Alistair Lexden paid tribute to Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park (1892-1975), a hero of the Second World War, in a letter published in The Sunday Telegraph on August 20.
SIR - There can be no doubt that Sir Keith Park’s role in the Battle of Britain “secures his place in history” (report, August 14).
Churchill, who was with him on September 15 1940 - the decisive day of the battle - wrote in his war memoirs that it was on the 25 Squadrons of Park’s No 11 Group that “our fate largely depended. From the beginning of Dunkirk all the daylight actions in the South of England had been conducted by him, and all his arrangements and apparatus had been brought to the highest perfection”. Lord Tedder, who became chief of the air staff, said: “if any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did.”
It should not be forgotten, however, that he added conspicuously to his achievements as the war progressed. As RAF commander in Malta in 1942, he broke the control of its skies that German and Italian forces had gained, and built up a powerful air base of 40 squadrons which gave vital support to the allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. In southeast Asia where he became allied air commander at the start of 1945, he ensured that General Slim’s “forgotten army” had the provisions it needed as it advanced through Burma. Few made so great a contribution to victory.
Lord Lexden
London SW1
