'I'm here because I was lucky,' he insisted. In truth it was the nation that was lucky

With the last of The Few now gone to the great squadron room in the sky, we witness the closing of a glorious chapter. John 'Paddy' Hemingway, who has died aged 105, might have been a reluctant hero, but he was a hero nonetheless

- By Andy Saunders

THE death of John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway represents nothing less than the closing of a chapter in this nation’s history. None of the 2,937 airmen — mostly British, but including nearly 700 from the Commonwealth and Allied nations - awarded the Battle of Britain clasp for flying against the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940 are now with us.

In May, we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day but it’s fair to suggest that, without the Battle of Britain and the bravery of such men as Paddy Hemingway, there might have been no victory to celebrate.

Hemingway remained utterly modest about his own contribution, but it is a matter of record that he flew with the RAF on the first day of the Second World War and was still serving when Germany surrendered, having flown Spitfires and Hurricanes during some of the nation’s most fateful days.

Born in Dublin, after leaving school his father Basil spotted an advert for the RAF and they travelled to London where he was given a short service commission before being posted to 85 Squadron at RAF Debden, Essex, in December 1938 to fly Hurricanes. He finally retired aged 55 as a Group Captain for a peaceful retirement, initially in Wiltshire.

“I am here because I have had some staggering luck,” was how he put it.

Indeed, having been shot down four times and survived a plane crash, there’s little to doubt his good fortune. But in truth, it was the nation that was lucky to have men such as Paddy to heed the call when it came.

When, in the 1970s, I began researching the lives and stories of the men whom Winston Churchill had famously described as “The Few” (from the PM’s famous speech where he so powerfully remarked: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”) there were then a good many survivors of the battle still living.