'End of an era': Last surviving BATTLE OF BRITAIN pilot dies

BBC ^ | March 18 | BBC

[RandFan]

The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, John "Paddy" Hemingway, has died at the age of 105.

Mr Hemingway, who was originally from Dublin, joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a teenager before World War Two.

At 21, he was a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, a three-month period when air force personnel defended the skies against a large-scale assault by the German air force, the Luftwaffe.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to Mr Hemingway, saying his courage and those of all RAF pilots had "helped end WWII and secure our freedom".

Those who fought in the three-and-a-half-month battle came to be known as "The Few" after a speech by the then Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few," he said of their sacrifices in battle.

In a statement, the RAF said that Mr Hemingway had "passed away peacefully" on Monday.

[RandFan]

He fought the whole of World War 2. Amazing.

[nathanbedford]

Many years ago I was fortunate to be in a pub at happy hour in the Cotswolds chatting with an Englishman about the war. At one point he said, "yank, let me introduce you to my friend." His friend turned out to be an extremely distinguished looking veteran of the RAF who was the embodiment of every romantic image of those heroic flyers. He had a wonderful white mustache and graying hair around the temples. He was tall, lean and of great dignity. He was introduced by name and then I was told, "he is the only RAF pilot who has the distinction of being twice shot down and twice rescued from the English channel."

This gentleman extended his hand and said modestly and humorously, "shows you what a bloodly bad pilot I was."

Shows you what bloodly exceptional man he was.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

"Never was so much owed by so many to so few"

[linMcHlp]

BTTT

[linMcHlp]

BTTT

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

That’s not the gentleman, but an RAF Officer saluting.

I salute this fine gentleman and pray that he is in Jesus’ loving arms.

[SaveFerris]

Oh...

[SaveFerris]

I figured that was a younger picture of him - well here's the real guy in one photo

[Angelino97]

I wonder, did he ever contemplate today’s Britain and wonder if his efforts were in vain?

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

Awesome! Thank you!

I would guess, perhaps that photo is his 100 birthday. Look at the joy on his face and the gleam in his eye!

[SaveFerris]

What an amazing guy! (this time!)

Incredible going through all of that

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

I am 64 and I don’t expect to see 100, nor do I want to, the way the world is going!

[SaveFerris]

I’m praying for the harpazo event from our Lord
before the 7 Years of ‘Peace and Security’

That’s my personal belief - don’t want to see
that hour of testing that is coming upon the world

(yes, IMHO, it’s more than an hour)

Just the description of the period after the
Abomination that Causes Desolation and the
Mark of the Beast - that is something else

God bless you

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

And bless you too, sir!

[SaveFerris]

Thank you - I need LOTS of prayers and I APPRECIATE them ALL!!

[jmacusa]

Tally Ho! When Britain had balls.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Rest in Peace, Sir. I’m sorry he had to witness the destruction of his country 80 years later.

[KC_Conspirator]

Im sure he did.

[Menes]

I believe that, too.

Still, to be honest, I don’t think that anyone could have foreseen the dread of postmodernism/Neo-Bolshevism which was unleashed on the world in the horrible Sixties, after the War had been over, won.

The alternative would have been much more dreadful, certainly, even though Hitler had never intended to “rule the world” - contrary to what was rumored in some countries. Even he, demented as he was, was not that divorced from reality.
What might have been a possibility: fascism not having been utterly discredited as a way to exercise political power and control.
Maybe it would have gone the way of Bolshevism, which - buoyed by being co-victorious in WW2 - would carry on as a political system until the late Eighties.

Unfortunately, crystal balls for reading the future therein, have never existed - or else, there would definitely have been no war in 1914, and Gavrilo Princip would have been sent to a mental institution…