Questions on the boys in WWII

[calliope85.livejournal.com]

What ho chaps ^_^ It's time for me to attempt to pick some more brains! At some point, this brain-picking may actually turn into a fic. Gosh. Now, although Bertie is (for some mysterious reason probably related to monocles) my favourite member of the team, I've never actually read his first appearance in Spitfire Parade. (Largely because I've already *got* Biggles In France, and I don't particularly prioritise getting hold of a second copy with the proper nouns changed, thank you.) And I've only got a partial knowledge of his later appearances. So I thought I'd send out the distress signal to all you people out there who have much better knowledge of canon than me ^_^

1. Inasmuch as one can tell from a selection of lightly transposed WWI stories - when is Spitfire Parade actually set? Are we given any specific dates? Biggles is already commanding Algy and Ginger in a special squadron in France when he's ordered out to Norway in Biggles Defies The Swastika, which is internally dated to late March / early April 1940 by the German invasion. Do stories in Spitfire Parade take place on both sides of Biggles' mission in Norway, or only after he returns? (For that matter, do we know where 666 Squadron is based?)

2. Presuming that Spitfire Parade is thus set at least a little way into the war - do we get any indication, here or elsewhere, what Bertie has been doing previous to joining Biggles in 666? He had flown before the war, I believe, so presumably didn't need a great deal of training on joining the Air Force. Is there any information about how long he's been in the service, and where?

3. And, more generally - do the events of Spitfire Parade cover the Battle of Britain? Dating the books this precisely is, of course, a nightmare, but do we have much information about what they were doing in late summer 1940?

Thanks very much chaps, looking forward to any help you can offer ^_^

Comments

[potatofiend.livejournal.com]

Hello!

I shall attempt to answer these questions as best I can, but I haven't got my book with me, and I only read SP for the Bertie-bits, since, as you say, it's a repeat - and a rather poor one - of Biggles in France. However, let me think. I'm pretty sure the squadron is based in Kent. It doesn't mention the mission to Norway at all, nor the Battle of Britain specifically, but I'm pretty sure it's set in 1940. It was only published in '41 - um. The real answer is that I don't think it gives much information on this score, not least because of the fact that the stories aren't original, but I may be forgetting something huge.

We do know, however, that Bertie has been flying since the beginning of the war, making trouble. 666 Squadron is a collection of misfits who've proven themselves troublemakers everywhere else they've been, basically. Taffy has blown up several tanks, Ferocity Ferris keeps punching people, and everybody thinks Bertie's mad. He turns up blowing a hunting-horn and accompanied by his beagle, Towser.

He also memorably does a foxtrot with Algy at some point in Spitfire Parade. I just thought everybody ought to know this.

That's about all I can think of - sorry not to have been more helpful!

[calliope85.livejournal.com]

...and everybody thinks Bertie's mad. He turns up blowing a hunting-horn and accompanied by his beagle, Towser.

He also memorably does a foxtrot with Algy at some point in Spitfire Parade. I just thought everybody ought to know this.

...*damn you*. You've just forced me to bump Spitfire Parade up my list of Biggles-related priorities to a quite *unreasonable* degree. I am quite unspeakably pleased that we have more info about Bertie's various dogs. Towser the beagle can join his unnamed foxhound, mentioned in Gimlet Goes Again.

Also, oh God *yes* Bertie and Algy doing the foxtrot. That is mind-bendingly perfect. And also makes me suspect that the 666 squadron mess was about the best thing ever.

Thanks for the reply - I think my conclusion is that I need to get hold of a copy of this instanta ^_^

[potatofiend.livejournal.com]

*grins* Yes, I love hunting!shooting!fishing!Bertie. He's so cute. And 666 Squadron mess really does sound amazing. The book also features Wilks, as the leader of a rival squadron of Hurricanes - of course. I adore Wilks, because Wilks/Biggles is just So True, in that 'I'm allowed to pick on you but NOBODY ELSE CAN' sort of way that fandom loves. So SP gains points in my book for having Wilks innit, as well as all the Bertie joy. He also apparently sports a 'hay-coloured moustache', a rather disturbing visual which thankfully never seems to recur, but which would suggest that his hair is fair (never otherwise stated).

I think Bertie is in love with Ginger, but Bertie/Algy would be so much fun. What are you planning on writing?

[calliope85.livejournal.com]

I'm playing with the idea of some Bertie/Gimlet, actually ^_^ Or possibly the other way round. It's hunting!shooting!fishing!Bertie *squared*, with additional high-explosives. I was wondering about Bertie's and the squadron's activities around the Battle of Britain because Gimlet was in the Air Force until he was in a bad smash during this period, busted his leg up (an injury he's still limping from two years later), and seems to have left the RAF for good. I'm mainly just playing with continuity at the moment (and trying to steer clear of *too* much gratuitous h/c), but it might end up going somewhere.

The idea of Bertie in a moustache is oddly displeasing, but the fact that he has fair hair distinctly the opposite - it confirms me in my mental casting of him as a rather taller and scarier version of Lord Peter Wimsey ^_^

(Y'know, I think Biggles fandom needs Wilks/Biggles. Jus' sayin'. Also Bertie/Algy. Ohhhh yes.)

[potatofiend.livejournal.com]

-- omg. Put Gimlet in Wilks's squadron. O_O It would be the BEST THING EVER.

...*stops self* No, what I mean to say is: Bertie/Gimlet! Yes, yes, yes! I've never read any Gimlet, but from what I've read about him in your reviews and so forth, he sounds like my ideal man, particularly with the red hair, cut-glass accent and iron fist inside it. Hoyes. Bertie/Gimlet would float many boats for me. With inset Biggles/Wilks!

Currently I'm on orders from my wife to write von Stalhein/Algy. I imagine it would work much along the lines of Ron Weasley/Draco Malfoy, which is to say possibly convincingly, but only after much explanation, so I rather lack the energy to start, but am afraid to touch anything else in the meantime. *eyes it dubiously* I was considering setting it in that bit in Biggles and Co where Algy's locked up in the castle. Then I thought that might be gratuitous. Then I thought that nobody would really care, would they?

Then of course I had the sort of idea that would require me to write a novel to expunge it, so...

[calliope85.livejournal.com]

Gimlet in Wilks's squadron would be *pure gold* ^____^ I am oh, *so* tempted.

Gimlet and Bertie, being already canonically friends, and having all those interests in common (hunting, riding, fishing, blowing things up, shooting people in unexpectedly ruthless ways and following it up with a light quip and a 'tally ho!'), are possibly my most absurdly niche Biggles pet pairing. Well, except for the fact that there's a part of my brain that's insisting that Bertie/Gimlet/von Stalhein would be *awesome*. (It's something about the monocles, the limps, and the self-assurance you could bounce rocks off.) That's probably more niche still.

Oh my *God*, you must write the von Stalhein/Algy. *Please*. Please please please please please. With biscuits. I've been longing for someone to do that for *ages*. Ever since noticing how Algy seems to hate von Stalhein quite an unreasonable amount more than any other member of the team. Giving Algy a pairing of snark and scorn and making it *right*? It'd be *amazing*. Pray allow me to add my nagging voice to the chorus demanding this fic :D