What do you think?
Rate this book
gun-button-to-fire
Rare Book
Hardcover
First published November 16, 1987
20 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 19, 2023
Tom Neil is a very rare person, a fighter ace who can really write. I've read so many of these pilot biographies, and they range between dull as dishwater, and completely fascinating, and it's so nice to read a good one. Tom Neil is very honest and frank, he made mistakes, but he learnt from them, and I guess that is why he was so successful. He’s quite critical of the Hawker Hurricane, it simply wasn’t good enough compared to the Bf109, this is quite different to the version of events I grew up with, which was that the Hurricane was OK, but the Spitfire was marvelous, and of course being British both were superior to anything German. Nice to finally read an honest opinion from a pilot who was there and flew both Hurricane and Spitfire, the Spitfire was closer to equal with the Bf109 during the Battle of Britain. It makes you wonder about some of the other narratives from WW2.
January 18, 2024
A day to day account of the life of a Hurricane pilot in the Battle of Britain. Does what it says on the tin with no over glamorisation. I am akways struck when reading such books by the low opinion most of his contemporaries had of Douglas Bader!
April 19, 2015
An Excellent Read!
An excellent writer, Tom Neil spins a tale of his time with 249 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. His squadron mates include a number of well-known pilots including James Nicolson, winner of Fighter Command's only Victoria Cross during the Battle of Britain. You will find it hard to put this book down!
An excellent writer, Tom Neil spins a tale of his time with 249 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. His squadron mates include a number of well-known pilots including James Nicolson, winner of Fighter Command's only Victoria Cross during the Battle of Britain. You will find it hard to put this book down!
January 14, 2019
This book scores a bull’s eye for authenticity. Not all biographies are entirely reliable but this one is beautifully authenticated by possibly its most uncomfortable feature – the acknowledgement by the author of the detachment he felt at the time by the loss of his colleagues and by the absence of sympathy he felt for enemy pilots. From this distance each of those admissions seem cold-hearted but it is easy to make that judgement when we lack the immediate context of the action at the heart of this book.
Neil later modifies his views, but it is unlikely that he would have been able to conduct himself as effectively as he did during the airborne battle over the south of England in 1940 had he been hampered by emotionally wrangling with the losses that he witnessed and caused. The conflicting contradictions of the time cut through this account as he recounts the stiff upper lip normality fighting with the crushing reality of facing a machine of brutal conquest that had subjugated seven European countries in less than twelve months.
He is also refreshingly honest about his own shortcomings and thus drives home the humanity that lies beneath the heroism demanded by the obligations of his service.
The reader looking for aviation history detail will not be disappointed as Neil takes to the air initially in the infamous Spitfire and then the less aesthetically glamorous but more rugged Hurricane. We learn first-hand about the attributes and foibles of each, but it is the daily grind that leaves the deepest impression. As with all wars, the action is brief and spaced with long periods of anticipation, frustration and deprivation. That too, underlines the authenticity – however for the general reader it may also cause a little dissatisfaction. The book is almost a diary and while that certainly aides its historic accuracy, it does add a certain monotony. Whilst undoubtedly true, the regularity of the structure can at times be just a little trying. More incisive editing would have made the read even more enjoyable at no cost to the emphasis on the drudgery of the duties described.
The book focuses on the Battle of Britain and includes an appendix giving accounts of what happened to Neil’s colleagues and this also is a little ungainly – sometimes repetitive and at other times providing details that may have brought even more colour to the main body of the book.
This is a very worthy work, however, providing an intimate record of a pivotal period in the Second World War. Historians question just how integral this conflict was to the halting of Hitler. Neil himself ponders its impact, but laments most of all the lives he could not mourn when he was too busy trying to win it, or at least survive it.
Neil later modifies his views, but it is unlikely that he would have been able to conduct himself as effectively as he did during the airborne battle over the south of England in 1940 had he been hampered by emotionally wrangling with the losses that he witnessed and caused. The conflicting contradictions of the time cut through this account as he recounts the stiff upper lip normality fighting with the crushing reality of facing a machine of brutal conquest that had subjugated seven European countries in less than twelve months.
He is also refreshingly honest about his own shortcomings and thus drives home the humanity that lies beneath the heroism demanded by the obligations of his service.
The reader looking for aviation history detail will not be disappointed as Neil takes to the air initially in the infamous Spitfire and then the less aesthetically glamorous but more rugged Hurricane. We learn first-hand about the attributes and foibles of each, but it is the daily grind that leaves the deepest impression. As with all wars, the action is brief and spaced with long periods of anticipation, frustration and deprivation. That too, underlines the authenticity – however for the general reader it may also cause a little dissatisfaction. The book is almost a diary and while that certainly aides its historic accuracy, it does add a certain monotony. Whilst undoubtedly true, the regularity of the structure can at times be just a little trying. More incisive editing would have made the read even more enjoyable at no cost to the emphasis on the drudgery of the duties described.
