Park: The Biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, GCB, KBE, MC, DFC, DCL

by Vincent Orange

Carr signalled him from India on 13 October to say that a great deal of dissatisfaction had been caused by ministerial statements and press articles which showed the RAF’s release rate to be well behind that of the other services. The Air Ministry must explain why, said Carr, or there would be serious unrest in India. Park agreed and so informed Slessor, who drew his attention to a statement made in the House of Commons by the Under-Secretary of State for Air, John Strachey, on the 12th. According to Strachey, an immense transport task faced Britain over the next nine months in getting men and women home. Between now and 30 June 1946, he said, one million service personnel had to be moved. A larger proportion of airmen than of other servicemen must therefore be retained to move those people. The RAF faced a difficult time, Strachey admitted, but these were not tasks that recruits could perform. Park