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Murray Rowlands
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Air Marshal Sir Keith Park: Victor of the Battle of Britain, Defender of Malta Kindle Edition

by Murray Rowlands (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
A long-overdue biography of the dedicated commander from New Zealand who helped ward off the Luftwaffe and save Britain from a Nazi invasion.

The Battle of Britain from July to September 1940 is one of the finest moments in Britain’s history. While credit rightly goes to “The Few,” victory could never have happened without the inspirational command and leadership of New Zealander Keith Park.

He and Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding ensured that Fighter Command was prepared for the Nazi onslaught. Promoted to Air Vice Marshal, Park took over No 11 Group, responsible for the defense of London and South East England in April 1940. A shrewd tactician and hands-on commander, Park carefully husbanded his limited resources and famously wore down Goering’s Luftwaffe, thus forcing Hitler to abandon his invasion plans.

Shamefully, Dowding and Park were dismissed from their commands in the aftermath of victory due to internal RAF politics. Fortunately, Park’s career was far from over and his management of the defense of Malta made a significant contribution to victory in the Mediterranean. This balanced and well overdue account aims to ensure that Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park receives the credit for this victory that he so richly deserves.

Includes photographs
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  1. Print length
    178 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Aviation
  4. Publication date
    March 3, 2021
  5. File size
    13.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"... a slim biography that includes an account of the bitter controversies over tactics during the Battle of Britain that led to Park’s temporary banishment in 1941-42."
A Blog on Winston Churchill

"Rowlands highlights some of the major engagements while emphasizing the logistical and leadership challenges Park confronted."
Air Power History

About the Author

In the last five years Murray Rowlands has turned his strong interest in military history into three books. As a New Zealander he turned the experience of his two great uncles serving with the New Zealand Army in WWI into his novel, _Innocents into War_. Last year he completed the first book on Aldershot in WWI and has now followed this with his history of Hampshire in WWII. As well as this, he has written, lectured and spoken to local history associations and study groups on topics related to his military history such as Earl Haig and the surgeon Sir Harold Gillies.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08VNPR4JS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Aviation (March 3, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 13.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 178 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

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Murray Rowlands

Murray Rowlands

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
25 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Jumbo
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good work
    Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    enjoyable and informative. a little light on detail post Battle of Britain. excellent pictures and good discussion of infighting in RAF command
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  • Writing Historian
    3.0 out of 5 stars More about what his airmen did than about himself.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I admit to being disappointed by this biography. Well, I am not sure if it rates that description. This book talks about what the units he commanded accomplished in battle. That might be acceptable if the narrative also included how Park's orders, actions, and beliefs influenced those accomplishments. But it does not. Additionally, if this book introduced new primary source material, then I could have overlooked what I consider to be an overreliance on already published books. But that is also lacking. I did not add this to my library shelf as I returned it to Amazon for a refund.
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  • cooper
    2.0 out of 5 stars Not a biography of Park as much as a mediocre rehash of the Battles of Britain and Malta.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2021
    A wooden and shallow treatment of one of the major figures of WW II, providing no real insight into the man. The quality and style of the writing is slightly below the average Wikipedia entry, with numerous repetitions of quotations (e.g., "I found that flying training schools were working to two thirds capacity and were following a routine quite unaware of the grave shortage in Fighter Command"). A disservice to Park and a disappointment to interested readers.
    The section regarding relieving Park and "The Meeting of Shame" immediately after the crux of the Battle of Britain was worthwhile.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Mr. D. Campbell
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but flawed
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    An interesting story, marred by factual, mostly technical inaccuracies. No aeroplanes had a “steel shell” for .303 bullets to penetrate- they wouldn’t have left the ground in the first place. Try aluminium. The other gripe is the chronology of the narrative. It goes back and forth, from one month to another, causing confusion and disorientation along the way. However, the personalities and politics in the RAF high command and the Air Ministry are well covered.
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  • Ian Strong
    2.0 out of 5 stars So many mistakes.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I wanted to really love this book as Keith Park was a legend of the RAF’s Battle of Britain. Sadly the book is a bit short. Such little info on Sir Keith prior to the B.o.B. It’s littered with mistakes that proof reading should have picked up on e.g. Tangmere being written as Tranmere!
    Could have been so much better.
    Report

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