His hobbies involved his Rudge Special motorcycle and his BSA Scout sports car although he did complete a tour of duty with the naval reserve.

[5][6] On 6 October 1941 flying with his squadron on a patrol in the Sidi Omar vicinity they were intercepted by a formation of Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters of II Gruppe Jagdgeschwader 27 and two P-40 Tomahawks were shot down by Gustav Roedel and Otto Schulz.

After three days walking through the desert without food or water he was captured by soldiers of the Afrika Korps and after only a few days in a prison camp in Libya was sent to Germany where he was held at Stalag Luft I Barth before being transferred to Stalag Luft III where he was an immediate volunteer for tunneling although his physical size made him unsuitable and he was asked to supervise the security teams maintaining a watch against German checks which might otherwise discover the tunnels.

[citation needed] Neville McGarr was briefly trapped in the tunnel due to his stature but was freed and escaped into the woods although on the afternoon of 27 March 1944 after surviving the freezing temperatures and blizzards he was recaptured with George McGill and taken to the civil prison at Zagan.

He was one of 19 men now recaptured and held there until moved to Görlitz prison where he was in a cell with Keith Ogilvie, Paul Royle and Chaz Hall.