Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC, DFC, DCL (June 15, 1892 - February 6, 1975) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in World War II. June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ...

Early Life and Army Career

Park was born near Auckland, New Zealand. He was the son of a Scottish geologist for a mining company. An undistinguished young man, but keen on guns and riding, Keith Park served in the cadets at school and joined the Army as a Territorial soldier in the New Zealand Field Artillery. In 1911, at age 19, he went to sea as a purser aboard collier and passenger steamships, earning the family nickname 'skipper'. Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... 1911 was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...

When World War I broke out Park left the ships and joined his artillery battery. As a non-commissioned officer he participated in the landings at Gallipoli in April 1915, going ashore at Anzac Cove. In the trench warfare that followed Park distinguished himself and in July 1915 gained a commission as Second Lieutenant. He commanded an artillery battery during the attack on Suvla Bay and endured more months of squalour in the trenches. At this time he took the unusual decision to transfer from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps to the British Army, joining the Royal Horse and Field Artillery. World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... View of Anzac Cove from Ari Burnu, July 2004. ... Suvla is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. ... An ANZAC soldier gives water to a wounded Turk The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (popularly abbreviated as ANZAC) was originally an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who fought in World War I at Gallipoli, in the Middle East and on the Western Front. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

Park was evacuated from Gallipoli in January 1916. The battle had left its mark on him both physically and mentally, though in later life he would remember it with nostalgia. He particularly admired the Anzac commander, Sir William Birdwood, whose leadership style and attention to detail would be a model for Park in his later career. 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (13 September 1865 - 17 May 1951) was a World War I general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. ...

After the hardship at Gallipoli, Park's battery was shipped to France to take part in the Battle of the Somme. Here he learned the value of aerial reconnaissance, noting the manner in which German aircraft were able to spot Allied artillery for counterbattery fire and getting an early taste of flight by being taken aloft to check his battery's camouflage. On October 21, 1916 Park was blown off his horse by a German shell. Wounded, he was evacuated to England and graded 'unfit for active service', which technically meant he was unfit to ride a horse. So after a brief spell recuperating he joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in December 1916. The 1916 Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War, with more than one million casualties. ... October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of World War I. Origin and Early History Formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912, the RFC superseded the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. ...

Flying Career

In the RFC Park learned to fly. After a spell as an instructor he was posted to France and joined 48 Squadron in July 1917. Park flew the new two-seat Bristol Fighter and soon achieved successes against German fighters, earning promotion and the Military Cross. After a break from flying he returned to France as a Major to command 48 Squadron. Here he showed his ability as a tough but fair commander, showing discipline, leadership and an understanding of the technical aspects of air warfare. 1917 was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War flown by the Royal Flying Corps. ... Military Cross The Military Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army, and formerly also to officers of the armies of other Commonwealth countries, for distinguished and meritorious services in battle. ...

By the end of the war the strain of command had all but exhausted Park, but he had achieved much as a pilot and commander. He had earned a bar to his Military Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the French Croix de Guerre. His final tally of aircraft kills has never been confirmed and has been put as high as 20, though he certainly shot down 11 aircraft and damaged at least 13 others. After the Armistice he married the beautiful London socialite Dorothy 'Dol' Parish. The Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.) is a decoration for courage shown in air combat. ... The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of both Belgium and France which was first created in 1915. ...

Between the wars Park commanded RAF stations and was an instructor before becoming a staff officer to Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding in 1938. An Air Chief Marshals sleeve/shoulder insignia Air Chief Marshal is the most senior rank active in the Royal Air Force today, after the inactivation of Marshal of the Royal Air Force as a substantive rank in peacetime during defence cuts of the 1990s. ... Hugh Caswell Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding G.C.B., G.C.V.O., C.M.G. (24 April 1882 - 15 February 1970) was a British officer in the Royal Air Force. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Battle of Britain

With the rank of Air Vice-Marshal Park took command of No. 11 Group RAF, responsible for the fighter defence of London and southeast England, in April 1940. He organized fighter patrols over France during the Dunkirk evacuation and in the Battle of Britain his command took the brunt of the Luftwaffe's air attacks. He gained a reputation as a shrewd tactician and a fine leader of men. However, he became embroiled in an acrimonious dispute with Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, commander of 12 Group. His prickliness of character during the subsequent Big Wing controversy contributed to his removal from command at the end of the battle. He was sent to Training Command. No. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Location within France For the battleship, see Dunkerque Dunkirk (French: Dunkerque; Dutch: Duinkerke; German: Dünkirchen) is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the département of Nord, 10 km from the Belgian border. ... A major campaign of World War II, the Battle of Britain is the name for the attempt by Germanys Luftwaffe to gain air superiority of British airspace and destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The   Luftwaffe? (German: air force, IPA: [luftvafÉ™]) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory KCB, DSO and Bar (11 July 1892 - 14 November 1944) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in World War II and the highest-ranking British officer to die in the war. ... The Big Wing, also known as a Balbo, was a air fighting tactic proposed during the Battle of Britain by Acting Squadron Leader Douglas Bader and 12 Group commander Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory. ...

Later Career

In July 1942 he returned to action, commanding the vital air defence of Malta. From there his squadrons participated in the North African and Sicilian campaigns. In 1945 he was appointed Allied Air Commander, South-East Asia, where he served until the end of the war. This article is about the year. ...

On leaving the Royal Air Force, he personally selected a Supermarine Spitfire to be donated to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The Supermarine Spitfire was a single seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. The Spitfires elliptical wings gave it a very distinctive look; their thin cross-section gave it speed; the brilliant design of Chief Designer R.J. Mitchell and his successors...

He retired in 1946 and returned to New Zealand, where he took up a number of civic roles and was elected to the Auckland City Council. He lived in New Zealand until his death. Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ...

Sir Keith Park is commemorated by the Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield, the aviation section of the Museum of Transport and Technology, the agte guardian of which is a replica of Park's Hawker Hurricane, OK1. Museum of Transport and Technology MoTaT is a museum located in Western Springs, Point Chevalier, Auckland, between a Speedway, the Auckland Zoo and Western Springs park. ... The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter design from the 1930s which was used extensively by the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. ...

Legacy

"If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did. I do not believe it is realised how much that one man, with his leadership, his calm judgement and his skill, did to save, not only this country, but the world." In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a position of office associated with technical skill or experience, as in a team leader or a chief engineer a group or person in the vanguard of some trend or...

- Lord Tedder – Chief of the Royal Air Force, February 1947. Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder (July 11, 1890 - June 3, 1967) was a signficant British Marshal of the Royal Air Force. ...

Books

Sir Keith Park, a biography, Vincent Orange.

External links

• Dict of NZ Biog
• Opinion of "The New Zealand Edge"