His father Basil had thought that his only son might become a doctor, but then his son disliked the sight of blood. So when Gp Cpt John (“Paddy”) Hemingway died at the age of 105, it was instead as the last surviving pilot – and the last surviving Dubliner – to have flown in the Battle of Britain, 85 years ago.
He was shot down twice during the battle, and twice subsequently, but then he was the “lucky Irishman”. And for months in 1940 Hemingway’s life – although he would have derided the idea – was one of those 3,000-odd in step with the fate of the world.
