Group Captain John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, the last Battle of Britain veteran, passed away on St Patrick’s Day at a Dublin nursing home. 

The 105-year-old Dubliner was shot down four times by the Nazis during the Second World War and always put his survival down to being a “very lucky Irishman”. 

Mr Hemingway joined the British Royal Air Force in 1938 and trained as a fighter pilot, meaning when the war broke out he was destined to serve on the frontline.  

Very sad to hear of the passing of Group Captain John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, the last known Battle of Britain pilot.

His courage, and that of all RAF pilots, helped end WWII and secure our freedom.

We will never forget their bravery and service.

Thank you, John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 17, 2025

In May 1940, as the Battle for France raged in the skies and fields of Europe, Mr Hemingway was shot down over Belgium. 

It was the first of his lucky escapes and he remembered trudging west, his parachute still on his shoulder, his uniform soaked with oil as he passed by refugees desperate to flee the Nazis. 

A few weeks later, France had been defeated by Germany and Winston Churchill got up in the British House of Commons and uttered one of the most famous speeches in history. 

"What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisations,” Churchill intoned gravely. 

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour'."

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway DFC – Last of ‘The Few’. We reflect not only on his sacrifices, but the sacrifices of all those who served & fought in WWII.

Paddy, thank you for your service.

Per Ardua ad Astrahttps://t.co/ijgtRpgFTm pic.twitter.com/0zebzgmf65

— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) March 17, 2025

For Mr Hemingway and his comrades, the Battle of Britain meant even more danger and daring. 

On August 18th, a date now known as the RAF’s ‘Hardest Day’, Mr Hemingway and his good friend Dickie Lee were scrambled into the air. 

Both were shot down that day - but only one of them made it back to base alive. 

Dickie Lee was never seen again and Mr Hemingway survived after a small boat spotted him treading water in the North Sea. 

 “I remember that day,” he told Newstalk in 2024. 

“I remember life afterwards, Dickie Lee just wasn’t there. I still remember it.

“When I was shot down in the sea, I didn’t like that at all. I thought I was going to die.”

Tonight, we remember and give thanks for the extraordinary life of John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway DFC, the last of ‘The Few.’ pic.twitter.com/DQg11HVT3X

— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) March 17, 2025

Two days later, Churchill returned to the Commons and paid tribute to the heroism of the RAF’s pilots who had defended the skies of Britain from the peril of the Nazi Luftwaffe. 

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” he told MPs to prolonged cheers. 

It was a phrase that cemented Mr Hemingway and his comrades’ place in history. For the rest of their lives, they would be known as ‘The Few’ - and Mr Hemingway lived to be the last of them. 

Just days later, Mr Hemingway was shot down for a third time - on this occasion over the marshes of Essex. 

“Some pilots were continuously lucky and other pilots were continuously unlucky,” he recalled modestly. 

His officers disagreed and awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism. 

We were saddened to hear of the death of John 'Paddy' Hemingway, the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot.

The service and sacrifice of those who fought in the Battle is honoured at an annual Service of Thanksgiving and Rededication held here in the Abbey every September.

The… pic.twitter.com/IV7y1W5jsv

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) March 18, 2025

After the Battle of Britain, Mr Hemingway served as a RAF plotter ahead of the D-Day landings. 

But he wanted to return to combatant duties and was deployed to Italy, where he was shot down in the final weeks of the war. 

Flying in a Spitfire over the village of Coccanile, his plane was hit by a barrage of gunfire and he bailed out. 

After crash landing, he found a local farmhouse where he pleaded with them for help. 

The family took pity on him, fed him some chicken and discussed how they might help him escape the Nazis. 

In the end it was agreed. Carla, the family's young child, would lead him to safety. Dressed like a local, with a young girl for company, who could possibly mistake him for an Allied airman? 

Carla's daughter, Lina Volpi and John Hemingway. Image: Newstalk.

It was a dangerous plan but also the best hope of returning the airman safely to the comrades.

Carla took Mr Hemingway by the hand and the pair set off in a southerly direction. 

It was a terrifying ordeal for the young pilot. As they walked past Nazi troops dug into trenches, Mr Hemingway was petrified his true identity would be discovered and the little girl holding his hand would be cruelly punished.

He needn’t have worried. The Germans had more important things on their minds than a local man and child out for a casual stroll together.

Eventually, they made it to another farmhouse and Carla, her mission completed, bade him farewell and disappeared. The pair never met again. 

Mr Hemingway was handed over to the Italian Resistance who in turn reunited him with an advance column of the British Army.

As he reflected years later in an interview for the RAF, it was “another lucky escape” but one that had left “a deep, indelible mark on my character”. 

Just hours afterwards, the young pilot was back in the air again flying once again.

Days later, Hitler died by suicide and Germany surrendered. The war was over and Mr Hemingway and his comrades had won.

John Hemingway, last Battle of Britain veteran. 08/05/2024. Image: Newstalk

After the war, Mr Hemingway continued to serve in the RAF and was promoted to the rank of Group Captain. 

Following his retirement, he moved briefly to Canada before returning to his native Dublin. 

“Dublin is my city,” he said. 

“I enjoy being here more than anywhere else - although I did enjoy being in London - this is still my home.

“I was always an Irishman fighting for the English.”

When asked about outliving all his Battle of Britain comrades, he described it as “surprising” with characteristic modesty.

Main image: John Hemingway, the last Battle of Britain veteran in his Dublin nursing home. Picture by: Newstalk