Just a luckyIrishman doing his job

The Few's death-defying hero of the skies Paddy Hemingway 'back with his squadron'

- BY MATT ROPER

JOHN “Paddy” Hemingway was just 21 when he wondered if his Irish luck was finally up, as he plummeted through the air while bullets from Luftwaffe guns whizzed past him.

The young pilot officer had just bailed out of his RAF Hawker after it had been hit by a fleet of German Dornier 215s over London on the afternoon of August 26, 1940.

Jumping into a sky swarming with enemy aircraft, he knew he would be killed if he used his parachute at 18,000ft, so decided to fall as far as he could before pulling the cord.

Paddy landed safely on farmland next to The Barge pub at Pitsea Marshes in Essex.

The 10,000ft descent left him with sinus pain but he still took on a dogfight over Dover - just two days later. Incredibly, it would not be the closest he would come to losing his life or the last time he fell through gunfire-torn skies.

But Paddy, who served from the first day of World War II to the very last, managed to always survive.

But he never considered himself a hero or wanted praise for his achievements, instead insisting he was just a "lucky Irishman" who was doing his job.

Even Paddy, though, probably would not have imagined he would end up being the very last of "The Few", Britain's hero pilots during the Battle of Britain.

But on Monday, St Patrick's Day, he died peacefully at a care home in his native Dublin, aged 105.

His son Brian said he was happy and "in fighting form" right to the end but typically modest.

"He never felt there was anything special about him," he said.

"He thought the special ones were the friends who never returned. And now he is back with his squadron. It is very sad but his is a life to be both celebrated and mourned." Millions were doing both yesterday, including Prince William, who also served with the RAF.