Visit of Distinguished New Zealander

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 May 1946, Page 8

Visit of Distinguished New Zealander

Return of Sir Keith Park (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 30. A distinguished New Zealander, Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith. Park, arrived at Wellington last night on three weeks’ holiday in the Dominion. Sir Keith is accompanied by Lady Park. • Travelling in an Avro York Zipper, they left Singapore on Monday for Sydney, via Darwin. They left Sydney at 9.30 a.m. yesterday and arrived at Ohakea at 4.37 p.m. and completed the journey to Wellington by car. They will leave Wellington on Sunday for Oamaru, where Sir Keith’s father lives, and will later visit Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland, Rotorua and some of the Air Force stations. OUTSTANDINGIIECORD IN TWO WARS Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park is a New Zealander who was educated and lived in New Zealand until the outbreak of the Great War m 1914. He is a son of Professor James Park, formerly of Otago University. He enlisted in the New Zealand. Fielci Artillery and went to the front as a bombardier (corporal). He saw active service'with the New Zealanders in -Egypt■ and Gallipoli, -where he took part in the original Anzae landing in April, 1915. For service in Gallipoli he was awarded a permanent .commission in the Royal Arbiter j and transferred to the 29th Division, British Army. Air Chief Marshal Paik was wounded a second time m France in 1916 and invalided to England. As. a result of wounds he was passed unfit to'ride a horse, and being anxious to c et back to the front he arranged a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps as a phot. He returned to France as a fighter pilot in the spring of 191/ and remained in the same fighter squadron until the end of the war m November, 1918, having served as a pilot then flight commander, and then squadron commander in the same squadron. He was shot down twice, once by German “flak” find the second time in combat well behind the enemy lines. On both occasions he had sufficient height to glide back and crasn behind his own lines. During the war of 1914-18 he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the M.C., the Croix de Guerre, bar to the M.C.. and the D.F.C. The Battle of Britain Between ‘ the close of the war in 1918 and the beginning of the recent war, Air Chief Marshal Park held a number of appointments as a junior commander and as a staff officer, both in the United Kingdom and abroad. In 1922 he attended the R.A.F, staff college, and in 1937 he attended the Imperial Defence College. From 193436 he was air attache to all. 10 countries in South America and acted as military attache io five of these countries. In 1938 ho was air commodore and appointed chief of staff to Lord Downing, who was Air Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command, Great Britain. He held this appointment until March, 1940, when he was promoted to air vice-marshal and given command of No. 11 Fighter ', roup, which included, the fighter and A.A. defence for the whole of the South of England, including London. According to an Air Ministry official account, No. 11 Fighter Group (26 fighter squadrons) bore the brunt of the fighting throughout the Battle of Britain in 1940, and also provided fighter cover for the British Army during its withdrawal from Dunkirk, Havre and Cherbourg in May and June, 1940. Piloting his own Hurricane, the Air Vice Marshal inspected the evacuation of Dunkirk and Cherbourg. In December, 1940, after the Battle of Britain, he handed over to Air Vice Marshal Leigh-Mallory. Mention is made of this fact because of the coincidence caused by the appointment of Air Chief Marshal Park to S.E.A.C. in place of Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory, who crashed fatally during his passage from England to become Allied Air Commander-in-Chief to South-east Asia.

During 1941, Sir Keith Park served for a short spell in Flying Training Command in England, and at the end of the year was. appointed Commander of the Allied Air Forces in Egypt. On July 1942, be was appointed commander of the air forces at Malta at a time when this island was besieged and being bombed four or five times daily. >

Blitz on Malta Broken

Immediately on taking over coin' mand, Air Vice-Marshafpark introduced in Malta the same lighter tactics as had succeeded in the Battle of Britain, and within two weeks the Malta Spitfires had put an end to the German day raids on Malta. In October, 1942, Kesselring attempted a second blitz on Malta in order to put a stop to the devastating attacks on Rommel’s convoys by Malta-based torpedo and bomber squadrons. This blitz, mounted from twenty odd aerodromes in Sicily, was broken in ten days’ hard fighting, and Malta never experienced any more daylight raids. In January, 1943, when making a communication (light from Malta to 'PA Eeaufi Shter, Air Chief Marshal Park was engaged with another Bcaufighter in an attack on five Geiman aircraft and had one engine set on fire. Fortunately the Beaufighter had sufficient height to fly back on one engine 160 miles over the sea to Malta, For this incident he received a semi-official admonition from the Commander-In-Chief, Middle East.

In January, 1944, Sir Keith Park was promoted-to air marshal and appomted i Cornrnander-in-Chief of the Air Forces in the Middle East, where he remained until February, 1945, when he was appointed Allied Com-mander-in-Chief, South-east Asia. At the conclusion of the Battle of Britain in October, 1940, Air Chief Marshal Park was awarded the C. 8.; for services in Malta he was awarded the K.B.S. in November, 1942, and for services in the Middle East he received the K.C.B. in January, 1945. In January, 1945, he was appointed to relieve Air Chief Marshal Peirse as Allied Air Commander-in-Chief for South-east Asia. Lady Park’s Welfare Work

Lady Park did war work in England from 1939 to 1944, when she joined her husband in Egypt to do welfare work for the R.A.F. and Allied Air Forces in the Middle East. She also transferred to South-east Asia with the Air Chief Marshal to continue welfare work for the Allied'