Bravery, sacrifices remembered

HONOURED HERO: Sir Keith Park who commanded No. 11 RAF group during the Battle of Britain.PHOTO/SUPPLIED/FILE

The 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain will be marked tomorrow with a special commemoration service and parade at Classic Flyers Museum.

Among special guests at the service, which will start at 10am and be open to the public, will be Lesley Park, the grandniece of the late Sir Keith Park, who was a World War I flying ace and Royal Air Force operational air commander in World War II.

As officer commanding No11 Group RAF, Air Chief Marshall Park was tasked with the defence of London and southeast England in 1940.

His command took the brunt of Luftwaffe air strikes and Sir Keith was later credited as being one of the greatest commanders in the history of aerial warfare.

Sir Keith, who died on February 6, 1975, aged 82, was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath.

During the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain commemoration service in London a memorial statute of Sir Keith was unveiled in Trafalgar Square.

Miss Park, who lives in Mount Maunganui, and her 16-year-old granddaughter, Helena Morrison, will lay a wreath during tomorrow's service.

"I was very surprised to be invited and I feel very honoured. I don't think many New Zealanders fully understand what my Uncle Keith did during World War II but he is very known and appreciated in England. But I think that is probably because like many of the men of that era he did not talk about his war service very much," Miss Park said. It was important to honour men like her granduncle and the many others who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoyed today, she said.

Unit Commander of the 16 squadron Air Training Corp, and RNZAFA executive committee member Lynn White said others attending the service would be members of the Tauranga and Mount Maunganui branches of the Royal NZ Air Force Association.

Speakers would include Royal New Zealand Airforce Wing Commander Darryl Cockroft, retired RAF group captain David Love and 16Sqn leading air cadets Cassia Blythe-Graham and Brooke Taylor, and Cadet Louis Donovan.

A wreath-laying ceremony would be led by Tauranga MP Simon Bridges, with representatives from the three local councils, RNZAF, RSAs, Otumoetai College, Tauranga Boys' College and Papamoa College also laying wreaths.

The commemoration service would finish with a flyover.

Ms White said: "Like the Anzac Day services it is very important that we never forget the people who have done so much for Britain and this country and because of their sacrifices we hope we will never have to send our own children off to war."

Mr Bridges said: "The Battle of Britain was a significant moment in world history. It marked a shift in the war and is probably one of the most important events of last century. My wife, Natalie, is from Coventry, an area which bore the brunt of heavy attacks from August to October 1940, and was just about annihilated in November that year. So commemorating and acknowledging the brave deeds of the British and Allied air forces is particularly close to home for me and my family. When I lay the wreath this Sunday, I'll be reflecting on the extraordinary effort and sacrifice these brave men made for our freedom."