Flight commemorates Battle of Britain hero

Westminster City Council announced last week that a permanent statue of Battle of Britain Commander Sir Keith Park will be installed at Waterloo Place, between Pall Mall and the Mall in London, and unveiled in September 2010 during the commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Before that, a larger variant of the same statue will be placed on Trafalgar Square's celebrated fourth plinth in front of the National Gallery for six months from this autumn.

A day before Westminster City Council announced the statue plans, chairman of the Sir Keith Park Memorial Campaign, pilot Terry Smith, completed a three-day flight circumnavigating Britain to raise awareness of the memorial.

Terry followed the trail of a flight around Britain in 1919 by Sir Keith shortly after the RAF was formed, conducted to show the country the rapid reach of air power and the potential of bombers.

On hearing of the council's grant of planning permission he said:

"Everyone associated with the campaign is thrilled with the council decision. We have worked hard for this day, and we're delighted because it is about time that Britain properly recognised what Sir Keith Park achieved for this country.

"It is no exaggeration to say that the leadership given by Sir Keith Park was crucial to our winning the Battle of Britain, and therefore the outcome of the Second World War. He was undoubtedly a forgotten war hero.

"By putting up this statue of Sir Keith Park in the heart of the city he did so much to defend, we are demonstrating that modern day Britain remembers and respects not just his leadership, but also the courage and sacrifice of all who served alongside him in the RAF.

"The fact that he was a New Zealander also reminds us of the countless thousands from other countries who have fought alongside British servicemen and women during the Second World War and in the years since."

Sir Keith piloted combat aircraft in the First World War and rose to become Air Chief Marshal in the Second World War, but his role in defeating Luftwaffe onslaughts during the Battle of Britain and throughout the rest of the war has been largely overlooked, according to supporters.

Now in a bid to set the record straight, Terry has flown around the UK and Ireland in three days. He said:

"My flight had two aims. It highlighted his incredible courage both then, in peacetime, and in two World Wars and the fact that he has received no significant commemoration in Britain, not least in the capital city he did so much to defend."

Terry's flight started from Southend and tracked Sir Keith's route 90 years earlier as closely as possible, visiting RAF Waddington, Edinburgh, Belfast, Haverford West and Thruxton (Andover), and flying over Capel-le-Ferne before returning to Southend.

Sir Keith and his crew of eight flew their Handley Page 0/400 with two 350 horse-power Rolls-Royce engines at an average air speed of 66mph (106km/h). The 1,880-mile (3,025km) flight in 1919 took 30 hours in the then state-of-the-art bomber, despite unpredictable weather, and returned four days later.

Terry Smith flew a Socata T20 Trinidad aircraft and took Sir Keith's great great-nephew Terence Stevens-Prior on the journey.

After the flight Terry said:

"Having now retraced Sir Keith's three-day journey, I have a far greater appreciation for the effort and commitment that must have gone into the original flight 90 years ago this month.

"I have completed this journey in a modern aircraft and I'm tired, how exhausted Sir Keith Park and his crew must have been I can only imagine."

Sir Keith was originally from New Zealand and became an air ace with the Army's Royal Flying Corps. Initially in the First World War he served as a soldier at Gallipoli and the Somme, but became a pilot and ended the war having shot down 20 enemy aircraft. After the war, at a time when air flight was still in its infancy, he decided to demonstrate what could be accomplished with large aircraft.

Sir Keith commanded 11 Group of Fighter Command - which covered southern England where the fighting in the Battle of Britain was at its most intense.