The pilot, whose squadron shot down 90 enemy aircraft in an 11-day period in 1940, called himself the ‘lucky Irishman’
The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, John “Paddy” Hemingway, has died aged 105.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) said Hemingway, a member of “the Few” who took to the skies during the second world war, died peacefully on Monday.
Continue reading...Bridget Phillipson calls 2.5% target ‘ambitious’ days before PM meets with Donald Trump in Washington
Keir Starmer is unlikely to set out a plan this week for when the UK will increase its defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, a cabinet minister has indicated.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said the target was ambitious, despite Labour previously claiming it would set out a path to meeting the spending goal after the strategic defence review in the spring.
Continue reading...Sightings over three airbases in East Anglia could relate to foreign powers’ concerns about possible nuclear weapons
A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.
Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).
Continue reading...Unmanned aerial systems seen over RAF bases in Suffolk and Norfolk but US air force does not know if they were hostile
A number of unidentified drones have been spotted over three airbases in Britain, the US air force has confirmed.
“Small unmanned aerial systems” were seen between 20 and 22 November over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk.
Continue reading...Rebel group says strikes, aimed at underground facilities and missile launchers, killed and wounded civilians
A joint US and UK air raid on Houthi missile launchers in Yemen has killed 16 people and injured more than 40, according to the Houthi health ministry.
There is no independent way of confirming the death toll, but if accurate it would represent the single largest loss of life since the US and UK started their campaign to degrade the Houthi military in January.
Continue reading...Announcement raises questions about aircraft’s participation in national D-day event in Portsmouth
The RAF has grounded a fleet of Spitfire planes after the death of a pilot over the weekend, raising the prospect of the legendary aircraft being absent from the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings next month.
Sqn Ldr Mark Long – a Typhoon pilot based at RAF Coningsby – was killed in a crash while flying a Spitfire belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Fleet as part of a memorial event.
Continue reading...Airman died at the scene after second world war-era plane came down near RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire
The Prince and Princess of Wales have led tributes to an RAF pilot who was killed in a Spitfire crash while taking part in a Battle of Britain memorial event.
The airman, who has not yet been named by police, died at the scene from his injuries after the second world war-era plane came down near RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire at about 1.20pm on Saturday.
Continue reading...Plane was part of RAF Battle of Britain memorial flight, which maintains historic aircraft in airworthy condition
A pilot has died after a Spitfire crashed in a field near an RAF base in Lincolnshire, a Royal Air Force spokesperson has confirmed.
“It is with great sadness that we must confirm the death of an RAF pilot in a tragic accident near RAF Coningsby today,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said.
Continue reading...Payroll data at risk includes names, bank details and addresses of current and former force members, government sources suggest
An estimated 270,000 payroll records belonging to nearly all members of Britain’s armed forces have been exposed to Chinese hackers in a breach at a third-party contractor that was discovered a few days ago.
The data at risk includes names and bank details for full-time military personnel, part-time reservists, including at least one MP, and veterans who left after January 2018. It was managed by a private contractor, SSCL.
Continue reading...Prime minister – often criticised over fondness for air travel – asked Grant Shapps to act
Rishi Sunak personally intervened to stop the scrapping of a contract providing VIP helicopter transport for himself and senior ministers, it has emerged.
Earlier this year, Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, ended a £40m contract for two private helicopters used by politicians and senior defence staff, which are crewed by RAF personnel and based at the Northolt airbase in west London. The contract was due to come to a close at the end of September.
Continue reading...Burials can go ahead of men who never returned from bombing mission over Germany in 1943
Eighty years after they were shot down by the Germans over Dutch waters, British airmen Arthur Smart, Raymond Moore and Charles Sprack can be laid to rest after the Dutch defence ministry confirmed their remains had been identified.
Two silver-plated cigarette cases were found with the initials of the 27-year-old flight engineer Smart and 21-year-old wireless operator Moore.
Continue reading...Harassment and bullying flourished within the elite display team, enabled by a sense that the rules don’t apply
It was intended to be a hard-hitting review into allegations of sexism, harassment and bullying in the elite Red Arrows display team. The inquiry was concerned that the squadron was “not a safe environment” for women and said it was “highly likely” women would be subject to unlawful harassment.
