Post by robbo on Apr 24, 2009 13:59:32 GMT 12
Here's a press release from the Sir Keith Park memorial campaign that Dave asked me to post:
Memorial Campaign to replicate Keith Park’s
1919 flight around the British Isles, May 5 – 7, 2009
In 1919 a ground breaking flight, taking four days and covering 1880 miles, the journey demonstrated the endurance and capability of ’large aircraft’ flying.
Captained by the then Major Keith Park of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) the flight helped set the foundations for future development and employability of large aircraft in the RFC and its successor organisation the Royal Air Force (RAF).
Park went on to become Air Vice Marshall in the RAF and was credited with successfully defending London and the South East during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
The repeat of the flight 90 years to the month in May this year is being staged as a key event in the Memorial Campaign to honour Sir Keith to mark his successful defence of the United Kingdom's capital.
Local dignitaries and veterans of the Battle of Britain to welcome commemorative flight. Details to be confirmed.
Keith Park led this important mission immediately following the end of the First World War. Park, a New Zealander, initially served in the Royal Artillery seeing operational service in Gallipoli and at the Battle of the Somme. He joined the RFC soon after it was formed and by the end of the war had some twenty enemy aircraft kills attributed to him.
The ‘Circuit of Britain Flight’ that Park captained in May 1919, with an eight-man crew, was in a Handley Page 0/400, powered by two 350 hp. Rolls-Royce engines, and achieved an average airspeed of 66mph.
The flight began from the No.1 R.A.F. School of Navigation at Andover at 0215hrs, stopping first in Lincolnshire at Waddington RAF base at 0900hrs, having flown round the South, South East and East Anglican coasts. Next the route broadly followed the eastern coast of the UK to Edinburgh where they landed at 1845hrs. The next day Park continued the journey by flying over the Eastern side of Scotland taking in Aberdeen and Inverness before turning west and reaching Belfast at 1930hrs. The third day they departed Dublin at 1335hrs reaching Pembroke at 17:05hrs. The final day saw Park fly along the South coast of Wales, turning to follow the North Devon and Cornish coasts before returning east along the South coast of England reaching Andover at 0932hrs the next morning.
The repeat of the Park flight will be piloted by Terry Smith, businessman and prominent British entrepreneur, who is leading the campaign to commemorate Sir Keith Park. Commenting on the plan to revisit Park’s original ground breaking flight Smith said “Sir Keith Park showed his courage and organisational skills in various theatres of both the first and second World Wars. By recreating his ‘Circuit of Britain Flight’ of May 1919, I aim to demonstrate that the spirit and the courage he had in peacetime also singles him out as someone who our country has sadly overlooked and why a memorial to this great man is very much overdue.”
ENDS
www.sirkeithpark.com
Notes:
1. Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, GCB, KBE, MC and Bar, DFC, RAF was the New Zealand born RAF Air Vice-Marshal commanding 11 Group Fighter Command, responsible for the aerial defence of London and South East England during the Battle of Britain. His inspirational leadership and tactical brilliance was central to Britain winning the battle, which in turn helped determine the outcome of the entire Second World War. Sir Keith went on to lead the air defence of Malta in 1942, subsequently reaching the rank of Air Chief Marshal in South East Asia at the end of the war. During the First World War, Sir Keith served at Gallipoli and then the Somme before becoming a pilot and shooting down 20 enemy aircraft.
2. Sir Keith Park and his loyal crew made various stops and flyovers on their ‘Circuit of Britain Flight’. Beginning at Andover on the 15th May at 02.15hrs and flying via Portsmouth, Brighton, Ashford, Canterbury, Shoeburyness, Clacton-on-Sea, Lowestoft and Hunstanton before stopping at Waddington at 09:00hrs for engine adjustments. These took longer than expected, pushing back their departure to Longside to 13:28hrs . This stint took them over Grimsby, Scarborough, South Shields and Alnwick, where poor weather forced a descent from 3000ft to 350ft and a diversion to Edinburgh where they landed at 18.45hrs. They stayed in Edinburgh over night, beginning the next leg of their journey across the North of Britain to Belfast at 11:50hrs the next day. By now they were far north in Scotland, passing over Abroath, Aberdeen, Longside, Inverness and The Mull of Kintyre, arriving at Belfast at 07.05hrs where they made their extraordinary landing at Harland & Wolff’s Wharf. Departing the Wharf the next day saw Sir Keith Park fly solo to Aldergrove to collect his co-pilot and crew, where they then all departed at 13.35hrs flying over Dublin and Bardsey Sound before stopping at Pembroke at 17:50hrs for further engine adjustments. They departed Pembroke at 04:26hrs the next morning, continuing their journey over Burry Holmes, Barry nr. Cardiff, Boscastle, Bodmin, Plymouth and Bournemouth, and finally 1880 miles and nearly 30 flying hours later they touched down back at Andover at 09:32hrs having completed their circuit around Great Britain.
