‘Last of the few’ pilot celebrates 105th birthday

An Irishman who is the last known surviving fighter pilot from the Battle of Britain has celebrated his 105th birthday at a ceremony in Dublin.

Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway, who was a member of the group Sir Winston Churchill described as “the few”, attended an event to mark his birthday at the British embassy in the south of the city.

The event was marked with the unveiling of portraits reflecting different stages in Mr Hemingway’s life, which were painted by British artist Dan Llywelyn Hall.

Representatives from the Royal Air Force and Mr Hemingway’s family also attended the event on Wednesday.

Mr Hemingway made a short speech at the reception, saying: “I can’t talk very much as my breath doesn’t allow me. But thanks so much for being here. It’s made my day.”

Born in Dublin in 1919, he joined the RAF in 1938, and was one of the young pilots that took part in the Battle of France.

In 1940, Mr Hemingway was recorded as destroying a German airliner, the following day he downed a German Luftwaffe but his Hurricane fighter plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and he had to make a forced landing.

He then became one of the front-line squadrons of 11 Group and responded to the daily attacks from German aircraft, which became known as the Battle of Britain.

Mr Hemingway’s logbook records up to five daily sorties he and the other pilots undertook in defence of the United Kingdom.

In August 1940, during hectic dogfights, Mr Hemingway 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.

On July 1, 1941, Mr Hemingway was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and in September that year, he was mentioned in Despatches.

His son, Brian Hemingway, said: “I think my father was born in a time where flying was very glamorous, it is a wonderful thing to do. As an 18-year-old he joined the RAF to have a lot of fun, travel the world and of course the war intervened and he became a fighter pilot.

“In those days it was a different world. They were flying at an early age.

“Imagine an 18 or 19-year-old today getting into a machine and fly it at 300mph, attacking people in dogfights which lasts seconds and it was absolute chaos.

“These were kids and people, to try and appreciate what it was like, have to go back to 1938 when it was a different world. They suffered great hardships.

“His entire world was the squadron. Their friendships were formed in war, which is perhaps the strongest.

“People should think about what it was like to sit in a Hurricane and go up every morning, sometimes five times a day, to find the enemy and shoot them when you’re exhausted.”

Artist Dan Llywelyn Hall said: “In creating a series of portraits, I have emphasised different character facets of John’s rich personality.

“He is above all, a proud Irishman and occupies an utterly unique moment in our history – a shared history between Britain and Ireland – finding himself the final voice and embodiment of a defining period.”

The portraits will be auctioned at a later date, with some of the proceeds donated to Trinity Nursing Home in Dublin, where Mr Hemingway resides.

Chief of Staff of Irish Defence Forces Sean Clancy, who also attended the event, said: “As someone who was very fortunate to be born on the continent of Europe , where peace and democracy has reigned for so long, and it has reigned because we’ve been able to stand on the shoulders of people like Paddy and his fellow aircrew who fought bravely form 1939 to 1945.

“We should be forever grateful for the sacrifices they have made, so we can say we live in a peaceful world.

“Unfortunately, that’s been shattered in recent times.”

Mr Hemingway went on to serve as an Air Fighter Controller for Operation Overlord and in 1945, he served in the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces with 324 Wing and eventually commanded 43 squadron, which served in Italy.

It was during this time that he was forced to bail out a fourth time.

While attacking enemy forces near Ravenna in April 1945, his Spitfire was hit multiple times by anti-aircraft fire.

He parachuted into enemy territory and with the help of Italian locals, managed to contact Italian partisans, who helped him return to his squadron.

In 1966, he became Officer Commanding RAF Leconfield and eventually attained the rank of Group Captain.