Latest news with #John'Paddy'Hemingway
Spectator
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Don't forget Bomber Command
There were many tributes when John 'Paddy' Hemingway, the last surviving fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain, died in March. Prince William said he was saddened about the death of the 'last of The Few' while the prime minister saluted Hemingway's 'extraordinary life'. There were no such statements in February on the death of Jack Harris, believed to have been the last surviving Lancaster bomber pilot. Official indifference to those who served in Bomber Command is not new. Churchill said little about the bomber offensive in his war memoirs, seeking to distance himself politically from the widespread destruction wrought by his own decision to focus on bombing as a way of hitting back against Germany, and as a method to convince the US that Britain could fight on.
The Independent
19-03-2025
- General
- The Independent
Changing the Guard honours last Battle of Britain pilot Paddy Hemingway
The Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace has honoured the last Battle of Britain pilot, John 'Paddy' Hemingway, following his death at the age of 105. Group Captain Hemingway, originally from Dublin, was the final surviving member of 'The Few', who took to the skies in 1940 to defend the UK against Luftwaffe attacks in what became a pivotal moment of the Second World War. The Band of the Coldstream Guards, in their long grey greatcoats and bearskin hats, played the Battle of Britain March and the Royal Air Force March Past in tribute to Group Capt Hemingway during the ceremony on the Palace forecourt on Wednesday. The Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were among those who praised Group Capt Hemingway for his courage during the conflict after his death on Monday. William, in a personal message, said: 'We owe so much to Paddy and his generation for our freedoms today. 'Their bravery and sacrifice will always be remembered. We shall never forget them.' In 1940, Group Capt Hemingway was recorded as destroying a German airliner and the following day he downed a German Luftwaffe plane, but his Hurricane fighter was hit by anti-aircraft fire and he had to make a forced landing. He then became one of the frontline members of 11 Group's response to daily attacks by German aircraft, which went on to be known as the Battle of Britain. In August 1940, during hectic dogfights, he was twice forced to bail out of his Hurricanes, landing once in the sea off the Essex coast and in marshland on the other occasion. In 1941, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and in September of that year, he was mentioned in despatches by senior officers.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Changing the Guard honours last Battle of Britain pilot Paddy Hemingway
The Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace has honoured the last Battle of Britain pilot, John 'Paddy' Hemingway, following his death at the age of 105. Group Captain Hemingway, originally from Dublin, was the final surviving member of 'The Few', who took to the skies in 1940 to defend the UK against Luftwaffe attacks in what became a pivotal moment of the Second World War. The Band of the Coldstream Guards, in their long grey greatcoats and bearskin hats, played the Battle of Britain March and the Royal Air Force March Past in tribute to Group Capt Hemingway during the ceremony on the Palace forecourt on Wednesday. 💂♀️ 🎵 Today, the Band of the Coldstream Guards played the Battle of Britain March and the Royal Air Force March Past during Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace in honour of John "Paddy" Hemingway, the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot who died on Monday at the age of… — The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 19, 2025 The Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were among those who praised Group Capt Hemingway for his courage during the conflict after his death on Monday. William, in a personal message, said: 'We owe so much to Paddy and his generation for our freedoms today. 'Their bravery and sacrifice will always be remembered. We shall never forget them.' In 1940, Group Capt Hemingway was recorded as destroying a German airliner and the following day he downed a German Luftwaffe plane, but his Hurricane fighter was hit by anti-aircraft fire and he had to make a forced landing. I was sad to hear about the passing of John 'Paddy' Hemingway this morning, the last of 'The Few'. We owe so much to Paddy and his generation for our freedoms today. Their bravery and sacrifice will always be remembered. We shall never forget them. W — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 18, 2025 He then became one of the frontline members of 11 Group's response to daily attacks by German aircraft, which went on to be known as the Battle of Britain. In August 1940, during hectic dogfights, he was twice forced to bail out of his Hurricanes, landing once in the sea off the Essex coast and in marshland on the other occasion. In 1941, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and in September of that year, he was mentioned in despatches by senior officers.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Last surviving RAF fighter ace from the Battle of Britain, John 'Paddy' Hemmingway, dies at 105
