Jack Hemmings, the founder of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and a veteran of the Second World War, died last month at the age of 103.
Hemmings’ life in the air began at the age of 19, when in 1940 he volunteered as an air crewman. During the war Hemmings was stationed in British India where he saw action against the forces of Imperial Japan and was awarded the Air Force Cross for exemplary gallantry while flying.
“I had the distinction of being the only one to be seriously hit by enemy fire,” he once said.
“I flew in to have a look at the port of Taungup to be met by a shower of upward flying incendiaries. There was a loud bang behind my head, and something exploded just as the rear gunner called up to say, rather dryly, ‘lot of holes in the wing Jack.'”
After the war Hemmings established MAF with fellow RAF veteran Stuart King. In 1948 they flew a Miles Gemini aircraft around central Africa for six months assessing the needs of the various communities in the region. Their survey was cut short when their plane crashed into a mountainside. Both Hemmings and King were unharmed and MAF eventually grew into one of the largest aerial aid organisations in the world.
In the present day MAF operates 120 aircraft in Africa, with Hemmings once describing the organisation as “the international Good Samaritan of the air” delivering aid and medicine to communities throughout the continent.
Family and aviation figures have paid tribute to Hemmings and his remarkable life.
Hemmings’ wife Kate said of her husband, “‘Lovely Jack’, the phrase that tripped off the tongue of so many people who met him for the first time. Indeed, those were my words after our first encounter.
“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.”
Donovan Palmer, CEO of MAF UK, commented, “I was struck by Jack’s humility and deep devotion to those living in isolation and the possibilities that aircraft present to help them. Jack’s life will have impacted more people across the world than he will ever know.”
The Venerable Dr (Air Vice-Marshal) Giles Legood, Chaplain-in-Chief at the RAF, praised Hemmings’ humanitarian work, “Jack Hemmings has made an immensurable difference to the lives of many across numerous low-income countries. Indeed, many owe their lives to him and the legacy he has created. His quiet humility, yet determination to make a difference is inspirational.”
Hemmings is also believed to be the oldest man ever to fly a Spitfire, getting into the cockpit of the iconic aircraft just last year. His son-in-law once said that the cockpit of an aircraft was his “home environment”.
