Last Battle of Britain airman is 103 today

[FourWheelDrift]

Born in 1919 Group Captain John Allman Hemingway is 103 today and the last of the few.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hemingway_(RAF_...


It doesn't seem too long ago that we were looking at the last veterans of the Somme, or Jutland.

[colin_p]

Group Captain John Allman Hemingway, we salute and thank you.

Agreed on the WWI veterans, seems like yesterday they were around and now there are hardly any from WW2 left.

Extraordinary generations, probably never to be seen again.

[nute]

It is a shame when these events are gone from living memory. These people are an example to all of us and when they are gone the events they lived through are somehow less tangible.

[anonymous-user]

1 in 6 British pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain didn’t even survive to see 1941 so there weren’t many left after the war, the attrition rate was horrendous.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 18th July 11:13

[Vasco]

FourWheelDrift said:

Born in 1919 Group Captain John Allman Hemingway is 103 today and the last of the few.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hemingway_(RAF_...


It doesn't seem too long ago that we were looking at the last veterans of the Somme, or Jutland.

A very Happy Birthday to John - much respect !!

[aeropilot]

FourWheelDrift said:

Born in 1919 Group Captain John Allman Hemingway is 103 today and the last of the few.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hemingway_(RAF_...


It doesn't seem too long ago that we were looking at the last veterans of the Somme, or Jutland.

I can still vividly remember sitting watching the TV with my Dad back in the late 80's or early 90's when visiting one day, and they announced that the last veteran of the Boer War had just passed away, I think he was 105 or something like that at the time.
It only seems like yesterday watching the Albert Hall Remembrance service when the Chelsea Pensioner contingent were still lead by some of the Old Comtemptibles.

[dr_gn]

As the people who participated - or even remember - the last world war get fewer, the closer we seem to get to another.

[DeejRC]

Europe goes to war every 100yrs in the early part of each Century.