Gp Capt John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a teenager before World War Two.
The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot has died at the age of 105.
Gp Capt John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a teenager before World War Two.
At 21, he was a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, a three-month period when air force personnel defended the skies against a large-scale assault by the German air force, the Luftwaffe.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to Mr Hemingway, saying his courage and those of all RAF pilots had “helped end WWII and secure our freedom”.
The Prince of Wales also paid tribute, saying that “we owe so much to Paddy and his generation for our freedoms today”.
Prince William added that “their bravery and sacrifice will always be remembered”.
John, who was originally from Dublin, joined the RAF as a teenager before World War Two.
When he was 21 he was a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, a three-month period when air force personnel defended the skies against a large-scale assault by the German air force, the Luftwaffe.
Those who fought in the Battle of Britain came to be known as ‘The Few” after a speech by the then Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” he said of their sacrifices in battle.
In a statement, the RAF said that Mr Hemingway had “passed away peacefully” on Monday.
The pilot’s squadron shot down 90 enemy aircraft during an 11-day period in May 1940, and provided fighter cover during the Battle of France.
During the war, John was shot down four times.
Two of those occasions happened in the space of eight days – during the Battle of Britain.
During dogfights – or one-on-one aerial combats – in August 1940, he was forced to bail out of his Hurricane single-seat fighter on two occasions, once landing in the sea and in marshland.
He recorded in his logbook that on 18 August 1940 he bailed out of his Hurricane near the Thames Estuary after it was hit by a German aircraft.
He parachuted into the North Sea and was eventually rescued by lifeboat.
John said the thought of being in the ocean, and not knowing whether he would drown or live, was “dreadful”.
“You felt all the time you were part of something which would save you.
“But if it ever came to the point where you were just alone that would have been quite horrible.”
He was back in a plane two days later.
On August 26 that year, he was shot down in combat off the coast of Kent and landed in Pitsea Marshes.
The wreckage of his Hurricane was recovered in 2019 with the control column and the gun-button frozen in time, still set to “fire”.
John spent most of the war with 85 Squadron.
In July, 1941, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross – awarded to RAF personnel for an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty while flying on active operations.
On the way to receive his medal from the King, he was forced to escape from a Blenheim aircraft, which crashed during take-off.
While serving with the 85 Squadron in RAF Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, he was forced to bail out of his Havoc night fighter at 600ft (183m) due to instrument failure in bad weather.
He broke his hand on the tail section and his parachute failed to open, with the chute catching on the branches of a tree.
In 1945, he was forced to bail out a fourth time while fighting near Ravenna, Italy, when his Spitfire was hit multiple times.
He landed in enemy territory, and made contact with Italian citizens, who helped him back to the Allies.
Recalling that incident, he said local people helped to put him in the hands of the Italian resistance and he was taken back to Allied troops.
At one point a young girl, who he thought was only about seven years old, led John by the hand past scores of German soldiers.
“They were brilliant people – they risked their lives,” he said of those who helped him.
In 2023, John said he had never looked for fame for being part of ‘The Few’.
“I don’t think we ever assumed greatness of any form,” he said. “We were just fighting a war which we were trained to fight.
“We were doing a job we were employed to do. We just went up and did the best we could.”
He said that his biggest regret was the loss of friends, in particular that of Richard ‘Dickie’ Lee in August 1940.
“He was incredible – a wonderful pilot,” John said of Dickie Lee.
“Dickie Lee could do anything – fly across an airfield, upside down, firing at a target and hitting the target.”
“Dickie” Lee was one of more than 500 of John’s fellow pilots who were killed during the Battle of Britain.
John’s Squadron leader was Peter Townsend, later the fiancé of Princess Margaret and who he described as a “good leader”.
The RAF said that Mr Hemingway’s passing marked “the end of an era and a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought for freedom during World War II”.
“His courage in the face of overwhelming odds demonstrated his sense of duty and the importance of British resilience.”
Mr Hemingway “always had a twinkle in his eyes as he recalled the fun times with colleagues in France and London”, the statement said.
“This quiet, composed, thoughtful and mischievous individual may not have wanted to be the last of ‘The Few’, but he embodied the spirit of all those who flew sorties over this green and pleasant land,” it added.
Chief of RAF Air Staff Sir Rich Knighton said he had spent time with Mr Hemingway in Dublin earlier this year.
“Paddy was an amazing character whose life story embodies all that was and remains great about the Royal Air Force.”
One-on-one aerial combat – known as “dogfights” – were often over in just a few seconds.
“There were two of you. One of you was going to be dead at the end,” Mr Hemingway said in one of his last ever interviews.
“You thought: ‘Make sure that person was not you.’ Every day, off you went.
“When you took off you knew some of you would come back – and some of you wouldn’t.”
He modestly put his long life down to “luck”.
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