Airborne adventure: between 1932 and 1968, WE Johns (who was never really a Captain), wrote almost 100 Biggles adventure stories – many of which were adapted into comic strips in different languages, ‘By Jove!’
CROYDON CHRONICLES: One of the most-read fictional action heroes of the 20th Century was based at Croydon Airport. DAVID MORGAN pulls on his sheepskin helmet and goggles and goes in search of adventure
Biggles, the character James Bigglesworth, appeared in almost 100 books written by William Earl Johns, a First World War pilot, between 1932 and 1968.
The books, and the characters, are rather out-of-fashion now, written in a style and from perspectives that are very dated. But in their time, they were popular Boys’ Own tales, regarded as “Terrific!”, or “Spiffing!” by generations of (generally) boys in the middle of the last century.
And one important section of Biggles’ fictional career took off from right here in Croydon.
Sergeant Bigglesworth CID, published in 1947, was the first book where hero Biggles became an investigator, following on from his time as a wartime pilot. The newly formed Special Air Police unit was given a hangar at Croydon Airport, from where Biggles and his team, which often included Algy, Ginger and Sgt Smythe, could carry out their investigations.
Wartime pilot: WE Johns served in the Royal Flying Corps and then the RAF in World War I
A second link to Croydon came from the daughter of a Croydon curate who became “Captain” WE Johns’ wife. Rev John Hunt might have even have provided the author with a tale or two for his books, because his own life and career had some interesting moments.
Hunt served two churches in Croydon in the 1880s and 1890s. He had begun his ecclesiastical career in County Galway, Ireland, spending one year each in Headford and Dunmore. In 1885, he was appointed curate at St Andrew’s Church in Croydon, working in England for the first time.
Hunt was a plain speaking Irishman, with a fine singing voice who was not only called upon to address many events in addition to his church work, but was also known for his vocal entertainment.
On several occasions, Hunt was a speaker at the Croydon branch of the Primrose League, an organisation set up by Randolph Churchill – the MP father of Winston – to encourage and promote a Conservative view of British life.
In January 1887, a concert arranged by the Primrose League was badly affected by the cold weather, with several soloists and instrumentalists unable to get to the venue at the Iron Room of the Conservative Club in North End because of the deep lying snow. Hunt was one of the successes of the night, with his rendering of “Nil Desperandum”.
In December that year Hunt gave an address to the League in which he advocated that the Irish people needed the English to help rule the country.
Primrose speaker: newspapers reported Rev Hunt’s speeches at the Primrose League
Whether his parishioners at St Andrew’s agreed with his political views, they were extremely sad to see him leave for St Thomas’s in Camden. Gifts of a purse containing £67 – worth at least £12,000 by 2026 values – and an inscribed marble clock were presented to Hunt as farewell presents in March 1888.
But Hunt was back in Croydon in 1891, this time at St Paul’s, Thornton Heath. It was during his time at St Paul’s that an incident happened which was reported in many papers throughout the land and brought unwarranted intrusion into the lives of Hunt and his family.
In October 1893, Hunt was in Oxford Street when he passed by a jeweller’s shop which had a gold watch and chain in the window which was for sale at £1 16s 6d. Hunt told the jeweller, Mr Leapman, that he would buy the watch and chain if Leapman would write out a guarantee that the item was indeed gold.
Retail crime: Rev Hunt’s argument at an Oxford Street jeweller’s also made the news
At that point, the jeweller admitted that the watch chain was not gold, whereupon Hunt told Leapman in no uncertain manner that he was defrauding the public if that was the way he conducted his business. Verbal insults from Leapman caused Hunt to defend himself by saying that he was a clergyman in the Church of England and didn’t expect to be treated in such a way.
Hunt left the shop to find a policeman who he brought back to the shop. This provoked Leapman to again argue vehemently. Hunt told him that he was no pushover and that, as a former Ulster University athlete, he would box his ears if Leapman ever laid a finger on him.
The verbal spat generated this headline: “That Thornton Heath Parson, Rev John Hunt, is a pugilistic bargain hunter.”
When the case came up at Marlborough Street magistrates’ court, Hunt sought to get a breach of the peace order against Leapman, though the magistrates would not go so far. They fined Leapman 10 shillings, with 2 shillings costs, with the lead magistrate remarking that Hunt should have realised that getting a gold watch and chain for such a cheap price was unreasonable.
Headline-maker: Rev Hunt made the newspapers once again
Hunt was on the move again the following year, this time to East Grinstead. For the second time his parishioners from a Croydon parish gave him a great send off, with a financial gift of £40 and an illuminated testimonial. A packed meeting to say farewell to Hunt and his family was held in the Beulah Road School in July 1893.
