Appeared in the Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2010.
Veteran fighter pilots gathered yesterday to pay tribute to an “unsung hero” of the Battle of Britain.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, a New Zealander, commanded the squadrons that defended London and the South East in the summer of 1940.
Wing Commander Bob Foster, 90, and Sir Keith’s great-great niece, Leigh Park, unveiled a bronze statue of him in Waterloo Place, central London.
The ceremony, with a fly-past by a Spitfire and a Hurricane, was attended by 14 of the 80 battle survivors.
Sir Keith is said to have once reassured Winston Churchill, who was worried by the number of enemy planes on their way to Britain. He reportedly told the prime minister: “There will be someone there to meet them all.”
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