Dawn Patrol Hijinks

[rosanicus]

Got Rescue Flight from the library today and I simply must know more about this...

A horrible thought struck Thirty. "Gosh! We haven't any kit," he muttered.
"What do you mean - you haven't any kit?"
"Well, you see, we flew over, so we couldn't bring any with us."
"It will come up on a tender, I expect."
"Possibly," answered Thirty non-committally, catching Rip's eye. "Meanwhile we have nothing to go on with."
"No matter. You can get some small kit from Roddy, the mess secretary, and I can probably dig out an old suit or two of pyjamas. They may be a bit oily because on summer dawn patrols I sometimes fly in them - but that needn't worry you." The flight commander stood up. "See you later," he said, and disappeared inside the hangar.

Oh and of course the introductory description of Biggles is lovely as ever, I just love my delicately featured guy with his core of steel (heart and stomach of a concrete elephant, etc).
 

Comments

[sholio]

I love him. ♥

I didn't find Thirty and Forty engaging enough to necessarily need a whole book about them, but the outside POV on Biggles is so excellent - and also on Algy, who I think outside of this book we rarely-to-never see at WW1 age interacting with people who aren't Biggles. I love that he takes the newest and youngest pilots under his wing and they immediately attach to him; that's just so him somehow. It seems very right that he'd be friendly and gregarious and popular with the squadron, while Biggles is friendly and popular in a more distant way, as someone they look up to and admire while Algy is somebody who's fun to hang out with.

[rosanicus]

I like Thirty well enough so far, possibly because I grew up reading So Many girls school books that having a boys school character shoved into Biggles is something of a novelty, but I do think that after this initial rescue the plot is going to have to do some gymnastics to keep him there!

The Algy outside POV is so good I love it!! How he gets along with them straight away because he hasn't got jaded or shellshocked the way the longer serving officers have. Algy ♥️

[philomytha]

Flying in your pyjamas was definitely a real thing! I read an anecdote about a guy who was doing just that, got shot down, and spent three days wandering around no-mans-land no his pyjamas before reaching his squadron.

All descriptions of Biggles are so lovely <3

[rosanicus]

I love this very much and unfortunately have to pull out the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reference again (Last week I shot an Albatros in my pyjamas. How the Albatros got in my pyjamas I will never know! etc etc). Imagine going over the top and finding someone wandering hopelessly in blue-and-white flannel, it would add so much unreality to an already horrible experience.

[black_bentley]

Flying dawn patrols in pyjamas was definitely a thing :D (a pilot's usual base layer was silk underwear, so I suspect at least some just kept their pyjamas on instead). One of the French aces (Charles Nungesser) believed in working hard and partying harder, and used to turn up for dawn patrols still in his tux from the night before...

[rosanicus]

HUGE fan of this. More weird outfits for flying missions in Biggles fic I think, we deserve it.

[black_bentley]

Oh we 100% do. Although I don't think anything will ever top the vest, pants and belt combo in Fails to Return...

[rosanicus]

Five Outfits The Lads Wore While Flying (and one time they didn't wear anything)?

[black_bentley]

Yes, immediately, please and thank you.

I've always been delighted by the bit in Flies West when they're about to crash on water and Biggles tells Algy to "tell the lads to get their clothes off and jump for it," or words to that effect. So then nobody has any clothes on...