3. Images are available and have been attached to this release. More images are available on request.
4. Statue details for the Sir Keith Park Memorial
The Les Johnson design will be used for both the proposed statue - one to be exhibited temporarily for 6 months on Trafalgar Square’s 4th Plinth in 2009, as well as for the proposed permanent memorial statue in Waterloo Place in 2010. The Campaign hopes to unveil the permanent memorial to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in September 2010.
The Campaign has submitted detailed planning applications earlier this year in January to Westminster City Council for both the temporary and permanent memorial statues.
The temporary statue for the 4th Plinth is likely to be nearly 18ft (6m) tall and the permanent bronze memorial statue for Waterloo Place will be nearer 9ft (3m) tall. Details of the winning sculptor, Les Johnson, can be found at: http:www.lesjohnsonsculptor.com.
5. The Campaign was launched on 7th March 2008 when Battle of Britain pilots, senior serving RAF officers, a great-great niece of Sir Keith Park, politicians and many other supporters assembled in Trafalgar Square beside a full-size replica Spitfire.
6. The Campaign has received support from a broad constituency including the RAF, Battle of Britain veterans, members of the Park family and the New Zealand cricket team. It has also secured the support of the leader of every New Zealand political party, including the Prime Minister and Defence Minister. In this country more than 100 MPs and a number of House of Lords members from all parties, former politicians such as Tony Benn and Lord Tebbit, as well as well-known names such as Frederick Forsyth, Sir Patrick Moore, Dan Snow, Peter Snow, Peter Jackson and Edward Fox are backing the Campaign.
7. Over 10 000 people have signed the various Campaign’s petitions, available electronically at www.sirkeithpark.com/petition.aspx or are signing hard copy versions of the petition both in the UK and in New Zealand. Supporters of the Campaign have also more recently sent letters in support of the two planning applications to Westminster City Council.
8. Terry Smith is the Chief Executive of Tullett Prebon plc and Chairman of Collins Stewart plc. He is a qualified pilot and has a keen interest in military history.
9. Other supporters of the Campaign include: Algy Cluff; Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge; Air Marshal Clifford Spink; Lord Lee of Trafford; Lord Selkirk; Rt. Hon Lord Trefgarne; Mark Field MP; Richard Benyon MP and Hon. Nicholas Soames MP.
10. For more information, please visit our website at www.sirkeithpark.com.
Memorial Campaign to replicate Keith Park’s
1919 flight around the British Isles, May 5 – 7, 2009
In 1919 a ground breaking flight, taking four days and covering 1880 miles, the journey demonstrated the endurance and capability of ’large aircraft’ flying.
Captained by the then Major Keith Park of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) the flight helped set the foundations for future development and employability of large aircraft in the RFC and its successor organisation the Royal Air Force (RAF).
Park went on to become Air Vice Marshall in the RAF and was credited with successfully defending London and the South East during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
The repeat of the flight 90 years to the month in May this year is being staged as a key event in the Memorial Campaign to honour Sir Keith to mark his successful defence of the United Kingdom's capital.
Local dignitaries and veterans of the Battle of Britain to welcome commemorative flight. Details to be confirmed.
Keith Park led this important mission immediately following the end of the First World War. Park, a New Zealander, initially served in the Royal Artillery seeing operational service in Gallipoli and at the Battle of the Somme. He joined the RFC soon after it was formed and by the end of the war had some twenty enemy aircraft kills attributed to him.
The ‘Circuit of Britain Flight’ that Park captained in May 1919, with an eight-man crew, was in a Handley Page 0/400, powered by two 350 hp. Rolls-Royce engines, and achieved an average airspeed of 66mph.
The flight began from the No.1 R.A.F. School of Navigation at Andover at 0215hrs, stopping first in Lincolnshire at Waddington RAF base at 0900hrs, having flown round the South, South East and East Anglican coasts. Next the route broadly followed the eastern coast of the UK to Edinburgh where they landed at 1845hrs. The next day Park continued the journey by flying over the Eastern side of Scotland taking in Aberdeen and Inverness before turning west and reaching Belfast at 1930hrs. The third day they departed Dublin at 1335hrs reaching Pembroke at 17:05hrs. The final day saw Park fly along the South coast of Wales, turning to follow the North Devon and Cornish coasts before returning east along the South coast of England reaching Andover at 0932hrs the next morning.
The repeat of the Park flight will be piloted by Terry Smith, businessman and prominent British entrepreneur, who is leading the campaign to commemorate Sir Keith Park. Commenting on the plan to revisit Park’s original ground breaking flight Smith said “Sir Keith Park showed his courage and organisational skills in various theatres of both the first and second World Wars. By recreating his ‘Circuit of Britain Flight’ of May 1919, I aim to demonstrate that the spirit and the courage he had in peacetime also singles him out as someone who our country has sadly overlooked and why a memorial to this great man is very much overdue.”
