Jack Hemmings, who has died at the age of 103, was co-founder of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), the largest humanitarian airline in the world.
In 1945 Jack, an RAF Squadron Leader tasked with protecting the Bay of Bengal from Japanese invasion, read an article advocating the need to use planes to ‘carry messengers of peace and to unload cargoes of blessing’. As RAF Flight Lieutenant Murray Kendon wrote: ‘Instead of spreading destruction and death why should [aircraft] not now spread life and healing by that message wherein lie the seeds of peace and power?’
Thanks to Murray Kendon’s vision, on 13 January 1948, Jack Hemmings and Stuart King left England to conduct a six-month survey of central Africa. They were guided by a fearless and unflappable faith in Jesus, some not entirely helpful maps, their compass, and the River Nile.
Although MAF’s survey was a success, it ended when their Miles Gemini plane struck a banana tree, forcing them to complete the last part of their journey overland.
Having assessed the needs of the communities they had encountered, they concluded that the nation that needed MAF most was Sudan.
With the support of the Mildmay Movement, Jack and Stuart established a base there, using a de Havilland Dragon Rapide to serve Sudan’s people.
Although failing an eye test prevented Jack from flying passengers for MAF, his commitment remained, with Jack offering logistics, financial and moral support throughout his life.
Having been awarded the Air Force Cross for ‘exemplary gallantry’ during the war, in 2020 the fearless aviator took to the skies two years after Stuart’s death in a Miles Gemini like the one they’d flown decades ago.
‘The flight,’ the 100-year-old commented, ‘made me think of Stuart, and was a suitable time to remember what he’d achieved.’
Jack, who passed away on 24 January 2025, leaves behind his wife Kate, son Adrian, three grandchildren, and a mission that brings God’s love to over 1,000 remote destinations.
