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Captain W.E. Johns Books In Order

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Publication Order of Biggles Books

Biggles The Camels Are Coming (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles of the Fighter Squadron (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flies Again (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Learns To Fly (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Black Peril (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flies East (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Hits the Trail (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in France (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and Co. (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in Africa (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Secret Mission (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flies West (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Air Commodore (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Goes to War (1938)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flies South (1938)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and The Rescue Flight (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flies North (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in Spain (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles In The South Seas (1940)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in the Baltic (1940)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Spitfire Parade (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Sees It Through (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles defies the Swastika (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in the Jungle (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Sweeps the Desert (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in Borneo (1943)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Charter Pilot (1943)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Fails to Return (1943)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in the Orient (1945)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Delivers the Goods (1946)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D. (1947)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles' Second Case (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Hunts Big Game (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Takes a Holiday (1949)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Breaks the Silence (1949)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Gets His Men (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
biggles goes to school (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Another job for Biggles (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Works It Out (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Takes the Case (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Scores a Bull (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Air Detective (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles of the Special Air Police (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles In The Blue (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Black Raider (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in the Gobi (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Foreign Legionnaire (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles & the Pirate Treasure (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Cuts it Fine (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles of 266 (1955)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in Australia (1955)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Chinese Puzzle (1955)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
No Rest for Biggles (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Takes Charge (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Makes Ends Meet (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles of the Interpol (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles on the Home Front (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles on Mystery Island (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Presses On (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Buries the Hatchet (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in Mexico (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles at World's End (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Biggles Book of Heroes (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Goes Home (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the leopards of Zinn (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Missing MIllionaire (1961)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Forms a Syndicate (1961)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Orchids for Biggles (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles sets a trap (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Biggles Book of Treasure Hunting (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles goes alone (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Takes a Hand (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flies to Work (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Takes it Rough (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles' Special Case (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Plane that Disappeared (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles And The Black Mask (1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the lost sovereigns (1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Investigates (1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles And The Blue Moon (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles looks back (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Plot That Failed (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Gun Runners (1966)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in the Terai (1966)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Sorts It Out (1967)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Penitent Thief (1967)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the dark intruder (1967)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Boy Biggles (1968)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea (1968)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles in the Underworld (1968)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles And The Noble Lord (1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles And The Little Green God (1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Sees Too Much (1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Rescue Flight (1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles, Secret Agent (1974)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles of the Royal Flying Corps (1978)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles and the Lost Treasure (1978)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles In The Antarctic (1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Bumper Biggles Book (1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles And The Gibraltar Bomb (1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Best of Biggles (1985)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Defends the Desert (1993)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles Flying Detective (1994)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles (2007)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles' Big Adventures (2007)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles' Dangerous Missions (2008)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Biggles' Secret Assignments (2009)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Flora Indica (2011)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Steeley Books

Steeley Flies Again (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sky High (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder by air (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Wings of Romance (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Worrals Books

Worrals Carries On (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals Flies Again (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals On The War-Path (1943)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals of the Islands (1945)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals in the Wilds (1947)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals Down Under (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals in the Wastelands (1949)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals Investigates (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worrals Goes Afoot (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Gimlet Books

King of the Commandos (1943)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet Comes Home (1949)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet Bores In (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet Off the Map (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet Gets the Answer (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet Takes a Job (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet mops up (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlets Oriental Quest (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Gimlet Lends a Hand (1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Timothy 'Tiger' Clinton Books

Kings of Space (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Return to Mars (1955)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Now to the Stars (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
To Outer Space (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Edge of Beyond (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Death Rays of Ardilla (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
To Worlds Unknown (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Quest for the Perfect Planet. (1961)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worlds of Wonder (2022)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Man Who Vanished into Space (2022)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Wings Flying Adventure (1931)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Spy Flyers (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Champion of the main (1938)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Missing Page (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sinister Service (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Rustlers of Rattlesnake Valley (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Adventure Unlimited (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
No Motive For Murder (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Man Who Lost His Way (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Where the Golden Eagle Soars (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

The Modern Boy's book of aircraft (1931)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Fighting Planes and Aces (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Pictorial Flying Course (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Some Milestones in Aviation (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Thrilling Flights (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Captain W.E. Johns was the pen name used by an English author of adventure novels William Earl Johns. He is famously known as the pioneer of the famous character- Biggles. Johns was born and raised in Bengeo, Hertford, England the son of Elizabeth and Richard Johns. The author’s dreamt of being a soldier. He attended Hertford Grammar School and also attended art classes at the local art school.

