The Silver Spitfire cover art

The Silver Spitfire

The Legendary WWII RAF Fighter Pilot in His Own Words

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The Silver Spitfire

By: Tom Neil
Narrated by: Roger Davis
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About this listen

A brilliantly vivid Second World War memoir by one of 'the Few' Spitfire fighter pilots.

Following the D-Day landings, Battle of Britain hero Tom Neil was assigned as an 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 firsthand, gripping story of Neil's heroic experience as an RAF fighter pilot and his reminiscences with his very own personal Spitfire.

©2019 Wg Cdr Tom Neil (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group Air Forces Armed Forces Military Military & War World War II War US Air Force Aviation
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This tells the story of a prior RAAF Ace, who was assigned to a US squadron as a liaison officer. He mainly just flew around on his own non-war related issues, occasionally seeing some of the devastation of the final months of the war on the western front, but not taking part in any of it. Some interesting stories here and there, but disappointing in terms of action stories.

Not much action.

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I have heard of the silver spit before and was intrigued about the whole story. This book did not disappoint. Very well read as well. I was taken there!

What a great story!

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An interesting wartime story based on an obviously flawed memory written as it was many decades after the war. Exaggerated English drollness was often very amusing but sometimes irritating but did show another side of the conflict from a person of privilege. Overpaid Over sexed and Over here

Interesting And Droll

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if you're after a thrill a minute account of battles this is not your book.
if you're after a great account of a man's life in WW2 then this is it. Great stories and descriptions of many aircraft and people.
I loved it.

The Silver Spitfire. A great account.

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This is a good read by a very likable and interesting author about his days serving as an RAF pilot in WW2.

Overall, the author is a good story teller, but does get bogged down in detail sometimes.

Based on the title, I was expecting an action packed book about a spitfire, and instead received a pleasant story about what this nice chap had for lunch each day during the war.

It's still a very good and worthwhile read. Its a day-in-the-life first-person narrative, which I must admit, I did ultimately enjoy all the same.

A story about a likable character in WW2

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Narration is somewhat monotone but the story speaks for itself. The detail of the Authors memory is astounding.

Fabulous story

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