Pioneer ex-RAF and humanitarian pilot dies aged 103

A former RAF squadron leader who flew humanitarian missions to Central Africa has died at the age of 103.

Jack Hemmings was an early pioneer of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) - the world's largest humanitarian airline.

Mr Hemmings's wife Kate said he left the world "a better place for having lavished 103 years of love into it".

The former Second World War pilot, from Horam, East Sussex, died peacefully on Friday.

Mrs Hemmings added: "His drive was humanitarian, providing hope and relieving human suffering.

"Oh, my lovely Jack, this world will be very strange without you, but you've left it a better place for having lavished 103 years of love into it."

Mr Hemmings flew a wooden Miles Gemini aircraft from Cryodon to Nairobi in the first British aerial humanitarian survey across Central Africa in 1948.

He later helped to co-found MAF and continued to support their work for 80 years.

For his 102nd birthday in 2023, Mr Hemmings was honoured with a smoke flyover above his home by the Red Arrows.

RAF chaplain-in-chief Dr Giles Legood said Mr Hemmings had made "an immensurable difference", adding: "Many owe their lives to him and the legacy he has created."

In 2024, he is believed to have become the oldest British pilot to take control of a Spitfire at the age of 102 in a twenty-minute flight from London Biggin Hill.

Mr Hemmings won the Air Force Cross and the RAF's Master Air Pilot award.

He also volunteered with the RAF Air Cadets and ran a Sussex youth group.

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