968. The last Biggles book, "Biggles Sees Too Much" was first
published in 1970. Most of the titles appeared in paperback as well as hardback. The
Armada paperback editions continued to be in print in the '70s, but appear to have gone
out of print in later years. In recent years, some Biggles titles are again being
published in paperback by Red Fox.