The book focuses on the Battle of Britain and includes an appendix giving accounts of what happened to Neil’s colleagues and this also is a little ungainly – sometimes repetitive and at other times providing details that may have brought even more colour to the main body of the book.
This is a very worthy work, however, providing an intimate record of a pivotal period in the Second World War. Historians question just how integral this conflict was to the halting of Hitler. Neil himself ponders its impact, but laments most of all the lives he could not mourn when he was too busy trying to win it, or at least survive it.
April 24, 2020
One star short of constellation.
This could be one of my favorite Battle of Britain books. The author was deeply involved in the combats with inadequate fighters - no, the Hurricanes were not that great - that turned back the superior Me-109s and invasion. The epilogue is particularly moving, with remembrances of those the author knew, and of many who died. My “fifth star” hesitancy is the author’s occasional descent into anti-semitism, as witness his references to “curly-haired citizens” he felt were avoiding service. He never actually identifies his objects of contempt, but his intent is obvious. Given that his account, and he, were products of their time is scant excuse. But history remains, and this is history for the ages. It’s your call.
This could be one of my favorite Battle of Britain books. The author was deeply involved in the combats with inadequate fighters - no, the Hurricanes were not that great - that turned back the superior Me-109s and invasion. The epilogue is particularly moving, with remembrances of those the author knew, and of many who died. My “fifth star” hesitancy is the author’s occasional descent into anti-semitism, as witness his references to “curly-haired citizens” he felt were avoiding service. He never actually identifies his objects of contempt, but his intent is obvious. Given that his account, and he, were products of their time is scant excuse. But history remains, and this is history for the ages. It’s your call.
December 7, 2024
Bearing in mind that this book was written more than 40 years after the action, it is a compelling, hugely detailed and beautifully written account of a Hurricane fighter pilot's experience of the Battle of Britain. Whilst there is a lot of detail about places and people, the writing really comes alive when describing the dogfights with the enemy. So much so, you can sense his frustration when a sortie didn't result in enemy contact. It's interesting that the book finishes somewhat abruptly when it's clear that he continued through the war and, in the epilogue, refers to hard times flying in the defence of Malta - will have to check if Ginger wrote about that too.
November 11, 2018
You can feel the emotion in this book, it's so raw, and I recognise it from my youth, honest and unsentimental, it is a very insightful view on a young man's thoughts and feelings when thrust from nowhere into such an extreme test at such a young age. Quite an incredible emotional journey. I enjoyed this book so much, sometimes made me feel perhaps that I had missed out, which sounds ridiculous I know; the writer has quite a talent to immerse and involve you in the emotion of the moment.
June 24, 2019
An objective, eyewitness view
The author has a conversational delivery which is thoroughly engaging.
Obviously being in the cockpit during the Battle of Britain and beyond enables an eyewitness view and is able to take the reader along with him.
Our gratitude will never be enough to the men and women that experienced and triumphed during WWII.
The author has a conversational delivery which is thoroughly engaging.
Obviously being in the cockpit during the Battle of Britain and beyond enables an eyewitness view and is able to take the reader along with him.
Our gratitude will never be enough to the men and women that experienced and triumphed during WWII.
February 19, 2019
You feel like a 19-year-old author is just chatting to you. Great insight into a young fighter pilot's life in 1940, Tom Neil captures the raw emotions and exhilaration of flying so well. Highly recommended.
February 5, 2020
It’s a really really good read. He tells of the mixture of extreme excitement and fear and tedium of repetition that was all a part of combat flying in the Battle of Britain. If you are interested in that subject you will love this book
December 22, 2019
Not a bad book, at times it seemed to gloss over events. The epilogue was good, it followed up some of the people in the book quite well. Tom Neil also managed to retain the style of language he used during 1940 to allow the reader to gain a better experience, by gum.
June 6, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a brilliant account of The Battle of Britain, a period in which I am fascinated by.
Very good book.
Very good book.
September 19, 2021
I enjoyed this. Not as good as Paul Richey's Fighter Pilot or Geoffrey Wellam's First Light but still a good and wholly authentic read.
October 23, 2023
A startling record of a young mans immersion into 249 Hurricane squadron. We owe so much to these men who gave everthing they had to preserve our way of life! Very difficult to put down...
June 19, 2023
Tom Neil flew 141 combat missions during the Battle of Britain and his only serious mishap was when he had a mid-air collision with another Hurricane which is incredible in itself. Gun button to fire is a great personal account of a hurricane pilot during the Battle of Britain. Highly recommended!
November 1, 2016
"A Gun Button to Fire" 1987. At 96 years of age, Tom Neil is one of the last living heroes of The Battle Britain.
March 8, 2025
Enjoyed this book very much. Well written
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews