Flight log Aug. 26 1940 : “Shot down in flames.” This time, by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. He was back flying combat missions two days later.
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. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in 1941.
He was shot down four times during the war.
Those who fought in the three-and-a-half-month battle (the Battle of Britain) came to be known as "The Few" after a speech by the then Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few," he said of their sacrifices in battle.
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.
The RAF said that Mr Hemingway's passing marked "the end of an era"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/03/18/john-paddy-hemingway-battle-britain-dies/
The earth never knew, nor will it never know again a generation like "The Greatest Generation".
ReplyDeleteAny German pilots left?
ReplyDeletelol... I see why you asked, but, since they don't speak English, they don't partake in the conversations we have in English. Also, not likely, based on age, as there just aren't but a very few WW2 vets still alive. But, hey, way to stick up for the losers.
DeleteMay be hard to find,but I recently was loaned a first edition of a book by a surviving Luftwaffe fighter pilot titled,,"I flew for the Fuhrer". He was certainly right wing but had 52 victories and survived the war. By his unashamed accounts(as are our pilot's) he detailed the tactics of their fighters and how they claimed so many victories against allied bombers. What I liked was his day to day memories about squadron and family life;not so different to our own,when it was all boiled down.At the end of the day we are all humans;but how we express that is the telling factor. I fear for what may be coming once more, because humans are very bloody slow to learn from histories lessons.
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