A Higher Call
A01=Tom Neil
Air Force biographies
Air Force biography
Author_Tom Neil
Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain ace
Category=DNBH1
Category=NHWL
Category=NHWR7
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
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Product details
- ISBN 9781399643450
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 05 Nov 2026
- Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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A brilliantly vivid Second World War memoir by one of 'the Few' Spitfire fighter pilots.
Readers say:
'An amazing story' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'An exceptionally good book' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Engagingly-written and fascinating' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Following the D-Day landings, Battle of Britain hero Tom Neil was assigned as RAF liaison to an American fighter squadron. As the Allies pushed east, Neil commandeered an abandoned Spitfire as his own personal aeroplane. Erasing any evidence of its provenance and stripping it down to bare metal, it became the RAF's only silver Spitfire.
Alongside his US comrades, he took the silver Spitfire into battle until, with the war's end, he was forced to make a difficult decision. Faced with too many questions about the mysterious rogue fighter, he contemplated increasingly desperate measures to offload it, including bailing out mid-Channel. He eventually left the Spitfire at Worthy Down, never to be seen again.
The Silver Spitfire is the first-hand, gripping story of Neil's heroic experience as an RAF fighter pilot and his reminiscences with his very own personal Spitfire.
Tom Neil joined No. 249 Squadron flying Hurricanes just before the start of the Battle of Britain. He flew 141 combat missions (few pilots reached 50), mostly from North Weald airfield in Essex, and is credited with the destruction of more than 17 enemy aircraft. After the war, he remained with the RAF until 1964, retiring with the rank of Wing Commander. Having served for some years in the British Embassy in Washington at the height of the Cold War, he returned to the US as a businessman before relocating to Norfolk, where his career included running an art gallery. He is the author of many books, including his acclaimed memoir THE SILVER SPITFIRE. He and his wife Eileen, who was a Fighter Command plotter when they met during the war, were married for almost 70 years and had three sons, two of whom became pilots in the Services. Tom Neil died in July 2018 at the age of 97.
