Flight Officer Joan Worralson, better known as "Worrals", is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

created by

W. E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Ea ...

, more famous for his series of books about the airman

Biggles James Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and hero of the ''Biggles'' series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns (1893–1968). Biggles made his first appearance ...

. Worrals was a member of the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

(WAAF) in the Second World War. She has a sidekick called Betty "Frecks" Lovell. Johns modelled Worrals on two female aviators of his acquaintance,

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records duri ...

—whom he knew as "Johnnie" Mollison, from which Worrals' name is presumed to derive—and

Pauline Gower Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower Fahie (22 July 1910 – 2 March 1947) was a British pilot and writer who established the women's branch of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. Early life and education Pauline Mary de Peauly ...

Novels

The first six books were written and set during the Second World War; the remainder mainly in places remote or exotic to European readers. The Worrals series was very successful in the UK (published by the

Lutterworth Press The Lutterworth Press, one of the oldest independent British publishing houses, has traded since the late eighteenth century - initially as the Religious Tract Society (RTS). The Lutterworth imprint, named after the small English town of Lutte ...

) and France (

Presses de la Cité Presses de la Cité is a French publishing company founded in 1943 by Sven Nielsen, the son and grandson of booksellers, who came to Paris in 1924. Before becoming a publisher, Nielsen specialised in exporting French books. In 1988, with its me ...

) and translated into several other languages. Most titles included line illustrations by the British artist Leslie L Stead. The first three Worrals books were republished in 2013 by IndieBooks with new illustrations by US graphic novelist

Matt Kindt Matt Kindt (born 1973) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist, and graphic designer. His early creator-owned works were spy fiction, and their success led to mainstream work for hire projects in superhero fiction and other genres. His work h ...

. #''Worrals of the W.A.A.F.'' (1941) #''Worrals Carries On'' (1942) #''Worrals Flies Again'' (1942) #''Worrals on the War-path'' (1943) #''Worrals Goes East'' (1944) #''Worrals of the Islands'' (1945) #''Worrals in the Wilds'' (1947)Published by Hodder & Stoughton. #''Worrals Down Under'' (1948) #''Worrals in the Wastelands'' (1949) #''Worrals Goes Afoot'' (1949) #''Worrals Investigates'' (1950)

Short stories

There were three short stories featuring Worrals written by Johns: * "Worrals Takes a Hand" – published in ''The Children's Gift Book'' by Odhams in 1946 * "On the Home Front" – published in ''Comrades in Arms'' by Hodder & Stoughton in August 1947 * "Worrals Works it Out" – published in ''

The Girl's Own Paper ''The Girl's Own Paper'' (''G.O.P.'') was a British story paper catering to girls and young women, published from 1880 until 1956. Publishing history The first weekly number of ''The Girl's Own Paper'' appeared on 3 January 1880. As with its m ...

'' in September 1947

Other media

* In

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

's '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier'', MI5 picked Worrals to lead an incarnation of the League as replacement for deserter

Mina Murray Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker (née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. In the novel She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engaged ...

, as well as to draw female attention to the military. "Frecks" is implied to be more than a sidekick, and she rebuffs the advances from William Samson, Jr., the

Wolf of Kabul William Sampson or Samson, the Wolf of Kabul, was a literary character in British boys' papers published by D. C. Thomson & Co. He first appeared in '' The Wizard'' in 1922.Mike Conroy, "Of Clicky-Bas & .303s", ''War Stories: A Graphic History'', ...

. Worrals's League is finally dissolved after their first mission ends in catastrophic failure.

References

External links

{{Portal, Children's literature * http://www.worrals.com
Online Museum Dedicated to the Work of William Earl Johns

W. E. Johns Appreciation Society
Fictional air force personnel Fictional World War II veterans Fictional women soldiers and warriors Characters in children's literature

Novels

Short stories

Other media

References

Further reading

External links