A former RAF pilot who launched a charity which flies humanitarian aid to isolated communities has died, with his wife paying tribute to him having “lavished 103 years of love” into the world. Jack Hemmings, who protected the Bay of Bengal from Japanese invasion during the Second World War, died on January 24 in hospital in Sussex, his charity Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) announced.
Known to many as “lovely Jack”, his family said he left the world a better place. Mr Hemmings co-founded humanitarian aid service MAF in the aftermath of the Second World War alongside D-Day veteran Stuart King – a former RAF engineer who died in 2020.
The pair took on the first British mission to survey the humanitarian needs of isolated communities across Central Africa in 1948, visiting more than 100 aid and mission outposts. Last February, he took to the sky in a Spitfire, flying the aircraft for the first time, from Biggin Hill airfield to raise money for MAF, describing being back behind the controls as “absolutely delightful”.
He is believed to be the oldest British pilot to fly a Spitfire. Paying tribute, his wife Kate, 77, said: “‘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.
“Jack was always young, engaging with everyone from young children and teenagers up to centenarians. His many friends followed different religions and people with no religious beliefs. But his drive was humanitarian, providing hope and relieving human suffering.
