Biggles in France (Biggles)

by W E Johns

[wyvernfriend]

The surface of this is the derring do of the adventurous World War I pilot, but underneath this is an acknowledgement that many of the pilots ate breakfast together and then didn't ever see each other again. Captain W. E. Johns is writing about stuff he knows about, he served in World War I as a pilot and knew the stories, probably just vaguely fictionalised the stories and they're here as a snapshot of a time and a place.

These are short stories, some a chapter long, others a few chapters looking at life in wartime Royal Flying Corps, yes it's a male only cast but that reflects front-line wartime situations that it's set in.

It's interesting to read as a kid and interesting to read some of the subtext as an adult.