William Earl Johns

William Earl Johns (born February 5, 1893 in Bengeo , Hertfordshire , † June 21, 1968 ) was an English pilot and writer. In addition to his own name, he became known under the pseudonyms W. E. Johns or Captain WE Johns and William Earle .

Live and act

Johns came from a humble background, his father was a tailor, his mother a saleswoman. From January 1905 he attended the Hertford Grammar School in his hometown and for some time parallel evening classes at the local drawing school. In the summer of 1907 he began a four-year training course in local administration. In 1912 he was appointed health inspector to Swaffham ( Norfolk ).

In 1913, Johns volunteered for the Territorial Army (Norfolk Yeomanry). In August 1914 he began his service there. As mobilization became more likely, Johns married Maud Penelope Hunt (1882–1961) on October 6, 1914 and had a son, William Earl, with her.

In September 1915 they went to Turkey to reinforce the English troops there at the Battle of Gallipoli . In the fall of 1916, Johns was transferred to the artillery . He was later stationed on the Macedonian front in Greece, but was in the hospital for a long time because of malaria . The following year he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ordered back to England for flight training.

After the First World War , Johns stayed in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He worked in administration and also served as a recruiting officer. During this task he noticed TE Lawrence , who wanted to register as a simple volunteer for the RAF under the pseudonym T. E. Shaw . It was only on the orders of General Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode , that Lawrence went into hiding with false names.

In 1923, Johns separated from his wife and committed himself for another four years. Stationed in Birmingham , he again ran a recruiting office. There he made the acquaintance of Doris May Leigh (1900-1969), who later lived with him in Newcastle upon Tyne . From that time on, DM Leigh was known as “Mrs. Johns ”, although Johns never got divorced.

On October 15, 1927, Johns retired. For four years, until October 15, 1931, he was still a reservist and then he finally withdrew into private life. As a specialist for the RAF and flying, he wrote as a freelancer for several newspapers and magazines. The John Hamilton Ltd. became aware of him and with their support, Johns was able to publish the magazine "Popular Flying" from March 1932.

reception

As an author, Johns was able to debut very successfully in 1922 with his novel "Mossyface"; this work was published under the pseudonym William Earle . The first "Biggles" story appeared in his magazine "Popular Flying". "Biggles" had over a hundred volumes and became his magnum opus . The first Biggles novel “The camels are coming” was published in summer 1932 under William Earle , later under Capt. WE Johns ; the last one shortly before his death under WE Johns .

Works (selection)

• Biggles cycle. 1932–1968 (100 vol.)
• Steeley series. 1936-1939 (6 vols.).
• Worral series. 1941-1950 (11 vols.).
• Gimlet series. 1943-1954 (10 vol.).

literature

• Peter B. Ellis, Piers Williams: By Jove, Biggles! A biography of Johns . Allen Books, London 1981, ISBN 0-491-02775-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ now known as the Richard Hale School.

Web links

• Works by William Earl Johns
• Biggles homepage