The number of Battle of Britain veterans still with us has fallen to just four with the death of Squadron Leader John Hart.

The hero pilot was one of ‘The Few’ who ensured the Germans did not invade Britain in the Second World War by defeating the Luftwaffe.

Tributes have now been paid following his death at the age of 102 with many saying his achievements must ‘never be forgotten.’

Battle of Britain historian Andy Saunders said: ‘The debt that the nation and the free world owes to those heroes of the “Few” can never be underestimated and it is terribly sad that the “Few” are yet fewer.

‘They are our last living link to those desperate days of 1940, but the debt we owe does not lessen or diminish with their passing.

‘In their day, they were a band of brothers.’

Sq Ldr Hart was born in Canada in 1916 and went on to serve in modern-day Myanmar and Italy, where he won the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry.

An engineer by trade, he learnt to fly at Halifax Flying Club in Canada before joining the RAF in January 1939.

The following year he joined 602 Squadron at RAF Westhampnett in West Sussex and he was scrambled on a daily basis.

During his service, Sq Ldr Hart helped shoot down a Ju88 fast bomber off the East Sussex coast and a Me109 during a duel in the skies over Kent.

There were also several close calls, including one incident when a Ju88 put a hole in his radiator at 20,000ft over the English Channel and he somehow limped back to base.

Later recounting his experiences of battle, Sq Ldr Hart said: ‘You didn’t have time to be scared. You’re thinking about what’s going on.

‘I know I have the Battle of Britain medal with a star on it, but I really didn’t have that much to do with it. You were posted to a squadron and you did your job.’

Sq Ldr Hart then had a stint as a flying instructor, before commanding 67 Squadron in Burma (Myanmar) in 1943 and 112 Squadron in Italy in March 1945.

He led a formation of fighter planes in a successful attack on a railway line that ran from Italy into Yugoslavia and later a sortie that destroyed 11 transport locomotives.

After the war, he moved back to Canada and worked in property valuation.

His first wife, Joan, died in 1977 and he then married second wife, Bette, who also predeceased him.

Sq Ldr Hart, who had three children, died on June 18 but news of his death has only just emerged.

David Brocklehurst MBE, chairman of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, said: ‘John was the archetypal Battle of Britain pilot; very modest and self-effacing – the epitomy of what they stood for.

‘He should be remembered for his bravery. Many of these men said they were not heroes, just doing their duty, but we see them all as heroes.

‘Sadly they are a dying generation and there are only four of The Few still living.

‘It makes it all the more important that we carry on their legacy as there will be a time when they will no longer be able to do so.

‘What they achieved must never be forgotten.’

The four remaining Battle of Britain heroes are Flight Lieutenant William Clark, Wing Commander Paul Farnes, Flying Officer John Hemmingway and Flight Lieutenant Maurice Moundson.

The Battle of Britain took place between July 10 and October 31, 1940.

Almost 3,000 Allied airmen, including 112 Canadians, took part, of which 510 were killed.

Sir Winston Churchill summed up the contribution of RAF Fighter Command to the war effort with the words ‘never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’.

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