March 18 (UPI) -- The last surviving Royal Air Force fighter pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain in 1940 during World War II has died. He was 105 years old. Announcing the death of John "Paddy" Hemmingway on X on Monday night, the RAF simply said it had lost the last of "the few" and thanked him for his sacrifices more than 80 years ago, signing off with the service's official motto, "Through Adversity to the Stars." Hemmingway, originally from Ireland, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1941 for his heroism in the skies over southern Britain in the summer and fall of 1940 as the RAF fought off Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe sent to destroy Britain's air defenses in preparation for a ground invasion. "It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of John 'Paddy' Hemingway today. I am thankful that I was able to meet and spend time with him in Dublin, most recently in January this year. Paddy was an amazing character whose life story embodies all that was and remains great about the Royal Air Force," Air Chief Marshall Sir Rich Knighton, Chief of the Air Staff, said in a news release. "Throughout his life he inspired those he knew and served with. My thoughts are with his family and all those who cared for him over the past few years." Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was saddened to hear of the death of Hemmingway. "His courage, and that of all RAF pilots, helped end WWII and secure our freedom. We will never forget their bravery and service. Thank you, John 'Paddy' Hemingway," he wrote in a post on his X account. Piloting a Hawker Hurricane in Fighter Command's famous "11 Group," Hemmingway served in one of a handful of frontline squadrons scrambled, sometimes several times daily, to intercept thousands of enemy aircraft crossing the southern and eastern coasts of England. During fierce dogfights in August 1940, Hemmingway was twice shot down but was able to bail out before his Hurricane crashed, once into the sea and into marshland on the second occasion, in a struggle that became known as the Battle of Britain, so-called because had the RAF failed, it would have cleared the path for Adolf Hilter's "Operation Sea Lion" plan for a full-scale invasion of Britain. In the end, the RAF inflicted so much damage to the Luftwaffe that Hitler shelved his invasion plan buying the Allies time to regroup, rearm and ultimately prevail. "The few" moniker was coined by Winston Churchill in his famous "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few," speech to Parliament in August 1940 lauding the sacrifice of the less than 3,000 fighter pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain and whose average age was just 20. In addition to his DFC, which was awarded "in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy in the air," Hemmingway was mentioned in dispatches in September 1941 and was featured on a wartime cover of Life magazine. Earlier in 1940 during the Nazi invasion of France, Hemmingway also flew combat missions with Squadron 85 providing fighter cover, including strafing attacks, air patrols and dogfights, enabling more than 338,000 encircled troops in the British Expeditionary Force and other allied troops to be evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in what became known as the "Battle for France." In early May, Hemmingway was recorded as shooting down a Heinkel bomber and a Dornier bomber on consecutive days but had to make a forced landing on the second occasion after being hit by German anti-aircraft fire. During an 11-day period, Squadron 85 was credited with at least 90 confirmed "kills." Hemmingway had numerous other close calls, including escaping from a Bristol Blenheim aircraft that was bringing him to London to be awarded his DFC by King George VI at Buckingham Palace after it crashed on take-off and his parachute failing to open when he bailed out at night from a U.S.-made A-20 Havoc fighter at 600 feet. He was injured but survived because his fall was arrested after his part-opened chute caught in the branches of a tree. In a Mediterranean Allied Air Forces attack on German forces near Ravenna in northeastern Italy in April 1945, Hemmingway bailed out behind German lines after his Spitfire fighter took multiple hits from anti-aircraft fire, parachuting into enemy territory where he was rescued by Italian resistance fighters who helped get him back to 324 Wing. He told the BBC in an interview in 2023 that he put his survival and subsequent long life down to the bravery of people who helped him in Italy and "the luck of the Irish." "It must be to do with something like that because here I am, an Irishman, talking to you. I was shot down many times but I'm still here. So many others were shot down first time and that was the end of them," he said. "I was lucky. And I'm still lucky." Hemmingway, who joined the Royal Air Force in 1938 at the age of 19, retired from the service with the rank of Group Captain in 1969.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Last surviving pilot from the Battle of Britain, John 'Paddy' Hemingway, dies at age 105
LONDON (AP) — John 'Paddy' Hemingway, the last surviving pilot who flew during the Battle of Britain, has died at the age of 105. He died Monday at his home in Dublin, the Royal Air Force said. Hemingway was just 20 years old when he and his comrades in the Royal Air Force took to the skies to fight off wave after wave of Nazi aircraft that sought to pound Britain into submission during the the summer and autumn of 1940. During dogfights with German aircraft in August of 1940, Hemingway was twice forced to bail out of his Hurricane fighter, once landing in sea off the east coast of England, before returning to his squadron to resume the fight, the RAF said. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in 1941. In an interview with the BBC in 2020, Hemingway dismissed suggestions of bravery and heroism, saying he was a pilot and had a job to do. 'The world was at war, and you couldn't go somewhere and say, 'I'm at peace and I don't fight wars,'' he said. 'The main skill was luck. You had to be lucky, no matter how good you were. For instance, my boss, Dickie Lee, was the best pilot I've every seen, but he was shot down and killed. So he had no luck. I had bags of luck.'
