Gimlet continuity post
Jan. 2nd, 2025 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tweagueWhile I don't think Gimlet is nearly as much in need of a continuity post as von Stalhein was (SO MUCH of this material comes straight from 'King of the Commandos'), I thought I'd sling one together so I didn't need to scrabble around for references so much. I'm afraid I haven't page-numbered this one yet though - I have been utterly spoiled by digital editions with a search function. This is also very much a work in progress, especially the very vague notes on the other Kittens - I do plan to go back and edit when I turn up more things.
Captain Lorrington 'Gimlet' King, D.S.O., M.C. and Bar
Gimlet is already a Captain when we first meet him in ‘King of the Commandos’, and remains one at the end of the war (‘Comes Home’). His medals are listed by Copper in ‘King of the Commandos’, though Copper is not always necessary 100% accu-rat (see below on ‘Lorrington Castle’.)
Appearance
Gimlet is described in ‘King of the Commandos’ as slim, of medium height, good-looking, with a 'quiet, unassuming, almost gentle manner'; he has close-cropped fair auburn hair, and strikingly blue eyes: 'the brightest, most startling blue that [Cub] had ever seen. It was not a soft blue, but rather had the hard gleam of burnished steel in sunlight.' Under normal circumstances he has a soft, well-modulated voice 'with a pronounced what is known as Oxford accent', but develops an icy forcefulness when he wishes to assert himself. In ‘King of the Commandos’ he is said to walk with a slight limp ('but he kids himself that no one notices it', says Copper): see ‘Career’ below. He is in his mid-20s (‘not more than about twenty-five’) when we first meet him in c.1942.
Gimlet is also something of a dandy, and extremely fastidious about his appearance: he dislikes getting dirty or rumpled, and will generally take the first possible opportunity for a wash and brush up. He wears blue silk trunks (‘KotC’), and (delightfully) he is able to identify by sight the Parisian manufacturer of a particular silk dressing gown (‘Takes a Job’).
Skills
Gimlet took part in motor racing before the war, and also learned to fly; he’s a first-rate horseman, as shown in ‘Mops Up’, and Copper claims he can ‘ride anything that moves on legs, wheels or wings’ (‘KotC’). He plays tennis and is also a strong swimmer (both ‘KotC’).
He speaks fluent German, with an accent good enough to fool a native speaker (‘KotC’), as well as French (‘Comrades in Arms’).
Family, background and property
Gimlet clearly comes from the Upper Ten Thousand, although WE Johns never gives him a title (not even a slightly confusing one like Lord Bertie / Lord Lissie.) He is on first name terms with at least one Duke and one probable Viscount (see below, ‘Associates’), and can’t seem to travel through occupied France without tripping over one or other aristocratic intelligence operative with whom he went to school. His father was a V.C. in the Great War, and his grandfather a V.C. in the Boer War; both had red hair (‘KotC’), but this is as much as we know of his forebears.
Copper initially gives Gimlet’s address as ‘Lorrington Castle’ (KotC), but when the Kittens travel to Gimlet’s home in ‘Comes Home’ the house is named as ‘Lorrington Hall’, and described as ‘an imposing Elizabethan manor’. Possibly Copper hyperbolised or misremembered the name; or, just possibly, Gimlet’s family seat has been on the site for long enough to have the old castle in the grounds of the ‘modern’ manor house. The manor is close to the village of Lorrington, and is in Devonshire (‘Comes Home’); at one point Gimlet plans to take the night train back from Lorrington to allow him to be back in London the morning after the village show, so it’s clearly quite a trek('Mops Up'). We can assume Gimlet partakes of WEJ’s usual array of aristocratic country pursuits: he goes fox hunting in ‘Mops Up’, and we are also informed that he intended to go hunting at home after ‘Comes Home’. In ‘Comrades in Arms’ Gimlet issues Biggles and his team with an open invitation to shoot his coverts, informing them that his gamekeeper assures him there are thirty brace of birds in the Long Wood.
It’s striking that Gimlet, the Hall and the village all share the same name: it’s not entirely clear whether Gimlet’s parents took his Christian name from the name of the village (weird), or whether the village and the House took their name from the family in some respect, a name which was retained as a Christian name even though their surname was King.
