Probably the most well-known photo of W. E. Johns is this one:-

This was taken by photographer, Victor Drees. Johns is holding a copy of “Biggles on Mystery Island” published in July 1958, so the picture is taken after that date.

But what page has Johns opened the book at? You can’t read the numbers or the words but you can in fact work it out by zooming in on a high-resolution photograph. The chapter title has four words. I am confident is saying it is “Axel Tells His Tale” and the book is open at page 85. I worked it out from the spacing of the letters and the lines, even though you can’t actually read them. I was then able to confirm that from this relatively unknown photo below:-

This was taken at the same time. Johns is wearing the same clothes and has the book open at the same page. You can’t read the words, but you get a better angle of the page and you can see from the spacing of the lines that is matches exactly with page 85! And just for the sake of completeness, in the first photo, another page number is showing where the book hangs open. That is page 65. Again, you can tell from the spacing of the words. And if you open Biggles on Mystery Island at page 85, it does hang open at page 65, just after an illustration as that is where the second section of bound pages ends.

Here is another photo, from the same session:-

I loved the first photo so much, that I commissioned the artist Andrew Skilleter to draw it for me in 2011 and he did a fantastic job …………

And finally …………. What are the Biggles books in the background of W. E. Johns and his bookcase? Here is my list:-

Top row – left to right

BIGGLES IN AFRICA – August 1936

BIGGLES AIR COMMODORE – May 1937

BIGGLES FLIES WEST – September 1937

BIGGLES FLIES SOUTH – May 1938

BIGGLES GOES TO WAR – May 1938

BIGGLES IN SPAIN – May 1939

THE RESCUE FLIGHT – May 1939

BIGGLES FLIES NORTH – May 1939

BIGGLES – SECRET AGENT – May 1940

BIGGLES IN THE BALTIC – June 1940

BIGGLES IN THE SOUTH SEAS – September 1940

Second row – left to right

BIGGLES HUNTS BIG GAME

BIGGLES IN BORNEO

BIGGLES FAILS TO RETURN

BIGGLES DELIVERS THE GOODS

BIGGLES IN THE GOBI

BIGGLES IN AUSTRALIA

NO REST FOR BIGGLES

BIGGLES TAKES CHARGE (3 COPIES)

BIGGLES MAKES ENDS MEET

BIGGLES ON THE HOME FRONT

BIGGLES TAKES CHARGE (ANOTHER COPY)

BIGGLES MAKES ENDS MEET (CBC VERSION)

BIGGLES PRESSES ON (3 COPIES)

BIGGLES ON MYSTERY ISLAND (2 COPIES)

Gap because Bill Johns is holding a copy of Biggles on Mystery Island

BIGGLES BURIES A HATCHET

BIGGLES IN MEXICO (3 COPIES)

UNKNOWN AND UNRECOGNISABLE BOOK

Third row – left to right

NO MOTIVE FOR MURDER (4 COPIES)

BIGGLES ON MYSTERY ISLAND (CBC VERSION) (2 COPIES)

THE DEATH RAYS OF ARDILLA (4 COPIES)

BIGGLES PRESSES ON ? (2 COPIES)

BIGGLES COMBINED OPERATION (6 COPIES)

BIGGLES IN MEXICO ?

3 UNKNOWN AND UNRECOGNISABLE BOOKS