John Hemingway

Group Captain John Allman Hemingway, DFC, AE (17 July 1919 – 17 March 2025), known as Paddy Hemingway, was an Irish fighter pilot who served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War in the Battle of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Allied invasion of Italy and the Invasion of Normandy. He was shot down four times during the war. Hemingway was the last surviving airman of the Battle of Britain.

Early life Hemingway was born in Dublin on 17 July 1919. His family were members of the Church of Ireland, a church in the Anglican Communion. He attended St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir School and St Andrew's College, Dublin.

RAF career Hemingway was accepted to serve in the Royal Air Force and was granted a short-service commission on 7 March 1938. In January 1939, Hemingway began training in Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England. During the Battle of Dunkirk he flew supporting missions over the English Channel. making Hemingway 85 Squadron's first official combat victim over Britain. Five days later he damaged a Bf 109. and on 22 September made a forced landing due to poor weather near Church Fenton.

Exhausted, Hemingway was given generally light duties for several months. He served as an air traffic controller during the Invasion of Normandy. and on 6 March 1946 was made a war substantive squadron leader. On 15 July 1948, Hemingway was promoted to squadron leader, and on 1 July 1954 to wing commander. Hemingway later served as station commander of RAF Leconfield, was staff officer at NATO in France, and finally served in the Air Ministry. he retired on 12 September. By 2019, when he turned 100, he was living in a nursing home near Dublin.

In 2024, Hemingway unveiled a series of five portraits by artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, entitled The Last of the Few, at the British Embassy in Dublin, marking his 105th birthday. In June 2024, Hemingway met with the daughter of the young girl who he claimed had saved him from Germans after he was shot down near the city of Ferrara, Italy, in 1945. The meeting in Dublin came about after Hemingway and his family made an appeal to meet the girl who had hidden him and saved his life.

Hemingway died on 17 March 2025, aged 105. The Royal Air Force called it "the end of an era", with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Prince of Wales paying homage. The Coldstream Guards honoured him with music outside Buckingham Palace.