Gimlet, rather charmingly, seems to take his duties as lord of the manor extremely seriously. He is President of the Lorrington Cottage Garden Society, and travels down to judge their show and distribute the prizes in the village hall even when his life is in danger from attacks by Nazi sleeper agents (‘Mops Up’). He appears to be quite popular in the village, at any rate straight after the war, getting a cheer from the crowd at the village show. (On the other hand, would you dare not to cheer Gimlet King?)
A branch of Gimlet’s family, the Cunningham-Kings, had property in Scotland: Strathcarglas Lodge, with its extensive grouse moors, which Gimlet inherits after the deaths of his uncle and the two heirs presumptive during the WWII. However, he was apparently not close to this branch of the family, and never visited the property until he inherited it (‘Comes Home’). By summer 1947 Gimlet has installed a caretaker and his wife at the property, and offers it to Cub, Copper and Trapper for a holiday (‘Oriental Quest’).
Biographical sketch & career
When we first meet him in c.1942 Gimlet is described as ‘not more than about twenty-five’: as such his date of birth can be pegged relatively accurately to around 1917. Before the war he took part in motor racing and learned to fly. He began his military career in the regular Guards, and although it’s not clear if this was before the war, it seems quite possible: military service was after all a strong tradition in his family. According to Copper, he found this too boring, and got himself seconded to an Air Force Squadron, and took part in the Battle of Britain. It was during this period that he sustained the leg injury which left him with a limp: according to Copper, he ‘collided with a Jerry'. At some point after this he joined the Commandos, and when we meet him his is commander of the Special Service Troop of the Combined Operations unit, No. 9 Commando, whose shoulder cypher is a wildcat, and hence known as 'King's Kittens.' (All ‘KotC’.)
A few of the Kittens’ wartime exploits are described, primarily in ‘King of the Commandos’. Gimlet, Trapper and Copper all took part in the Johnsiverse versions of the St Nazaire Raid (28th March 1942) and the Dieppe Raid (19th August 1942); Trapper and Copper at any rate were also involved in 'the raid of Glamfjord Power Station, in Norway' (presumably the Johnsiverse version of Operation Musketoon of September 1942); they also took part in an action which 'bumped off his [Generalobserst Gunther's] garrison in the Luvelle lighthouse.' Three more wartime exploits are given in the course of the books ‘King of the Commandos’, ‘Gimlet Goes Again’, and the story ‘An Oriental Assignment’ in the book ‘Comrades in Arms’.
Gimlet ends the war as a Captain, but is still on the reserves in November 1946 (‘Mops Up’): he is listed as ‘retired’ in c.1949 (‘Bores In’). His post-war career is rather more nebulous, though it seems extremely like that he is employed on at least a semi-regular basis - either officially or unofficially - by at least one Government department. In ‘Mops Up’ he is contacted by General Sir Saxon Craig (who Gimlet first met undercover in France as Numero Neuf in ‘Goes Again’), who is now described as Chief Liaison between the War Office and Scotland Yard: ‘between MI5 and CID’ as he puts it. During the action of this book Gimlet and his team are based out of a headquarters in the partially bombed-out Brummel Square. In ‘Lends a Hand’ Copper assumes he will be at his estate, but instead he’s in London again, and sending Cub excitingly shady-looking small ads clipped from the newspaper - he claims to be too busy to investigate the matter himself, though he does find time to motor down to the south of France in time for the denouement. In ‘Bores In’ he has been ‘asked by a certain government department to do a little job’: he was approached as an individual, and considered undertaking the job alone before deciding he might need back-up from the rest of his team. A similar set-up seems to lie behind ‘Off The Map’ (where Gimlet has been approached by the Colonial Office to check out reports from British Honduras) and ‘Gets The Answer’ (where Major Charles ‘of the Intelligence Office, Security Section’ approaches Gimlet alone to investigate what a group of American gangsters might be doing in a British Crown Colony, before Gimlet informs him that as he’s about to meet the others for their monthly luncheon party, he might as well bring them along to the briefing. Major Charles has apparently previously given them all ‘more than one secret assignment’.) When Biggles calls on his assistance in ‘Biggles Follows On’, it’s as a civilian rather than in an official capacity. (An extremely explosives-rich civilian, presumably.) Gimlet’s position in ‘Takes A Job’ is at least rather more official, as he seems to be appointed Governor of the small island of Santelucia with full government backing.
