By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 18:01 EST, 31 March 2013 | UPDATED: 18:34 EST, 31 March 2013 Biggles: A real life Major James Bigglesworth has been discovered For decades, Biggles has held children in thrall with his fictional exploits as a dashing Royal Air Force pilot. But now it has emerged that his unlikely adventures may have been based on fact – in the shape of a real airman from the First World War. A 1918 combat report by a pilot called Major James Bigglesworth has been found at the RAF Museum in a collection of papers that once belonged to Biggles author WE Johns.
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The RAF Museum has found evidence that the literary hero was a real pilot
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Discovered a court report from Major James Bigglesworth
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The document was found amongst author W E Johns' manuscripts
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Character was a daring adventurer epitomising traditional Imperial values
The full name of the Biggles of the books was exactly the same – @placeholder.
The museum’s researchers have been combing through their files to find further evidence of @placeholder’s career in the services.