Sir Keith Park statue unveiled in London 

Source: ONE NewsThe statue of Sir Keith Park

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The Battle of Britain is one of the most famous campaigns of World War II and at the heart of the operation was a Kiwi.

Sir Keith Park was a key commander in the British Air Force during the battle and his tactical skill and inspirational leadership has now been celebrated with the long awaited unveiling of a statue in his honour in Trafalgar square.

The honour for one of NZ's greatest ever military men came 69 years after the battle and war planes flew low overhead in a reminder of how the sky over London looked in 1940.

"Sir Keith your plinth has come and high time too," the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said.

The New Zealander commanded the Royal Air Force fighter group responsible for the defence of London and the south-east of England when the German Luftwaffe launched massive attacks in 1940.

The Germans named the Air Vice-Marshal the Defender of London.

Park was born in Thames in 1892 and served at Gallipoli and the Somme in World War 1.

He was an in the Royal Air Force and commanded its No 11 Fighter Group during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

"In helping to save Britain, he helped save Europe from tyranny," Johnson said.

Squadron Leader Keith Lawrence said that if any one man was the architect of the victory of the Battle of Britain it was Sir Keith Park.

London financier Terry Smith has spent the last two years campaigning for the statue to be erected, supported by New Zealand's Parliament.

"You could say one wrong decision and he could have lost the whole air force on the ground and the world would be a different place," Smith says.

"There's no real recognition of Park in the UK although I hope we'll change that shortly," says Smith who is chairman of the Sir Keith Park Memorial Campaign.

"The surprising thing to me having visited New Zealand a number of times partly to get the statue built there is how few New Zealanders know about Park."

New Zealand High Commissioner to Britain, Derek Leask, says not enough people knew about Park's achievements.

"I think that is true not just in Britain, but probably in New Zealand as well - the huge contribution that he made," he said.

"We are just thrilled that this has come to the fore now. It will be 70 years next year since the Battle of Britain and it's a very appropriate way of recognising everything that he did."

After the war Park returned to Auckland and was instrumental in the development of an international airport at Mangere. He  served three terms on the Auckland City Council.

He died in Auckland in 1975 aged 82 and the Park family was represented by his nieces and nephews at the unveiling of the statue.

"Immensely excited and immensely proud... having a relative represented here where he defended London is amazing," says Park's great great niece Leigh Park.

The statue will remain in Trafalgar Square for the next six months but a permanent memorial will be unveiled in Waterloo Place, close to New Zealand House, in London next year on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.