D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Jack Hemmings
Jack Hemmings, Age 102, RAF
Interviewed 10 August 2023
Volunteering as air crew and going on to be a pilot and Squadron Leader, Jack Hemmings was stationed in Calcutta at the time of D-Day with 353 Squadron, protecting the Bay of Bengal and the Burmese coast.
He remembers how impressed he was hearing about the scale and success of the invasion.
He co-founded Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) - the world's largest humanitarian airline.
He said: "I was in India at the time and didn’t sample.
"It was the thing.
"The topic of the day.
"When is D-Day coming off? Because the country was full of troops that had come out of Europe - and the Americans.
"And I take my hat off to the organiser. They did the job properly.
"The planning and the preparation.
"A lot of people giving serious thought to it.
"So I guess they got what they needed."
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