In this final section Wing Commander Tom Neil recounts the reality of high altitude flight in 1940 and the camaraderie that existed between the pilots in his Squadron.
It's so good that RU-vid exists. This brave man is now, as he said himself earlier "up with the fairies" but his legacy lives on. Not only in the memory of his relatives but also in the memory of those who have watched this video and who have never met him, just like myself. Of course, it's normal that those people die, just like we all will die one day. However, I'm 32 and all my life, there have always been people around me who could tell war stories, who experienced it themselves, who knew how bad the war was. And those people are now dying. I find it sad, not to have those people around us anymore. They have always been a part of my life and now they are, indeed, joining the fairies. There will soon be nobody to remind us all of those dark days and it will be up to us, and only us, to maintain peace in the future. I have read that, in general, a collective memory reaches up to 70 years back and, after that, people start becoming oblivious of the ghastly past and start making the same mistakes again which in turn lead to new wars. I hope that it's not the case this time. I'm so glad that there is RU-vid. People can, just like that, listen to all those stories and, hopefully, learn to create a better future and learn from the mistakes of their ancestors.
I've only just found this whole series of the address that Tom Neil gave in 2010. What a 'gentle man' for all that he went through so that people like myself (I'm 75 now) have lived in peace for so long. There is no way to repay the debt that we all owe to those who gave their lives except to respect what they did and say "Thank you."
