Jack Hemmings, the last of MAF’s early pioneers, passed away peacefully in his sleep on 24 January 2025, aged 103. He was born in Yorkshire, but won a bursary to Christ’s Hospital in West Sussex, where he boarded from the age of twelve.
When World War II broke out, the 19-year-old joined the RAF, becoming leader of 353 Squadron in 1942. Jack later received the Air Force Cross for ‘exemplary gallantry’ and was one of the few British pilots to take a light aircraft from London to Africa’s remotest regions.
