Gun Button to Fire: A Hurricane Pilot's Dramatic Story of the Battle of Britain
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Gun Button to Fire: A Hurricane Pilot's Dramatic Story of the Battle of Britain
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This is a fighter pilot's story of eight memorable months from May to December 1940. When the Germans were blitzing their way across France, Pilot Officer Tom Neil had just received his first posting – to 249 Squadron. Nineteen years old, fresh from training at Montrose on Hawker Audax biplanes he was soon to be pitch forked into the maelstrom of air fighting on which the survival of Britain was to depend. By the end of the year he had shot down 13 enemy aircraft, seen many of his friends killed, injured or burned, and was himself a wary and accomplished fighter pilot. Tom flew 141 combat missions (few pilots reached 50) mostly from North Weald airfield in Essex, and is one of only a handful of pilots alive today. Tom Neil flew with James Nicolson at the time he won the only Battle of Britain Victoria Cross. He is now 90 and lives in Suffolk with his wife who was a Fighter Command plotter when they met in 1940.