The last surviving pilot who flew during the Battle of Britain, has died at the age of 105.
John “Paddy” Hemingway died Monday at his home in Dublin, the Royal Air Force said.
Hemingway was just 20 years old when he and his comrades in the Royal Air Force took to the skies to fight off wave after wave of Nazi aircraft that sought to pound Britain into submission during the the summer and autumn of 1940.
During dogfights with German aircraft in August of 1940, Hemingway was twice forced to bail out of his Hurricane fighter, once landing in sea off the east coast of England, before returning to his squadron to resume the fight, the RAF said.
In an online tribute, the RAF said Mr Hemingway’s squadron shot down 90 enemy aircraft during an 11-day period in May 1940.
In August, he was twice forced to bail out of his Hurricane fighter plane – and the following year, he broke his hand in another bailing out, this time at 183m (600ft) after his plane’s instruments failed in bad weather.
His parachute failed to open properly – but luckily it caught on the branches of a tree, sparing him further injury.
Near the end of World War Two, while serving in the Mediterranean, he was forced to bail out a fourth time near Ravenna in Italy after his Spitfire was hit multiple times by anti-aircraft fire.
Dropping into enemy territory, he contacted Italian partisans, who helped him return to his squadron.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in 1941.