Johns was never a “serious” scholar, and this is evident in his novel Biggles Goes to School which was published in 1951. During the summer of 1907, Johns served as an assistant to a county municipal surveyor for four years, and later in 1912, he served as a sanitary inspector in Norfolk. In 1916, Johns enlisted in the military, and in 1916, he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps- and while serving in Macedonian front in Greece, he was hospitalized with malaria. Soon after his recovery, he was enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps in September 1917 and later posted back to England for flight training. He took his initial flying training at Coley Park in Reading where he flew the Farman MF.11 aircraft. He was then sent to a flying school at Thetford a place closer to where his family was living. In 1918 he was appointed a flying instructor. The aircraft of the time where unreliable dismissed three planes in three days because of engine failure- first crashed into the sand, then the sea and then flew over through a fellow officer backdoor and later was caught in fog flying over trees and narrowly escaped crashing into a cliff.

After the Second World War, Johns remained in the Royal Air Force still with the rank of Pilot Officer. His promotion to the position of Flying Officer was gazette in 1920 and worked in London as a recruiting officer.

After the death of his father, Johns married the love of his life, Maude Penelope Hunt from 1882 to 1961. Johns was a prominent author and also an editor. During his career as a writer, he authored over 160 novels including 100 Biggles books and more than 60 factual books and novels, short stories and magazine articles. John’s debut novel was Mossyface published in 1922 under the pseudonym William Earle. He also worked as a newspaper air correspondent and edited and illustrated books about flying.

The first book in Biggles series was The Camels Are Coming published in 1932. Johns continued writing the series until 1968. At first, the novels in the series were attributed to William Earle, but later Johns adopted a more familiar name “Captain W.E. Johns.”

Johns was a regular contributor to Modern Boy magazine in the late 1930’s and was wrote and edited for both Flying and Popular Flying. Johns died while writing his last Biggles novel Biggles does some Homework which was an indicator that he intended to retire after the publication of this book. The twelve chapters of his final story were published privately in 1997.

Apart from the famous Biggles series, Johns also published other novels which include- Steely series a six-volume series which began publication in 1936 to 1936 featuring a first world war pilot now a crime fighter Deeley Delaroy also known as Steeley. The author also wrote a six-volume series titled Worrals series published from 1941- 1950 a series that details the exploitation of plucky WAAF Flight Officer by the name Joan “Worrals” Worralson. This novel series was created at the request of the Air Ministry. The series was intended to inspire young women to enlist in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.

Johns also wrote a ten-volume book titled Gimlet featuring a hero in the “Gimlet” King. The author also wrote other eight books in the juvenile fiction and other eight factual books, twelve fictions for adults and several other books in aviation and treasure hunting pirates and a book on gardening. Unusually amongst the children authors of the time, from 1935, the author employed working-class characters as an equal member of the Biggles team named Ginger Hebblethwaite- the son of a Northumberland mine. However the readers of novels that featured Ginger never learn of his real Christian name, and he claims himself to be of a Yorkshire origin.

Biggles, the Camels Are Coming

First published in 1932, Biggles the Camels are Coming is structured in a rather like an anthology of short stories. Each of the seventeen chapters in the book sees the main character in the book fly a different mission or either becomes embroiled in a distinct escapade. There is a little over-arching story to connect them which means that this is a straightforward read book to dip in and out of as circumstances or time allow.

The chapters are brief and fast-paced with plenty of occasional touch of humor and action, and overall it is a brilliant read.

Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor

First published in 1933, Biggles…..of the Condor is an intruging thriller in which the main character, Biggles helps his explorer uncle in a trip the Amazon to find a long-lost Inca Treasure and in their adventures they encounter crooks.

Biggles stories are sort of simple, relaxing, light and entertaining British war stories. The second novel is much different from the first book since he isn’t working as a pilot during wartime- which makes Biggles bored to the point that he goes to visit his uncle Dickpa who leads him into an entirely different adventure than he had anticipated.

Biggles Flies Again

In the fourth novel in Biggles series, Biggles continues his adventures into the far corners of the earth. He finds himself stranded in the swamps of British Guiana after the company that employs him as pilot folds up. Then he takes the possession of amphibian planes and proceeds to earn his daily bread by undertaking different and risky missions by air.

Accompanied by Smyth and Algy, Biggles searches for treasure in the jungles, kidnaps a brigand- chief and also leads expeditions into a reef bound lagoon. Biggles is a man who thrives on thrills, and his resourcefulness and courage are equal to the many lethal emergencies that arise in the middle of this quest.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Captain W.E. Johns

One Response to “Captain W.E. Johns”

  1. Dennis Malcolm Gedye: 6 years ago

    I read & enjoyed most of the Biggles books, starting in Grade 6, 1963, & have read a few Worrals & Gimlet books & 1 or 2 stand alone books, but many of them must be collector’s items now! Little demand so few libraries seem to have them, even Biggles!

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