In September 1918 his aircraft was shot down and Johns, wounded, was captured by the Germans; he remained a prisoner until the end of the war, despite two attempts to escape.
[4][5] Johns described Biggles as "typical of the type of British airman I knew during the Great War.
During the Second World War, Johns worked for the Air Ministry; the ministry asked him to create a female character to boost recruitment into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, which resulted in the publication of the Worrals stories and books.
[6] The character was successful and the War Office requested Johns introduce a soldier, which led to the introduction of Gimlet.
[3] Johns wrote a great number of short stories under his own name and the pseudonym William Earle; no complete list of these works exists.