A Second World War RAF veteran has reflected on his time serving the country as he calls for solidarity on world issues.
Jack Hemmings, 103, volunteered to serve with the air force at the age of 19.
He was stationed in India for four years where he carried out reconnaissance missions off the Burma, now Myanmar, coast.
During his time there with 353 Squadron, Jack, who lives near Heathfield, scouted out Japanese submarines and attacked occupied ports.
He said: “We used to fly into a hail of anti-aircraft fire but it was totally emotionless.
“I think it’s because your mind is totally devoted to doing what you’re supposed to do.
“You can’t step back from it and say ‘gosh, this is scary’, you’re concentrating on the target or keeping a lookout in case they send any fighters up.”
On his love for flying, Mr Hemmings said: “One of the nice things about it is that you’re away from you lot, humans, and all the ways of the world are all down there, I’m away from it all."
Mr Hemmings was awarded an Air Force Cross for exemplary gallantry while in India and hoped to be presented with it by the King.
He visited the air ministry to ask when the royal presentation would take place, only to be handed it by an officer worker from a filing cabinet.
Mr Hemmings said: “She did say something about ‘well, you will understand, so many people got gongs at this stage of the war, the King can’t do them all’.
“So I don’t know what I got it for, I think general good flying.”
After the war, Mr Hemmings pioneered a humanitarian air service, Mission Aviation Fellowship, with D-Day veteran and former RAF engineer Stuart King.
The pair completed the first British mission to assess the humanitarian needs of isolated communities across central Africa in 1948.
Mr King died in 2020 and on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Mr Hemmings visited Normandy to pay tribute to his best friend.
He said: “It was poignant. I went there because of Stuart who had endured this.
“Once or twice when people started to thank me for liberating them, I had to explain I was there on behalf of somebody else. I took it as thanks on behalf of Stuart.”
The anniversary of Victory over Japan Day falls on August 15, commemorating the surrender of Imperial Japan in 1945.
READ MORE: Shoreham D-Day veteran who stormed Gold Beach dies age 98
Ahead of the 79th anniversary, Mr Hemmings has issued a message to world leaders urging them to prioritise climate change and global issues.
The veteran said: “We ought not to be trying to kill another bunch of people, we ought to bring our arms round them and say look, there are world problems, climate change and that sort of thing that we all have got to apply our energies towards, then we’re all happier.
“The population of the world should be interested in the welfare of all the rest of the world.
“I think the world’s a bit of an undesirable place at present.”
After the war, Mr Hemmings worked as an accountant but retained his love of flying.
For his 100th birthday, he performed aerobatics and in February, he flew a Spitfire to raise money for the Mission Aviation Fellowship.
For his 103rd birthday, Mr Hemmings will be a special guest at Eastbourne Airbourne, where he will meet Graeme Muscat, the Red Arrows squadron leader, and watch displays from the pilot lounge.
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