Farewell to John 'Paddy' Hemingway DFC, the last airman of the Battle of Britain

Due to their very advanced age, a generation of heroes who carried out deeds that deserve to be remembered is passing away.

Farewell to Bolek Ostrowski, last Polish soldier of Operation Market Garden
Farewell to Lieutenant Colonel David Hamilton, the last aviator of the D-Day Pathfinders

A few days ago, Bolek Ostrowski, the last Polish soldier in Operation Market Garden, died at the age of 105. Yesterday, coinciding with the feast of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, Irishman John 'Paddy' Hemingway DFC passed away in Dublin, aged 105.

Paddy was born on July 17, 1919, in Dublin, Ireland, to an Anglican family. He enlisted in the RAF on March 7, 1938, training as a pilot officer. In the spring of 1940, he fought with No. 85 Squadron, RAF, piloting a Hawker Hurricane at the Battle of Dunkirk in France, where he shot down two German bombers (a He-111 and a Do-17). He later took part in the Battle of Britain, being forced to bail out twice due to combat damage to his Hurricane. On July 1, 1941, Paddy was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), a decoration personally awarded to him by King George VI.

Paddy continued to fly combat missions until the end of the war, piloting a Douglas A-20 Havoc and a Supermarine Spitfire and being forced to bail out twice more (on one of these occasions he suffered some injuries due to the low altitude at which his aircraft was flying).

After World War II, Paddy continued to serve in the RAF until 1969, when he retired with the rank of Group Captain. Paddy lived in Canada for many years. He married and had three children. His wife, Bridget, passed away in 1998. As of 2019, he lived in a nursing home in Dublin. Paddy was the last surviving airman from the Battle of France, which took place between May and June 1940, and the Battle of Britain, fought between July and October 1940 between the British Royal Air Force (RAF, supported by hundreds of foreign volunteers) and the German Luftwaffe. Speaking of airmen like Paddy, on 20 August 1940, in a speech delivered in the House of Commons, Winston Churchill stated:

The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

John 'Paddy' Hemingway DFC is the last of those "few" brave men whose example of courage and sacrifice should not be forgotten by us or future generations.

Fly high, Paddy.

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Photos: Royal Air Force.