Keith Rodney Park was born in Thames, New Zealand on June 15th 1892, the son of Scotsman Professor James Livingstone Park and his wife Francis. He went to Great Britain to serve in the army as a gunner during the 1914 18 war. In 1917, he applied for a pilot’s position in the new Royal Flying Corps. This was accepted and he finished the war still with the ‘Corps’ and at the birth of the Royal Air Force he received a permanent position. Between the wars, Keith Park passed through the RAF Staff College, became air attache in Buenos Aires, and was a Commanding Officer at one of
Britain’s peacetime fighter stations.

Our incorporated society has been established to gain greater recognition and acknowledgement of Sir Keith Park – an amazing Kiwi, born in Thames, Coromandel – who featured extraordinarily highly in two World Wars, and in peacetime. Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield Inc. is also the parent body for organising and running the annual Battle of Britain Commemorations in Thames.

The first step in achieving this vision has been the erection of a full-sized replica Hurricane Fighter in Sir Keith’s Battle of Britain battle colours at the Thames Airfield.

This memorial will be completed with the addition of a 2.3m bronze statue of Sir Keith in his flying uniform.

We will work in various media to spread the word about Sir Keith, and his auspicious legacy: a legacy based on leadership, integrity, courage, commitment to complete any task he was given at whatever personal cost, yet compassion and humility. This is the legacy that we should be promoting to all young New Zealanders.

Subsequent objectives of our organisation are to work with the Thames-Coromandel District Council in unlocking the full potential of the Thames Airfield. Projects involving the construction of hangars (both aircraft-only hangars now and residential hangars in the near future) and the improvement of the aviation assets at the Airfield.

The Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield Inc. was incorporated in 2019 as a vehicle to negotiate and work with the Thames-Coromandel District Council to unlock the business, tourism and aviation potential inherent in the new designation for the Thames Airfield. A key objective of the incorporated society is to dramatically raise the level of awareness, recognition and tribute due to Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park GCB, KBE, MC, DFC, DCL – born here in Thames, New Zealand.

A strategy towards achieving this objective has been to support the Battle of Britain 2020 Commemorations in organising an appropriate recognition of Battle of Britain Day in September annually.

One key initiative is to erect a memorial to Sir Keith at the Airfield with a replica Hurricane fighter presented in Sir Keith’s Battle of Britain livery, complemented by a 2.3m bronze statue of him in his 1940’s flying uniform with Mae West.

The objectives of the incorporated society, embedded in the society’s rules, are: