Biggles Flies East
Page 20
‘Take the business of when I dropped my ring near the waterworks. That was a careless blunder that might have cost me my life; even the Count couldn’t overlook that, but he was quite pleased when I cleared myself for no other reason than that von Stalhein had told him that he had got me stone cold. If the Count had made the discovery it would have been quite a different matter. Von Stalhein sent Leffens out to watch me. Leffens was, I think, the one man he really trusted; he used to fly him over the lines until I killed him, and after that he used Mayer. He never knew what happened to Leffens, but he thought he did when he found one of his bullets in my machine. I’ve got a feeling that he tipped Leffens off to shoot me down if he got a chance, and that was why he daren’t make much of a song when he found the bullet.
‘I had already thought a lot about Sterne, who as far as I could make out was playing pretty much the same game for the British, and there were two things that put me on the right track there. First, the shadow on the tent, and secondly, the fact that some one–obviously in sympathy with the Germans–arranged my escape. Who could it be? Who had access to British posts? Mind you, sir, at that stage the association was nothing more than a bare possibility. I could hardly bring myself to believe that it might be remotely possible, but once the germ was in my mind it stayed there, and I was always on the look-out for a clue that might confirm it. That’s why I went to von Stalhein’s room. I hardly admitted it to myself but I knew I was hoping to find a British uniform—or something of the sort. As a matter of fact I did see a Sam Browne belt in the wardrobe, but I could hardly regard that as proof; it might easily have been nothing more than a souvenir. But then there was the British hat in Mayer’s machine! It may sound easy to put two and two together now but it wasn’t so easy then. Would you have believed me, sir, if I had come to you and said that Major Sterne was von Stalhein? I doubt it.’
‘Von Stalhein’s scheme for the capture of El Shereef was a clever piece of work, there’s no denying that; it shook me to the marrow. At first it took me in, and I’ll admit it. But he overreached himself. He made one little slip—took one risk, would perhaps be nearer the truth—and it gave the game away. Then I saw how simple the whole thing really was.’
‘Do you mean when you went and saw Sheikh Haroun?’ put in the Major.
‘No, I got nothing out of him,’ declared Biggles. ‘He behaved just as one would expect a well-bred Arab to behave in such circumstances. He closed up like an oyster at the bare thought of the British suspecting him to be a traitor, and he would have died with his mouth shut if I hadn’t butted in. No, it was what I saw in your tent that gave the game away.’
‘What was it?’
‘The ring. Those rings are few and far between. They daren’t leave spare ones lying about: it would be too dangerous. Yet they knew that one of those rings found on the Sheikh would be sufficient evidence to hang him. There was only one available; it was Leffens’, and I recognized it—as, indeed, I had every reason to. That set me thinking, and I reconstructed the crime—as the police say. Yet I had to act warily. One word and we shouldn’t have seen von Stalhein–El Shereef –call him what you like—for dust and small pebbles.’
‘But he sent you over to try to rescue El Shereef,’ exclaimed the General. ‘What was his idea in doing that?’
‘It was simply another try-on; he wanted me to confirm that El Shereef had been arrested, and at the same time he hoped I’d make a boob. He had nothing to lose. Suppose I had managed to “rescue” El Shereef—or rather, Sheikh Haroun. The Huns would have asked for nothing more than to have had him in their hands.’
‘Yes, of course, I quite see that. And by reporting that he had been shot you led him to think that we had been completely taken in.’
‘Exactly, sir. I went on playing my own game, and as it happened it came off, although he made a clever move to get rid of me. He never trusted me; he was no fool; he was the only one of the lot of them who spotted that things started going wrong from the moment I arrived. It might have been coincidence, but von Stalhein didn’t think so.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, first of all the waterworks were blown up; then Leffens failed to return; then the Arab raid went wrong; then Hess got killed! Mayer crashes and gets his leg smashed—oh, no, sir, he wasn’t going to believe this was just a run of bad luck. Something was radically wrong somewhere and he knew it. Whether it was anything to do with me or not, he would have felt happier if he could have got me out of the way. That’s why he tried to get me pushed into the ground.’
‘When?’
‘The day I came over here to confirm that you had captured El Shereef.’
‘What did he do?’
