“Book Descriptions: This is a fighter pilot's memoir of four tumultuous years, 1938-1942, when he was first trained, then fought and survived in not one but two of the biggest aerial campaigns of the war, the Battle of Britain and the equally epic, but lesser known Siege of Malta. When the Germans were blitzing their way across France in Spring 1940, Pilot Officer Tom Neil had just received his first posting – to 249 Squadron. Nineteen years old, fresh from training he was soon to be pitched into the maelstrom of air fighting on which the very survival of Britain would depend.
By the end of 1940, Neil had shot down 13 enemy aircraft, seen many of his friends killed, injured or burned, and was himself a wary and accomplished fighter pilot. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, he was then shipped off to the beleaguered island of Malta in the Mediterranean to face both the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica, Again Neil was heavily engaged in combat and shot down another enemy fighter and was himself shot down and injured. Now 95, he is one of only twenty-five Battle of Britain veterans still alive and this vivid memoir is his last word on his fighter pilot experiences” DRIVE