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

by Vincent Orange

It was with Leese in mind that Park wrote to the Director of Air Information, Eastern Air Command, on 27 April, enclosing comments by a visiting British journalist on the lack of publicity for air force achievements in South-East Asia. Greater publicity, said Park, would not only be deserved and a boost to morale, it would prevent the army from receiving ‘a disproportionate share of the credit which might serve to strengthen any move of theirs postwar to demand a separate Army Air Force.’ He drew attention in his April report to Slim’s Order of the Day (16 April) in which he had said: ‘Nor could there have been any victory at all without the constant ungrudging support of the Allied Air Forces. It is their victory as much as ours.’ Park wanted this tribute widely publicized. Otherwise, the postwar integrity of the air force would be jeopardized by a belief that the air was ancillary to the ground effort and that the direction of air warfare could therefore be undertaken by soldiers.