‘He followed me over in the Pup—dressed as Major Sterne. He simply walked along the tarmac, told the flight-sergeant to put my machine in the shed and put another in its place—one which, of course, had no distinguishing mark on the top plane.’
‘You assume he did that?’
‘I assumed it at the time; I know it now.’
‘How?’
‘I’ve asked the flight-sergeant about it and he told me just what happened; he obeyed the Major’s orders unquestioningly, as he was bound to. Then von Stalhein went back and sent out the Pfalz crowd to intercept me on the way home. It was clever, that, because if I had been shot no one would have been the wiser. I should just have disappeared, and that was all he wanted. But I knew things were rapidly coming to a head, and that’s why I played a big stake to end it one way or the other; but all the same, I thought I’d bungled things badly when I landed here and found he wasn’t in the back seat of that Halberstadt. I never even thought of his going over the side by parachute. After that there was one chance left, for if once a hue and cry had started we should never have seen him again, you may be sure of that. Von Stalhein had set plenty of traps, so I thought it was about time I set one, with what result you know.’
‘And what do you propose to do now?’ asked the General.
‘I am going to submit an application to you, sir, to post me back to my old unit, number 266 Squadron in France, and I hope you will put it through, sir.’
The General looked hurt. ‘I hoped you would stay out here,’ he said. ‘I could have found you a place on Headquarters Staff—both of you.’
‘I’m sorry, sir—it’s very kind of you—but—well, somehow I don’t feel at home here. I would prefer to go back to France if you have no objection.’
‘Very well, so be it. I can’t refuse, and I need hardly say how grateful I am for what you have done during your tour of duty in the Middle East. The success of the British Army in Palestine may have rested on you alone. Naturally, I am forwarding a report on your work to the Air Board, and doubtless they will ask you to do the same. And now I must get back to my work—pray that you are never a General, Bigglesworth.’
‘I should think that’s the last thing I’m ever likely to be, sir,’ smiled Biggles. ‘A Camel, blue skies, and plenty of Huns is the height of my ambition, and I hope to find them all in France. Good-bye, sir.’
‘Good-bye—and good luck.’ The General watched them go and then turned to his Aide-de-Camp. ‘If we had a few more officers of that type the war would have been over long ago,’ he observed.
Footnotes
To return to the corresponding text, click on the asterisk and reference number.
Foreword
*1 The First World War 1914–18. Principal contenders, the Allies: Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Serbia, Belgium, Japan (1915), Romania (1916), USA (1917). Against the Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria (1915).
*2 Official Secrets Act. An agreement which, when a British subject signs, forbids him or her to disclose confidential information prejudicial to the State.
*3 German machine-guns were often referred to as Spandaus, due to the fact that many were manufactured at Spandau, Germany. Anti-aircraft gunfire, a Royal Flying Corps expression.
Chapter 1
*2 Civilian clothes worn by someone who usually wears a uniform.
*3 Dismissed from the Armed Forces with dishonour and disqualified from entering public service.
*4 During the First World War, the Tower of London was used to house spies, prior to their trial. Some were later executed at the Tower.
Chapter 2
*1 A single seat biplane fighter with twin machine-guns synchronised to fire through the propeller. See cover illustration.
*2 Commanding Officer.
*3 Officer Commanding.
*4 Two seated biplane fighter with remarkable manoeuvrability, in service 1917 onward. It had one fixed Vickers gun for the pilot and one or two mobile Lewis guns for the observer/gunner.
*5 A derogatory slang term for the Germans.
*6 A coloured flare fired as a signal from a special short-bandied pistol.
*7 Non-commissioned officer, e.g. a corporal or sergeant.
Chapter 3
*1 Captain.
*2 The place where officers eat their meals and relax together.
*3 The pilot who delivers aeroplanes to service squadrons from the manufacturers or repair depots.
Chapter 4
*1 Single seater biplane fighter with a single machine gun synchronised to fire through the propeller. Superseded by the Sopwith Camel.
*2 Very successful German single-seater biplane fighter, fitted with two or three machine guns synchronised to fire through the propeller. See cover illustration.
*3 British two-seater biplane designed for reconnaissance and artillery observation.
*4 The synchronizing gear for machine-guns which interrupts the firing mechanism ensuring that the bullets do not hit the propeller blades but pass safely between them.
*5 Record of all enemy aircraft shot down by squadron members.
*6 The manoeuvre consists of a half roll off the top of a loop thereby quickly reversing the direction of flight. Named after Max Immelman, successful German fighter pilot 1914–1916 with seventeen victories, who was the first to use this turn in cambat.
*7 Slang: person in authority, the Commanding Officer.
Chapter 5
*1 German two-seater fighter and ground attack biplane with two machine guns, one synchronised to fire through the propeller for the pilots use.
*2 Heavens!
Chapter 6
*1 Two-seater ‘pusher’ biplane with the engine behind the pilot and the gunner in the forward cockpit.
Chapter 7
*1 General term referring to the tail unit of any aircraft—the tail plane, elevators, fin and rudders.
Chapter 8
*1 A local disturbance of air currents causing rough or uneven flying. Due either to clouds, wind or changes in the air temperature.
*2 Semicircular hoops attached below the wings, towards the tips, to prevent damage to the wings when taxi-ing the aircraft.
*3 A tent-dwelling nomadic Arab. Different groups supported both sides in the First World War.
Chapter 9
*1 Money, payment.
*2 German: No.
*3 Slang: German.
*4 The dry bed of a river.
*5 The ruler of Germany.
*6 The controls of German aeroplanes worked in the opposite direction to the British. Thus, he pulled the throttle towards him instead of pushing it away, as would normally have been the case.
Chapter 10
*1 A mobile gun for the rear gunner, usually mounted on a U-shaped rail to allow rapid movement with a wide arc of fire.
*2 Instead of the aircraft gliding down to land, it flops down from a height of a few feet, after losing flying speed.
*3 German slang for an aeroplane.
Chapter 12
*1 A hunting group of German fighters, consisting of approximately twelve aeroplanes. Also just called a ‘staffer’. The equivalent of a British squadron.
Chapter 13
*1 Designed in 1912 for observation and artillery co-operation this two-seater biplane whose top speed of 72 mph was just half that of the fastest fighters, was clearly obsolete by 1918.
*2 The amount a gunner or pilot must aim ahead of a fast moving aircraft, passing at right angles, in order to hit it.
*3 Some models of the Pfalz DIII were fitted with three Spandau machine guns, synchronised to fire through the propeller.
Chapter 14
*1 Flying Officer in the German Air Force.
*2 Bursting shells on both sides of a target.
*3 The Fatherland: Germany.
Chapter 16
*1 An attendant serving an officer. A position discontinued in today’s Royal Air Force.
*2 An aerial battle rather than a hit and run attack.
Chapter 17
*1 To fly past another aeroplane when following through an attack.
Chapter 18
*1 By thunder!
Chapter 19
*1 During the war both sides used hidden microphones, in prisoner of war camps, to overhear the prisoners’ conversation. These conversations would be recorded on a dictaphone.
*2 German: prison camp.
*3 Medical Officer.
*4 German: Sergeant Major.
*5 An officer specially appointed to assist the commanding officer.
Chapter 20
*1 Slang: Aircraft Mechanic.
About the Author
Captain W. E. Johns was born in Hertfordshire in 1893. He flew with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and made a daring escape from a German prison camp in 1918. Between the wars he edited Flying and Popular Flying and became a writer for the Ministry of Defence. The first Biggles story, Biggles the Camels are Coming was published in 1932, and W. E. Johns went on to write a staggering 102 Biggles titles before his death in 1968.
BIGGLES BOOKS
FIRST WORLD WAR:
Biggles Learns to Fly
Biggles Flies East
Biggles the Camels are Coming
Biggles of the Fighter Squadron
SECOND WORLD WAR:
Biggles Defies the Swastika
Biggles Delivers the Goods
Biggles Defends the Desert
Biggles Fails to Return
BIGGLES FLIES EAST
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 09843 0
Published in Great Britain by RHCB Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2012
Copyright © W. E. Johns (Publications) Ltd, 1935
First published in Great Britain by Oxford University Press, 1935
Red Fox edition published 2003
The right of W. E. Johns to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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W E Johns, Biggles Flies East