Last Surviving Battle of Britain Pilot Dies

John 'Paddy' Hemingway, an Irishman who served in the British RAF during the famous 1940 aerial campaign, died this week at 105.

Mark Phelps

Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 04:53 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Kimberly Johnson

John 'Paddy' Hemingway (center) was the last surviving participant of the 1940 Battle of Britain.[Courtesy: British Ministry of Defense]

Key Takeaways:

Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway, the last surviving pilot ("The Few") of the 1940 Battle of Britain, died at 105 on St. Patrick's Day.
An Irishman who served in the British Royal Air Force, Hemingway distinguished himself by destroying German aircraft, participating in the Dunkirk evacuation, and surviving being shot down multiple times during WWII.
His extensive service included fighting in the Battle of Britain, where he was famously shot down over England twice and survived, with his passing marking "the end of an era."

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Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway, DFC, AE, an Irishman who served in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the 1940 Battle of Britain, died Monday, St. Patrick’s Day, at the age of 105.

Hemingway was the last surviving of “The Few” participants in the epic air campaign. The summer of 1940 saw the outnumbered RAF stymie the Luftwaffe’s attempts to establish air superiority over England in advance of a German invasion that never came.