Air Officer Commanding, No. 11 Group
Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park M.C., D.F.C.

Born in New Zealand, 1893, Park served in World War One as a gunner before being transferred to the Royal Flying Corps during 1917 and receiving a commission in the Royal Air Force. He commanded No: 48 Squadron in 1918, the first to be equipped with the Bristol Fighter. He was awarded the Military Cross (M.C.) and the Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.).

After RAF Staff College he was appointed Air Attaché to Argentina and by 1938 had become Dowding's right-hand man as senior Staff Officer in Fighter Command before being appointed as Air Officer Commanding of No: 11 Group. Like Dowding, Park was transferred to a new command (a Flying Training Group) after the Battle of Britain due to his criticism of the “Big Wing” tactics.
He became Air Officer Commanding in Malta, 1942, before the appointments of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Middle East in 1944 and Allied Air Commander-in-Chief of South-East Asia Command in 1945.

After his retirement from the R.A.F., he returned to New Zealand where he died in 1975, aged 82