Air Marshal Sir Keith Park

The Battle of Britain from July to September 1940 is one of the finest moments in our Nation's history. While credit rightly goes to 'The Few', victory could never have happened without the inspirational command and leadership of New Zealander Keith Park. He and Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding ensured that Fighter Command was prepared for the Nazi onslaught.

Promoted to Air Vice Marshal, Park took over No 11 Group, responsible for the defence of London and South East England in April 1940. A shrewd tactician and hands-on commander, Park carefully husbanded his limited resources and famously wore down Goering's Luftwaffe, thus forcing Hitler to abandon his invasion plans.

Shamefully, Dowding and Park were dismissed from their commands in the aftermath of victory due to internal RAF politics. Fortunately, Park's career was far from over and his management of the defence of Malta made a significant contribution to victory in the Mediterranean.

This balanced and well overdue account hopefully ensures that Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park receives the credit for victory that he so richly deserves.

AUTHOR: Murray Rowlands was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1941. After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington, he worked in the New Zealand Civil Service. In 1968, he travelled to Britain for post-graduate study. He became Assistant Principal at Hammersmith and West London College and a Director at Morley College in London.

In 1970, he was a foundation tutor for the Open University in Social Science. In 2004, he published his first novel The Andropov Tapes based around events in Eastern Europe. He has written three works of military history including Aldershot in The Great War and Hampshire At War 1939-1945 (Pen and Sword Military, 2018). He lives at Camberley, Surrey.

16 b/w illustrations