Known Haunts and Associates
Gimlet has been through Sevres ‘often’ before the war, and has been to Paris ‘many times’ (‘Goes Again’). When in London, he can usually be found at the Ritz (‘Lends a Hand’, ‘Bores In’ etc), where he is well-known to the staff and orders a special meal personally from the head chef for his team (‘Comes Home’); this is presumably the location for his monthly luncheon party with Cub, Copper and Trapper (‘Gets The Answer’). In ‘Mops Up’, unusually, he is said to be staying at the ‘Hotel Europa’, where he has a private suite; however, as the ‘Europa’ is on Picadilly (much like the Ritz), it seem likely that WEJ was just anonymising Gimlet’s usual hotel, as the real Ritz hotel might not have liked a fictional kidnapping to have taken place on their premises.
Gimlet is on first-name terms with the Duke of Marlingham, who he ran into in the middle of the Dieppe Raid (‘’Why, hello, Lorry old man,' he says, all casual, like we was at a blinkin' garden party. 'How's the huntin'? sez 'e.’ KotC.) He is also old friends with Captain the Hon. Frederick (‘Freddie’) Ashton of Wongerford Manor, Sussex, who we first meet as a British intelligence operative in occupied France (‘KotC’), and later as a possible victim of the Werewolves in ‘Mops Up’, during which Gimlet and Cub essentially gate-crash his hunt meet. By ‘Oriental Quest’ the Hon. Freddie has come into his title as Lord Rinford and also rather a lot of money: Gimlet knows him well enough to casually borrow his yacht and sail it to Thailand for a couple of months.
Gimlet is also an old associate of Bertie Lissie, though how they first became acquainted is unknown. Gimlet enquires after Bertie when Biggles comes to pick him up in ‘Goes Again’, and on learning that Bertie wishes to hurry home to look after one of his foxhounds who is expecting puppies, he volunteers to come along and help out (which is entirely adorable and responsible for almost 100% of my rabid determination that they should be old pals.) In ‘Follows On’ they take the opportunity of five minutes peace and quiet in intervals between blowing things up to have a chat about Gimlet’s favourite horse, Seagull, who he apparently plans to ride in the Grand National the following year. Copper, incidentally, had rather expected this sort of nonsense, suggesting he’s already observed the two of them together.
Biggles and at least some of his team (usually just Ginger) often provide assistance to Gimlet and the Kittens: Biggles and Ginger only in ‘KotC’, ‘Mops Up‘, ‘Bores In’, possibly the whole crew in ‘Comrades In Arms’ (Biggles and Ginger appear, Algy is mentioned, and Bertie’s presence may be implied by the use of both the Catalina’s gun turrets), and presumably at least a fair proportion of 666 squadron in ‘Goes Again’, where Gimlet requests help to bring a hundred PoWs back to England.
Trivia
Uses a gold cigarette case (‘Mops Up’)
Drove a Bentley in his pre-war racing career (‘KotC’), and also drives one to motor down to the south of France in ‘Lends A Hand’.
Bought an army surplus jeep to use around the estate, but leaves it in Thailand (‘Oriental Quest’)
King’s Kittens
(NOTE: This section should be expanded later, when I’ve dug up the minimal continuity references for Cub, Trapper and Copper: I only made notes for Gimlet himself on my last read through.)
Corporal Albert Edward ‘Copper’ Collson
In c.1942 Copper is described as ‘a tall, fresh-complexioned, loose-limbed giant in the early twenties’ (‘KotC’): his year of birth is thus c.1920. His height is later given as 6’2 (‘Takes A Job’ etc.) Three times heavy-weight boxing champion of the Metropolitan police (‘Takes A Job’), and twice winner of the City Heavyweight Championship (‘KotC’). Father died when he was young, trained in various forms of petty crime by an uncle who subsequently went to prison; joined the River Police. Lived in Wapping, until his home was bombed in the blitz, after which he left the Met and joined the Commandos.
Private ‘Trapper’ Troublay
French Canadian, ‘a lean, dapper product of the great backwoods, wherein he had spent ten of his early years of life as a trapper and prospector.’ Dark, with a small moustache and a scar ‘stretching from the left ear to the chin’, the result of an attack by a grizzly bear. (All ‘KotC’).
Nigel Norman ‘Cub’ Peters
Cub was at Brendall’s school in Essex (‘the famous public school’) when he received news that his father had been cut off on the beach at Dunkirk (early June 1940), and he stowed away aboard one of the little boats in the hope of finding him; he was then ‘in his fifteenth year’ (ie 14), and himself got stranded in occupied France. He spent the next two years with a resistance group of teenagers in northern France, known as ‘Les Poux Gris du Nord’; by the time he meets up with Gimlet’s group in late 1942 he is sixteen. His year of birth is thus fairly firmly fixed to 1926. He looks old for his years, however, because of the strain of his war experiences: his face is said to be ‘thin, and set in rather hard lines’..
