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Tiger Clinton #6
The Death Rays of Ardilla
Tiger, Rex and the Professor return in book six of Captain W.E. John's classic space adventure series!
In their previous adventures, they encountered the planet Ardilla and its strange rays, which caused its inhabitants to develop thick skin in resistance. But reports are, the rays are getting stronger, and more deadly, and a mission to survey the planet has gone missing. The crew of the Tavona join the rescue mission - but what will they find?
Meanwhile, a plucky young stowaway has hidden away on the ship, and finds himself seeing far more than he bargained for.
It's up to Tiger to get everyone home safely!
In their previous adventures, they encountered the planet Ardilla and its strange rays, which caused its inhabitants to develop thick skin in resistance. But reports are, the rays are getting stronger, and more deadly, and a mission to survey the planet has gone missing. The crew of the Tavona join the rescue mission - but what will they find?
Meanwhile, a plucky young stowaway has hidden away on the ship, and finds himself seeing far more than he bargained for.
It's up to Tiger to get everyone home safely!
- GenresFiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
About the author
W.E. Johns
608 books115 followersInvariably known as Captain W.E. Johns, William Earl Johns was born in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Eastman Johns, a tailor, and Elizabeth Johns (née Earl), the daughter of a master butcher. He had a younger brother, Russell Ernest Johns, who was born on 24 October 1895.
He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.
In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.
On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.
With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.
He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.
He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.
He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.
In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.
On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.
With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.
He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.
He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 30, 2016
I read this when I was about nine or ten years old and at the time thought it was brilliant. One of those books that I read by torchlight under the bedclothes after my parents had told me several times to put my light out.
Can't remember much about it now except the excitement of reading it. Would love to discover it again one day.
Can't remember much about it now except the excitement of reading it. Would love to discover it again one day.
September 21, 2024
Johns was mailing it on this one. Went to different planets that suffered from different maladies. Taught some baddies a lesson in the end.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews