Description:

(BATTLE OF BRITAIN) KEITH PARK
(1892-1975) New Zealand-born RAF Air Marshal during World War II, organized fighter patrols over France during the Dunkirk evacuation and was charged with the defense of London during the Battle of Britain. While Sir Hugh Dowding controlled the Battle from day to day, it was Keith Park who controlled it hour by hour. After the war, Chief of the Air Staff Arthur Tedder said of Park: 'If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did.' Very rare World War I-date D.S. as Commander of the 48 Squadron, 1p. large 4to., [France], June 25, 1918, a 'Combats in the Air' report documenting the fourth 'kill' of Harold Anthony Oaks, a Canadian-born flying ace with 11 confirmed victories. Flying between Foucaucourt and Rosaries at 16,000 feet, Oaks drove down a '...Fokker Biplane, with skull and cross bones painted on side...'. In part: 'Whilst on offensive Patrol of two Flights, we sighted E.A. coming up from South, about on a level with our formation. We turned East and closed on North side of formation, which had turned East. The other formation also turned and closed in on South Side of E.A....E.A. formation was then forced to fight. In the combat which ensued, I fired a burst of about 100 rounds at about 60 feet range, into one of the E.A., which went down obviously out of control, falling from side to side, and was watched by observer for several thousand feet. I then turned and engaged two others, with no decisive result....' Oaks first types 'undecisive' at the bottom, though an unknown individual later strikes through the first two letters to read 'decisive' - certainly after the wreck of the enemy plane was found. Three file holes, else fine.

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August 24, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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