Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

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 The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

Battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk () was fought around the French Third Republic, French port of Dunkirk, Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies of World War II, Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle ...

, the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

, the

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allies of World War II, Allied Amphibious warfare, amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. T ...

and the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

. 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 Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

on 17 July 1919. His family were members of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

, a church in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

. He attended St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir School and St Andrew's College, Dublin.

RAF career

Hemingway was accepted to serve in the

and was granted a short-service commission on 7 March 1938. In January 1939, Hemingway began training in

Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire Brough ( , locally ) is a town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Elloughton-cum-Brough with the neighbouring village of Elloughton. Brough is situated on the northern bank of the Humber, Humber Estuary ...

, in England. On 7 March 1939, he was appointed in service as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

. By early 1940, following the outbreak of the

, he was flying

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

with No. 85 Squadron RAF in France, destroying a

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

on 10 May. The following day, Hemingway destroyed a Do 17 and was forced to make a landing near

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

after his plane was damaged. By 15 May, the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

had brought him to Lille-Seclin and he returned to England two days later. During the

he flew supporting missions over the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. Hemingway initially served in England with No. 253 Squadron RAF before returning to No. 85 Squadron on 15 June 1940. Hemingway fought in the

, waged from July to October 1940. His Hurricane was damaged on 18 August while over the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinit ...

, and he was forced to bail out. He was again shot down over

Eastchurch Eastchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster, Swale, Minster. The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers". Aviation ...

on 26 August; making Hemingway 85 Squadron's first official combat victim over Britain. Five days later he damaged a

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...

. On 3 September 1940, he was promoted to

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

, and on 22 September made a

forced landing A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components, or weather which makes continued flight impossible. However, the term also means a landing that has ...

due to poor weather near

Church Fenton Church Fenton is a village and civil parish in the North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about east of Leeds, about south-east from Tadcaster and north from Sherburn in Elmet. Neighbouring vi ...

. In 1941, 85 Squadron converted to Havoc II night-fighters. Hemingway was flying one of these on 13 May 1941 when its instruments failed in bad weather. He bailed out at low altitude, trying to avoid the tail which made this difficult, but his right hand hit the tail, breaking two fingers. He was able to pull his ripcord with the other hand but the parachute failed to open fully. His fall was broken by a tree and landing in a

midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

and so he survived with injured ankles. He was then

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Exhausted, Hemingway was given generally light duties for several months. On 7 July 1941, he began serving with No. 1452 Flight RAF at

West Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, West ...

. On 1 January 1944, he was made a temporary

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

. He served as an

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

during the

. From April to December 1945 he commanded

No. 43 Squadron RAF Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Fighting Cocks'', was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous Flying ace, ...

, flying

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

s. The squadron served in Italy, and Hemingway was shot down for a fourth time. With the Second World War over, Hemingway remained in the RAF and was posted to the Middle East. He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 23 January 1946, 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 Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

. Hemingway later served as station commander of RAF Leconfield, was staff officer at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

in France, and finally served in the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

. Promoted to

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

on 1 January 1969, he retired on 12 September.

Personal life and death

Hemingway married Bridget and had three children. Bridget died in 1998. He lived in Canada for a few years, but returned to Ireland in 2011. As of July 2018, he was one of the nine surviving members of

The Few The Few were the airmen of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the aviators of the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (RN) who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. The term comes from Winston Churchill's phrase " Never, in the field of human c ...

. By 2019, when he turned 100, he was living in a nursing home near Dublin. When

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

died in May 2020, Hemingway became the last surviving airman of the Battle of Britain. 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 Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, 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 Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

and the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

paying homage.

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

honoured him with music outside Buckingham Palace.

Early life

RAF career

Personal life and death

See also

References

Further reading