ENDS
www.sirkeithpark.com
Notes:
1. Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, GCB, KBE, MC and Bar, DFC, RAF was the New Zealand born RAF Air Vice-Marshal commanding 11 Group Fighter Command, responsible for the aerial defence of London and South East England during the Battle of Britain. His inspirational leadership and tactical brilliance was central to Britain winning the battle, which in turn helped determine the outcome of the entire Second World War. Sir Keith went on to lead the air defence of Malta in 1942, subsequently reaching the rank of Air Chief Marshal in South East Asia at the end of the war. During the First World War, Sir Keith served at Gallipoli and then the Somme before becoming a pilot and shooting down 20 enemy aircraft.
2. Sir Keith Park and his loyal crew made various stops and flyovers on their ‘Circuit of Britain Flight’. Beginning at Andover on the 15th May at 02.15hrs and flying via Portsmouth, Brighton, Ashford, Canterbury, Shoeburyness, Clacton-on-Sea, Lowestoft and Hunstanton before stopping at Waddington at 09:00hrs for engine adjustments. These took longer than expected, pushing back their departure to Longside to 13:28hrs . This stint took them over Grimsby, Scarborough, South Shields and Alnwick, where poor weather forced a descent from 3000ft to 350ft and a diversion to Edinburgh where they landed at 18.45hrs. They stayed in Edinburgh over night, beginning the next leg of their journey across the North of Britain to Belfast at 11:50hrs the next day. By now they were far north in Scotland, passing over Abroath, Aberdeen, Longside, Inverness and The Mull of Kintyre, arriving at Belfast at 07.05hrs where they made their extraordinary landing at Harland & Wolff’s Wharf. Departing the Wharf the next day saw Sir Keith Park fly solo to Aldergrove to collect his co-pilot and crew, where they then all departed at 13.35hrs flying over Dublin and Bardsey Sound before stopping at Pembroke at 17:50hrs for further engine adjustments. They departed Pembroke at 04:26hrs the next morning, continuing their journey over Burry Holmes, Barry nr. Cardiff, Boscastle, Bodmin, Plymouth and Bournemouth, and finally 1880 miles and nearly 30 flying hours later they touched down back at Andover at 09:32hrs having completed their circuit around Great Britain.
3. Images are available and have been attached to this release. More images are available on request.
4. Statue details for the Sir Keith Park Memorial
The Les Johnson design will be used for both the proposed statue - one to be exhibited temporarily for 6 months on Trafalgar Square’s 4th Plinth in 2009, as well as for the proposed permanent memorial statue in Waterloo Place in 2010. The Campaign hopes to unveil the permanent memorial to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in September 2010.
The Campaign has submitted detailed planning applications earlier this year in January to Westminster City Council for both the temporary and permanent memorial statues.
The temporary statue for the 4th Plinth is likely to be nearly 18ft (6m) tall and the permanent bronze memorial statue for Waterloo Place will be nearer 9ft (3m) tall. Details of the winning sculptor, Les Johnson, can be found at: http:www.lesjohnsonsculptor.com.
5. The Campaign was launched on 7th March 2008 when Battle of Britain pilots, senior serving RAF officers, a great-great niece of Sir Keith Park, politicians and many other supporters assembled in Trafalgar Square beside a full-size replica Spitfire.
6. The Campaign has received support from a broad constituency including the RAF, Battle of Britain veterans, members of the Park family and the New Zealand cricket team. It has also secured the support of the leader of every New Zealand political party, including the Prime Minister and Defence Minister. In this country more than 100 MPs and a number of House of Lords members from all parties, former politicians such as Tony Benn and Lord Tebbit, as well as well-known names such as Frederick Forsyth, Sir Patrick Moore, Dan Snow, Peter Snow, Peter Jackson and Edward Fox are backing the Campaign.
7. Over 10 000 people have signed the various Campaign’s petitions, available electronically at www.sirkeithpark.com/petition.aspx or are signing hard copy versions of the petition both in the UK and in New Zealand. Supporters of the Campaign have also more recently sent letters in support of the two planning applications to Westminster City Council.
8. Terry Smith is the Chief Executive of Tullett Prebon plc and Chairman of Collins Stewart plc. He is a qualified pilot and has a keen interest in military history.
9. Other supporters of the Campaign include: Algy Cluff; Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge; Air Marshal Clifford Spink; Lord Lee of Trafford; Lord Selkirk; Rt. Hon Lord Trefgarne; Mark Field MP; Richard Benyon MP and Hon. Nicholas Soames MP.
10. For more information, please visit our website at www.sirkeithpark.com.