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My history hero: Dermot O’Leary chooses Tom Neil (1920–2018)

My history hero: Dermot O’Leary chooses Tom Neil (1920–2018)

Broadcaster Dermot O’Leary chooses Tom Neil as a history hero

York Membery

Published: October 12, 2023 at 7:55 AM

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Tom Neil: in profile

Tom Neil served as an RAF flying ace during the Second World War, having joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1938 at the age of 18. He flew in a Hurricane during the 1940 Battle of Britain, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross later that year. He died in 2018 at the age of 97.

When did you first hear about Tom Neil?

Several years ago, I was trying to pitch a show about the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. One of my friends is a Spitfire pilot, and he really wanted to get Tom on board, so we went to meet him at his house.

Tom had told his stories about the war again and again, so didn’t really have anything to gain apart from sharing his memories and insights. He was a keen student of war, and had a detached view of its events. He was a really honest guy without a trace of jingoism or nationalism, though he did have a real mischief to him.

I interviewed him four or five times that summer, and every so often we had one of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments in which he would remember a specific dogfight or recall some detail he’d forgotten. I feel so grateful I had that time with him.

What was Neil’s finest hour?

He managed to shoot down 14 planes during the war. Do you have any idea how hard it is to shoot down even one? I’ve been up in Spitfires and Hurricanes, and a few years ago was involved in a recreation dogfight – and it was horrific. So it’s incredible that anyone could have that level of skill. But although the rat-tat-tat, Boy’s Own stuff interested me when I was a kid, as I’ve got older I’ve become more interested in the way ordinary people such as Neil were put in extraordinary circumstances, and how the world was changed by their decisions, big and small.

What made Neil a hero?

His selflessness. Yes, it was an adventure, and I’m sure he was excited when he signed up – in fact, he readily admitted that his fear response just wasn’t there, because he was so young. But he was doing it for the common good and for his country – and, Tom being Tom, there was an inner intelligence there, even at that age. He was just a brilliant, selfless man. Neil died in 2018, and I gather that when you spoke to him, he expressed concerns that the memory of what he and his fellow pilots did might be forgotten.

Do you share his worry?

It made me really sad when he said that. I understood where he was coming from, because things move so quickly, but the fact that technology had developed so much by then, even since the First World War, means that we have plenty of first-hand testimony from the time. And it’s not as if that earlier conflict has been forgotten, either. But him saying that definitely made me determined to do my best to make sure people remember him.

This article was first published in the November 2023 issue of BBC History Magazine

Dermot O’Leary is a broadcaster, BBC radio DJ and author who has presented shows including The X Factor and This Morning. His latest children’s book is Wings of Glory (Hodder Children’s Books, 2023)

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York MemberyJournalist

York Membery is a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, the Daily Mail and Sunday Times among other publications. York, who lives in London, worked on the Mirror, Express and Times before turning freelance. He studied history at Cardiff University and the Institute of Historical Research, and has a History PhD from Maastricht University.