By ‘Oriental Quest’ (August 1947) when he is presumably around twenty-one his height is given as 5’8”.
Misc Kittens
‘Shorty’ Hughes - missing since Dieppe, rescued from PoW camp outside Paris in ‘Goes Again’): ‘late of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers’ (‘Comes Home’). After the war we meet him as cloakroom attendant at the Ritz (‘Comes Home’)
Corporal Miles - missing since Dieppe, also rescued in ‘Goes Again’.
Chronology and Check-list
Gimlet’s chronology is much less of a headache than von Stalhein’s! Most of the later books do not contain much dating information, either for time of year or year. Generally speaking the books seem to be dated to around a year before the publication date (presumably therefore to the time that WEJ was writing them).
‘King of the Commandos’ (publ. 1943) - to be dated post-19th August 1942 (Dieppe raid).
‘Goes Again’ (publ. 1944) - dated presumably 1943: post ‘KotC’ but pre-June 1944 (D Day).
‘An Oriental Assignment’ in ‘Comrades in Arms’ (story publ. July-September 1945) - dated presumably to last year or so of WWII.
‘Comes Home’ (publ. 1946) - set in ‘Late September’, presumably 1945: this is WEJ’s first post-WWII story. Cub etc are still wearing their demob suits, and still have their war gratuities.
‘Mops Up’ (publ. 1947) - set in November, presumably 1946.
Oriental Quest (publ. 1948) - set in August, presumably 1947
Lends A Hand (publ. 1949) - sc.1948
Bores In (publ. 1950) - sc. 1949
Off the Map (publ. 1951) - sc. 1950
Guest appearance in ‘Biggles Follows On’ (publ. 1952) - to be dated probably spring 1951 (please see my massive nerdy von Stalhein post under Appendix I for dating criteria.)
Gets the Answer (publ. 1952) - the story is dated to March, which I’m prepared to bet is because that’s when WEJ took his holiday to Cyprus: whether this is before or after the guest appearance in ‘Follows On’, which must have taken the best part of a month (the flights take two weeks each way), is not clear. That they are both to be dated to 1951 is also not certain, but there’s nothing to prevent it.
Takes a Job (publ. 1954) - sc. 1953.
Captain Lorrington 'Gimlet' King, D.S.O., M.C. and Bar
Gimlet is already a Captain when we first meet him in ‘King of the Commandos’, and remains one at the end of the war (‘Comes Home’). His medals are listed by Copper in ‘King of the Commandos’, though Copper is not always necessary 100% accu-rat (see below on ‘Lorrington Castle’.)
Appearance
Gimlet is described in ‘King of the Commandos’ as slim, of medium height, good-looking, with a 'quiet, unassuming, almost gentle manner'; he has close-cropped fair auburn hair, and strikingly blue eyes: 'the brightest, most startling blue that [Cub] had ever seen. It was not a soft blue, but rather had the hard gleam of burnished steel in sunlight.' Under normal circumstances he has a soft, well-modulated voice 'with a pronounced what is known as Oxford accent', but develops an icy forcefulness when he wishes to assert himself. In ‘King of the Commandos’ he is said to walk with a slight limp ('but he kids himself that no one notices it', says Copper): see ‘Career’ below. He is in his mid-20s (‘not more than about twenty-five’) when we first meet him in c.1942.
Gimlet is also something of a dandy, and extremely fastidious about his appearance: he dislikes getting dirty or rumpled, and will generally take the first possible opportunity for a wash and brush up. He wears blue silk trunks (‘KotC’), and (delightfully) he is able to identify by sight the Parisian manufacturer of a particular silk dressing gown (‘Takes a Job’).
Skills
Gimlet took part in motor racing before the war, and also learned to fly; he’s a first-rate horseman, as shown in ‘Mops Up’, and Copper claims he can ‘ride anything that moves on legs, wheels or wings’ (‘KotC’). He plays tennis and is also a strong swimmer (both ‘KotC’).
He speaks fluent German, with an accent good enough to fool a native speaker (‘KotC’), as well as French (‘Comrades in Arms’).
Family, background and property
Gimlet clearly comes from the Upper Ten Thousand, although WE Johns never gives him a title (not even a slightly confusing one like Lord Bertie / Lord Lissie.) He is on first name terms with at least one Duke and one probable Viscount (see below, ‘Associates’), and can’t seem to travel through occupied France without tripping over one or other aristocratic intelligence operative with whom he went to school. His father was a V.C. in the Great War, and his grandfather a V.C. in the Boer War; both had red hair (‘KotC’), but this is as much as we know of his forebears.
Copper initially gives Gimlet’s address as ‘Lorrington Castle’ (KotC), but when the Kittens travel to Gimlet’s home in ‘Comes Home’ the house is named as ‘Lorrington Hall’, and described as ‘an imposing Elizabethan manor’. Possibly Copper hyperbolised or misremembered the name; or, just possibly, Gimlet’s family seat has been on the site for long enough to have the old castle in the grounds of the ‘modern’ manor house. The manor is close to the village of Lorrington, and is in Devonshire (‘Comes Home’); at one point Gimlet plans to take the night train back from Lorrington to allow him to be back in London the morning after the village show, so it’s clearly quite a trek('Mops Up'). We can assume Gimlet partakes of WEJ’s usual array of aristocratic country pursuits: he goes fox hunting in ‘Mops Up’, and we are also informed that he intended to go hunting at home after ‘Comes Home’. In ‘Comrades in Arms’ Gimlet issues Biggles and his team with an open invitation to shoot his coverts, informing them that his gamekeeper assures him there are thirty brace of birds in the Long Wood.
It’s striking that Gimlet, the Hall and the village all share the same name: it’s not entirely clear whether Gimlet’s parents took his Christian name from the name of the village (weird), or whether the village and the House took their name from the family in some respect, a name which was retained as a Christian name even though their surname was King.
Gimlet, rather charmingly, seems to take his duties as lord of the manor extremely seriously. He is President of the Lorrington Cottage Garden Society, and travels down to judge their show and distribute the prizes in the village hall even when his life is in danger from attacks by Nazi sleeper agents (‘Mops Up’). He appears to be quite popular in the village, at any rate straight after the war, getting a cheer from the crowd at the village show. (On the other hand, would you dare not to cheer Gimlet King?)
A branch of Gimlet’s family, the Cunningham-Kings, had property in Scotland: Strathcarglas Lodge, with its extensive grouse moors, which Gimlet inherits after the deaths of his uncle and the two heirs presumptive during the WWII. However, he was apparently not close to this branch of the family, and never visited the property until he inherited it (‘Comes Home’). By summer 1947 Gimlet has installed a caretaker and his wife at the property, and offers it to Cub, Copper and Trapper for a holiday (‘Oriental Quest’).
Biographical sketch & career
When we first meet him in c.1942 Gimlet is described as ‘not more than about twenty-five’: as such his date of birth can be pegged relatively accurately to around 1917. Before the war he took part in motor racing and learned to fly. He began his military career in the regular Guards, and although it’s not clear if this was before the war, it seems quite possible: military service was after all a strong tradition in his family. According to Copper, he found this too boring, and got himself seconded to an Air Force Squadron, and took part in the Battle of Britain. It was during this period that he sustained the leg injury which left him with a limp: according to Copper, he ‘collided with a Jerry'. At some point after this he joined the Commandos, and when we meet him his is commander of the Special Service Troop of the Combined Operations unit, No. 9 Commando, whose shoulder cypher is a wildcat, and hence known as 'King's Kittens.' (All ‘KotC’.)
A few of the Kittens’ wartime exploits are described, primarily in ‘King of the Commandos’. Gimlet, Trapper and Copper all took part in the Johnsiverse versions of the St Nazaire Raid (28th March 1942) and the Dieppe Raid (19th August 1942); Trapper and Copper at any rate were also involved in 'the raid of Glamfjord Power Station, in Norway' (presumably the Johnsiverse version of Operation Musketoon of September 1942); they also took part in an action which 'bumped off his [Generalobserst Gunther's] garrison in the Luvelle lighthouse.' Three more wartime exploits are given in the course of the books ‘King of the Commandos’, ‘Gimlet Goes Again’, and the story ‘An Oriental Assignment’ in the book ‘Comrades in Arms’.
Gimlet ends the war as a Captain, but is still on the reserves in November 1946 (‘Mops Up’): he is listed as ‘retired’ in c.1949 (‘Bores In’). His post-war career is rather more nebulous, though it seems extremely like that he is employed on at least a semi-regular basis - either officially or unofficially - by at least one Government department. In ‘Mops Up’ he is contacted by General Sir Saxon Craig (who Gimlet first met undercover in France as Numero Neuf in ‘Goes Again’), who is now described as Chief Liaison between the War Office and Scotland Yard: ‘between MI5 and CID’ as he puts it. During the action of this book Gimlet and his team are based out of a headquarters in the partially bombed-out Brummel Square. In ‘Lends a Hand’ Copper assumes he will be at his estate, but instead he’s in London again, and sending Cub excitingly shady-looking small ads clipped from the newspaper - he claims to be too busy to investigate the matter himself, though he does find time to motor down to the south of France in time for the denouement. In ‘Bores In’ he has been ‘asked by a certain government department to do a little job’: he was approached as an individual, and considered undertaking the job alone before deciding he might need back-up from the rest of his team. A similar set-up seems to lie behind ‘Off The Map’ (where Gimlet has been approached by the Colonial Office to check out reports from British Honduras) and ‘Gets The Answer’ (where Major Charles ‘of the Intelligence Office, Security Section’ approaches Gimlet alone to investigate what a group of American gangsters might be doing in a British Crown Colony, before Gimlet informs him that as he’s about to meet the others for their monthly luncheon party, he might as well bring them along to the briefing. Major Charles has apparently previously given them all ‘more than one secret assignment’.) When Biggles calls on his assistance in ‘Biggles Follows On’, it’s as a civilian rather than in an official capacity. (An extremely explosives-rich civilian, presumably.) Gimlet’s position in ‘Takes A Job’ is at least rather more official, as he seems to be appointed Governor of the small island of Santelucia with full government backing.
Known Haunts and Associates
Gimlet has been through Sevres ‘often’ before the war, and has been to Paris ‘many times’ (‘Goes Again’). When in London, he can usually be found at the Ritz (‘Lends a Hand’, ‘Bores In’ etc), where he is well-known to the staff and orders a special meal personally from the head chef for his team (‘Comes Home’); this is presumably the location for his monthly luncheon party with Cub, Copper and Trapper (‘Gets The Answer’). In ‘Mops Up’, unusually, he is said to be staying at the ‘Hotel Europa’, where he has a private suite; however, as the ‘Europa’ is on Picadilly (much like the Ritz), it seem likely that WEJ was just anonymising Gimlet’s usual hotel, as the real Ritz hotel might not have liked a fictional kidnapping to have taken place on their premises.
Gimlet is on first-name terms with the Duke of Marlingham, who he ran into in the middle of the Dieppe Raid (‘’Why, hello, Lorry old man,' he says, all casual, like we was at a blinkin' garden party. 'How's the huntin'? sez 'e.’ KotC.) He is also old friends with Captain the Hon. Frederick (‘Freddie’) Ashton of Wongerford Manor, Sussex, who we first meet as a British intelligence operative in occupied France (‘KotC’), and later as a possible victim of the Werewolves in ‘Mops Up’, during which Gimlet and Cub essentially gate-crash his hunt meet. By ‘Oriental Quest’ the Hon. Freddie has come into his title as Lord Rinford and also rather a lot of money: Gimlet knows him well enough to casually borrow his yacht and sail it to Thailand for a couple of months.
Gimlet is also an old associate of Bertie Lissie, though how they first became acquainted is unknown. Gimlet enquires after Bertie when Biggles comes to pick him up in ‘Goes Again’, and on learning that Bertie wishes to hurry home to look after one of his foxhounds who is expecting puppies, he volunteers to come along and help out (which is entirely adorable and responsible for almost 100% of my rabid determination that they should be old pals.) In ‘Follows On’ they take the opportunity of five minutes peace and quiet in intervals between blowing things up to have a chat about Gimlet’s favourite horse, Seagull, who he apparently plans to ride in the Grand National the following year. Copper, incidentally, had rather expected this sort of nonsense, suggesting he’s already observed the two of them together.
Biggles and at least some of his team (usually just Ginger) often provide assistance to Gimlet and the Kittens: Biggles and Ginger only in ‘KotC’, ‘Mops Up‘, ‘Bores In’, possibly the whole crew in ‘Comrades In Arms’ (Biggles and Ginger appear, Algy is mentioned, and Bertie’s presence may be implied by the use of both the Catalina’s gun turrets), and presumably at least a fair proportion of 666 squadron in ‘Goes Again’, where Gimlet requests help to bring a hundred PoWs back to England.