The report makes a generalised list, ranging from “unwanted physical contact” to unwanted texts of a sexual nature; unsought invitations to engage in sexual activity to a broader attitude of “male sexual entitlement”. But what comes shortly after is a classic case of overzealous Ministry of Defence secrecy.
Continue reading...Salvage operation in Dutch waters finds remains presumed to be those of Arthur Smart, Charles Sprack and Raymond Moore
The remains of British airmen shot down by the Nazis over Dutch waters may have been discovered in a massive rescue operation.
With the help of a €15m national plane-wreck rescue fund, the Dutch have started to sift the wreckage of the British Lancaster ED603, which never returned from a mass bombing mission targeting Bochum in Germany on 13 June 1943. Instead this “Pathfinder”, that gave the lead to 503 bombers, was tracked as it headed home. It was shot down and crashed in the blue Dutch waters of the IJsselmeer with seven men aboard.
Continue reading...West Lindsey council votes down proposal to relocate dog, named after a racial slur, to Norfolk airbase
Councillors have rejected proposals to exhume and relocate a dog buried at the former base of the Dambusters put forward amid concerns about the suitability of the grave’s location once the site is repurposed as accommodation for asylum seekers.
During an extraordinary planning meeting on Wednesday evening, West Lindsey district councillors unanimously voted down an application by RAF Heritage to relocate the dog to an airbase in Norfolk.
Continue reading...Remains of eight Hurricanes dating back to 1940s conflict found south of Kyiv
Authorities in Ukraine have discovered the remains of eight British Hurricane fighter planes dating back to the second world war.
The aircraft, found near an unexploded bomb dating from the same conflict in a forest south of Kyiv, were sent to the Soviet Union by Britain after Nazi Germany invaded the country in 1941.
Continue reading...Military says emergency flights will operate as long as conditions are safe, as civilians arrive in Britain
Britain could continue running evacuation flights from Sudan once the current three-day ceasefire expires on Thursday night, the army officer in charge of the rescue said, as the first planeload of civilians rescued from the country’s civil war arrived at Stansted airport.
Brig Dan Reeve said the airlift from a base north of Khartoum would continue as long as conditions were safe, including possibly beyond the ceasefire period, if people could still travel there.
Continue reading...MPs and ministers support campaign to locate relatives of Peter Brown, who died alone in London aged 96
A search is under way to find the family of one of the RAF’s last black second world war veterans, who died recently.
Peter Brown, a retired flight sergeant, died alone aged 96 in Maida Vale, west London. Without any known family, Westminster council and the RAF are attempting to locate any relatives of Brown to pay tribute to him at Mortlake Crematorium on 29 March.
Continue reading...Chinese recruitment ‘to understand the capabilities of our air force’ of concern, says James Heappey
Ministers want to change the law to prevent former RAF pilots from training the Chinese military, amid reports at least 30 British personnel are believed to have taken advantage of “very generous” recruitment packages offered by the superpower.
It emerged overnight that British defence intelligence is to issue a rare “threat alert”, warning that China’s military is trying to recruit serving and former RAF jet pilots to help train its own air force.
Continue reading...Former and serving pilots told not to disclose sensitive information, in attempt to ‘mitigate risk’ of schemes
British defence intelligence is to issue a rare “threat alert”, warning that China’s military is trying to recruit serving and former RAF jet pilots to help train its own air force with generous recruitment packages.
Officials expressed “concern and disapproval” of these schemes because they posed “a threat to UK and western interests”. Although they are not explicitly banning pilots from providing training, they aim to take steps to “manage the risk”.
Continue reading...Rights charity Reprieve seeks answers from MoD over death of Abu Hamza al-Shuhail in Syria in October
Britain has been accused of reviving a policy of “targeted killing” after it emerged that the RAF had killed an arms dealer linked to Islamic State in a precision drone strike in Syria at the end of October.
Reprieve, a human rights charity, asked “what are the criteria” used to justify who can be targeted in a “track and kill” drone strike, and called on ministers to tell the Commons why this strike was deemed necessary.
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