Post by vgp on Feb 10, 2008 19:37:39 GMT 12
UK bid to recognise NZ war hero
Feb 10, 2008 7:34 PM
A battle is under way in London to win recognition for one of New Zealand's greatest war heroes.
Sir Keith Park led a key group of fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain, helping to halt the Nazi invasion.
He died in 1975 but now there is a move to honour his memory in England.
London is a city of statues but nowhere will you find one of the New Zealander who was crucial in defending south-eastern England during the Battle of Britain.
Businessman Terry Smith is shocked by the lack of recognition for a man "who made an enormous contribution".
Sir Keith commanded the RAF's 11 group during the summer of 1940 and his Hurricanes and Spitfires fought fierce battles with the German Luftwaffe.
At the RAF Museum in London, Park is regarded as a tactical genius.
"The Battle of Britain was the most important action ever fought by the Royal Air Force and is likely to be its most important action in the whole of its history," spokesman David Keen says.
"If you could say there was one man who won the Battle of Britain for Britain, that man was Sir Keith Park."
But after the battle Park fell out with RAF top brass.
"He lost his command, he was sent out to do training and he wasn't even mentioned in the official history which was written by the RAF a year later," Smith says.
Trafalgar Square is home to many of Britain's war heroes and Smith is keen to add a nine foot statue of Sir Keith wearing his flying suit and helmet.
He is prepared to pay $300,000 for the statue and says the project is his passion.
"I can only believe it's the type of passion he must have had to achieve what he did. I think we should try to match that for him," says Smith.
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1577007
Feb 10, 2008 7:34 PM
A battle is under way in London to win recognition for one of New Zealand's greatest war heroes.
Sir Keith Park led a key group of fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain, helping to halt the Nazi invasion.
He died in 1975 but now there is a move to honour his memory in England.
London is a city of statues but nowhere will you find one of the New Zealander who was crucial in defending south-eastern England during the Battle of Britain.
Businessman Terry Smith is shocked by the lack of recognition for a man "who made an enormous contribution".
Sir Keith commanded the RAF's 11 group during the summer of 1940 and his Hurricanes and Spitfires fought fierce battles with the German Luftwaffe.
At the RAF Museum in London, Park is regarded as a tactical genius.
"The Battle of Britain was the most important action ever fought by the Royal Air Force and is likely to be its most important action in the whole of its history," spokesman David Keen says.
"If you could say there was one man who won the Battle of Britain for Britain, that man was Sir Keith Park."
But after the battle Park fell out with RAF top brass.
"He lost his command, he was sent out to do training and he wasn't even mentioned in the official history which was written by the RAF a year later," Smith says.
Trafalgar Square is home to many of Britain's war heroes and Smith is keen to add a nine foot statue of Sir Keith wearing his flying suit and helmet.
He is prepared to pay $300,000 for the statue and says the project is his passion.
"I can only believe it's the type of passion he must have had to achieve what he did. I think we should try to match that for him," says Smith.
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1577007