Trivia
Uses a gold cigarette case (‘Mops Up’)
Drove a Bentley in his pre-war racing career (‘KotC’), and also drives one to motor down to the south of France in ‘Lends A Hand’.
Bought an army surplus jeep to use around the estate, but leaves it in Thailand (‘Oriental Quest’)
King’s Kittens
(NOTE: This section should be expanded later, when I’ve dug up the minimal continuity references for Cub, Trapper and Copper: I only made notes for Gimlet himself on my last read through.)
Corporal Albert Edward ‘Copper’ Collson
In c.1942 Copper is described as ‘a tall, fresh-complexioned, loose-limbed giant in the early twenties’ (‘KotC’): his year of birth is thus c.1920. His height is later given as 6’2 (‘Takes A Job’ etc.) Three times heavy-weight boxing champion of the Metropolitan police (‘Takes A Job’), and twice winner of the City Heavyweight Championship (‘KotC’). Father died when he was young, trained in various forms of petty crime by an uncle who subsequently went to prison; joined the River Police. Lived in Wapping, until his home was bombed in the blitz, after which he left the Met and joined the Commandos.
Private ‘Trapper’ Troublay
French Canadian, ‘a lean, dapper product of the great backwoods, wherein he had spent ten of his early years of life as a trapper and prospector.’ Dark, with a small moustache and a scar ‘stretching from the left ear to the chin’, the result of an attack by a grizzly bear. (All ‘KotC’).
Nigel Norman ‘Cub’ Peters
Cub was at Brendall’s school in Essex (‘the famous public school’) when he received news that his father had been cut off on the beach at Dunkirk (early June 1940), and he stowed away aboard one of the little boats in the hope of finding him; he was then ‘in his fifteenth year’ (ie 14), and himself got stranded in occupied France. He spent the next two years with a resistance group of teenagers in northern France, known as ‘Les Poux Gris du Nord’; by the time he meets up with Gimlet’s group in late 1942 he is sixteen. His year of birth is thus fairly firmly fixed to 1926. He looks old for his years, however, because of the strain of his war experiences: his face is said to be ‘thin, and set in rather hard lines’..
By ‘Oriental Quest’ (August 1947) when he is presumably around twenty-one his height is given as 5’8”.
Misc Kittens
‘Shorty’ Hughes - missing since Dieppe, rescued from PoW camp outside Paris in ‘Goes Again’): ‘late of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers’ (‘Comes Home’). After the war we meet him as cloakroom attendant at the Ritz (‘Comes Home’)
Corporal Miles - missing since Dieppe, also rescued in ‘Goes Again’.
Chronology and Check-list
Gimlet’s chronology is much less of a headache than von Stalhein’s! Most of the later books do not contain much dating information, either for time of year or year. Generally speaking the books seem to be dated to around a year before the publication date (presumably therefore to the time that WEJ was writing them).
‘King of the Commandos’ (publ. 1943) - to be dated post-19th August 1942 (Dieppe raid).
‘Goes Again’ (publ. 1944) - dated presumably 1943: post ‘KotC’ but pre-June 1944 (D Day).
‘An Oriental Assignment’ in ‘Comrades in Arms’ (story publ. July-September 1945) - dated presumably to last year or so of WWII.
‘Comes Home’ (publ. 1946) - set in ‘Late September’, presumably 1945: this is WEJ’s first post-WWII story. Cub etc are still wearing their demob suits, and still have their war gratuities.
‘Mops Up’ (publ. 1947) - set in November, presumably 1946.
Oriental Quest (publ. 1948) - set in August, presumably 1947
Lends A Hand (publ. 1949) - sc.1948
Bores In (publ. 1950) - sc. 1949
Off the Map (publ. 1951) - sc. 1950
Guest appearance in ‘Biggles Follows On’ (publ. 1952) - to be dated probably spring 1951 (please see my massive nerdy von Stalhein post under Appendix I for dating criteria.)
Gets the Answer (publ. 1952) - the story is dated to March, which I’m prepared to bet is because that’s when WEJ took his holiday to Cyprus: whether this is before or after the guest appearance in ‘Follows On’, which must have taken the best part of a month (the flights take two weeks each way), is not clear. That they are both to be dated to 1951 is also not certain, but there’s nothing to prevent it.
Takes a Job (publ. 1954) - sc. 1953.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-03 11:22 am (UTC)