The Commanding Officer of 2515 (Ringwood & Fordingbridge) Squadron, Flight Lieutenant, Phil Giles was one of 1500 supporters invited to attend the recent official unveiling ceremony and private champagne reception of a Battle of Britain hero this week. In front of the Mayor of London, the Chief of the Air Staff, the Central Band of the Royal Force, the RAF Regiment and the Family of the late Sir Keith Park (who had travelled from New Zealand for the ceremony), a statue of the former Chief of Staff to Fighter Command and 11 Group AOC, was finally unveiled on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth in the shadow of Nelson’s Column.

Phil Giles pictured with Chief of the Air Staff - Sir Stephen Dalton KBE

Dignitaries, veterans of the Battle of Britain (including 4 DFC  Pilots from the Battle itself), Ground Crew, WAAF Plotters from the Command Bunker at RAF Uxbridge, an Air Chief Marshal of the era, stood together in the fading afternoon sunshine to honour a man who they believe won this important conflict for Great Britain and the free world in 1940. A Spitfire and a Eurofighter Typhoon from RAF Coningsby flew overhead as the statue was unveiled to guests and the media adding to this unique, long-awaited event.

This was something of a personal mission for Phil, whose father guarded Park’s underground bunker at Uxbridge during WWII without fully knowing its significance. Phil commented:
‘Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park died in 1975 in his native New Zealand and, remarkably, he received little recognition for his achievement in his adopted country of Great Britain. A former WWI Fighter Ace with 20 ‘kills’, Keith Park was the ideal choice as Britain faced its ‘darkest hour’ – he knew aircraft and what’s more he knew the Germans. Without his skill, tactics and man-management, we would have surely lost the Battle of Britain and a Nazi invasion would have followed swiftly. All of our lives would have been very different today. In 1940, Britain stood alone in its fight against Fascism with most of Europe already overrun by Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. We owe a debt of gratitude to Keith Park that cannot be quantified and a statue in London is the very least we can do to honour his memory. 2515 did its bit in a small way last year with opening of the ‘Sir Keith Park Suite’ housing the Squadron’s 20 plus, server-driven flight simulators, but this is marvellous…….’

Central Band of the RAF and the RAF Regiment honour a hero