In 1899 Hunt was appointed the Rector of St Margaret’s in Little Dunham, Norfolk, and it wasn’t long before he made headlines again.
This time, Hunt encountered three men who were walking down a path near to his rectory. Hunt told them that they were shouldn’t have come along that particular path as they were trespassing and that they should turn around and take the correct route.
Hunt pointed out to them that as they were strangers to the village, he was merely telling them that damage had been done to the field over the last year and the landowner did not want anyone walking along there.
Author’s creation: Bill Johns, whose Biggles creation was hugely popular for its time
After they refused, Hunt picked up the man who had been most abusive to him by the collar and dropped him over the nearby gate.
The other two men rushed at Hunt, who shouted out that they should only attack one at a time. The two of them kicked and hit Hunt who, despite his injuries, took off his jacket and proceeded to avoid the swinging blows before landing a punch solidly on the nose of the second attacker.
Bloodied, the man was stopped in his tracks. Hunt took out a handkerchief and offered it to the injured man.
The three gave up their attempt to walk past Hunt and retreated to wash their wounds in the nearby pond.
Hunt was described as a powerful man who was reputed to be a “lightweight boxer”.
The incident was even reported in the Croydon papers, but with a darker element in it. Noting that Hunt had a sore back and a swimming sensation in his ears, the paper went on to say that Hunt was scouring the county to find the three men. However, he had got so worked up about the incident that he was seen prowling the Norfolk countryside with a “six-chambered revolver”.
A doctor was called and decided that Hunt needed to be put under restraint. Hunt was sent to the county asylum. “Great sympathy was extended to his family.”
His time in the asylum could only have been brief and he was soon back at work in the parish he was to serve until 1934.
Wedding certificate: WE Joohns married Maude Hunt in 1914
The Hunt family’s link with Johns began when the pilot-turned-author began courting their daughter, Maude. The couple were married in October 1914. Maude, who was born in 1882 while her father was still a curate in Ireland, was 11 years older than Johns, as he was then known. She was 32, he was 21.
When they first met, Johns was the sanitary inspector for Swaffham, in Norfolk, as well as being a member of the Territorial Army.
Maude and Bill married when his regiment, the Norfolk Yeomanry, were mobilised for war. The regiment was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915, when it was sent overseas.
A son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, known as “Jack”, was born in March 1916, while Maude’s husband was away at the front.
While in hospital with malaria which he contracted in Salonika, Johns put in for a transfer to the newly formed Royal Flying Corps. He had a skill for solo flying, although the first flight on his own ended in a crash, after he stalled the plane.
Now a commissioned officer, once qualified as a pilot, he was stationed at the Thetford Flying Training School, near to where Maude and Jack were living.
Johns managed to write-off three aeroplanes in three days, which gave him something of a reputation within the RFC. He did serve in the air at the end of World War 1 but was shot down in September 1918. His rear gunner was killed in the dog fight but Johns survived both the air battle and the subsequent crash. He was taken to a prisoner of war camp where he remained until the end of the war.
By Jove!: action hero Biggles’ ‘record’ was notably better than WE Johns, his creator
Johns continued to serve in the RAF after the war as a recruiting officer.
On one occasion, he turned down TE Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – because he gave a false name on his application form.
When Johns left the service in 1930, he became an air correspondent for a newspaper, as well as founder and editor of Popular Flying magazine.
Among the articles published by Johns’ new magazine was one from Hermann Goering.
Johns’ first book with Biggles the pilot as the hero, The Camels Are Coming was published in 1932. The camels of the title was a reference to a type of Sopwith aircraft, rather than any desert adventure.
Johns’ marriage to Maude did not last long after the end of the war. Although separated, there was never a divorce, as her father wouldn’t contemplate it. In 1923, Johns began a relationship with Doris May Leigh, which lasted until her death in 1969. She was always known as “Mrs Johns”.
Maude and her son Jack were always looked after financially, even with Maude suffering poor health as a result of her arthritis. She died in 1961.
Johns died in June 1968, aged 75, and by now in the age of supersonic jet travel, he was still writing another Biggles adventure.
Today, the Biggles books are out of fashion. If you have one or see a copy in a second-hand bookshop don’t forget the Croydon link.
David Morgan, pictured right, has been chronicling Croydon’s history for Inside Croydon for a decade. Morgan is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- When ‘Race Around The World’ was a tea shipper’s business
- Grave error in the failure to reconstruct great Grindal’s tomb
- Here’s Croydon’s election results – from Coronation year 1953
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
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