Statue of Sir Keith Park unveiled in London

A statue of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who led the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain has been officially unveiled.

Gary Parsons - 5-Nov-2009

Image courtesy Bob Franklin

November 4: With a flypast from a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire and a present-day Typhoon, a statue of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who led the Royal Air Force (RAF) campaign over London and the South East of England throughout the Battle of Britain, was officially unveiled.

Guests of honour included Boris Johnson, Mayor of London; Terry Smith, Chairman of the Sir Keith Park Memorial Campaign; Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, Chief of the Air Staff; actor Edward Fox, who starred in the Battle of Britain movie; historian Dr Stephen Bungay, Lord Tebbit, His Excellency Derek Leask, New Zealand High Commissioner (Park was a New Zealander by birth) and many Second World War veterans.

The statue has been placed on the previously empty ‘fourth plinth’ in Trafalgar Square for the next six months, after which it will be moved to Waterloo Place, ready for 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain on September 15, 2010. The statue on the fourth plinth bridges a gap in the programme of contemporary artwork - Yinka Shonibare's ‘Ship in a Bottle’ will be installed in early May.

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