Park joined the
Royal New Zealand Air Force in May 1941, doing his initial training at
Wereroa Station near
Levin. He then proceeded to No. 2 Elementary Flying School and first
flew solo on 27 June. He went to Canada in August for further flight training with the
Royal Canadian Air Force at its No. 2 Service Flying Training School. He gained his
wings in November and was promoted to
sergeant the same month. He was sent to the United Kingdom to serve with the
Royal Air Force and soon after his arrival there in December, went to No. 53 Operational Training Unit to learn to fly
Supermarine Spitfire fighters. Afterwards he was sent to join
No. 122 Squadron, which was based at
Hornchurch, making a number of offensive sorties across the
English Channel to northern France from April to May 1942.
Malta In June 1942, Park was sent to
Gibraltar; he was to be posted to the island of
Malta as a reinforcement pilot for its aerial defences. He travelled to Malta aboard the
aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, which was transporting 32 Spitfires to the island in
Operation Pinpoint. He flew his Spitfire off the carrier's flight deck and landed at Malta on 15 July. Posted to
No. 126 Squadron, he was soon in action. On 28 July, he was part of a group that intercepted a raid mounted by three
Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers. He claimed a share in one Ju 88, one of four pilots that engaged the aircraft which crashed off
Delimara. He then shot down a
Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter that was escorting the bombers. On 9 August, he was one of 22 Spitfires scrambled to intercept a group of Bf 109s approaching Malta. He shot down a Bf 109 over
St. Paul's Bay despite his own aircraft receiving some damage to its wing during the engagement. September was relatively quiet but the following month the
Luftwaffe increased the intensity of its operations against Malta. Park's aircraft was damaged in an encounter on 10 October with a group of enemy fighters; despite his cannons having jammed, he was able to evade them and land back at the squadron's base at
Takali. He had a series of more successful engagements over the following days: he damaged a
Reggiane Re.2001 on 11 October, and the next day destroyed three Ju 88s, two in one sortie near
Grand Harbour. Another Ju 88, which had just bombed the airfield at Takali, was shot down on 14 October along with a Bf 109. He destroyed another Bf 109 during a scramble to intercept another bombing raid in the afternoon. Park was subject to an incident of friendly fire the next day when, while engaging some bomb-equipped Bf 109s, he was attacked by Spitfires, fortunately without damage. He shot down a Bf 109 about from Grand Harbour on 16 October but was shot down himself two days later when eight of No. 126 Squadron's aircraft were attacked by a dozen Bf 109s. He crash-landed his damaged Spitfire and received slight injuries. Having just been promoted to
pilot officer, he failed to return from a sortie, his 65th, attempting to intercept an incoming bombing raid on 25 October. His
flight commander,
William Rolls, had observed him destroying a Bf 109 during the dogfight. There was some confusion whether Park was alive or not; one pilot believed that he had crashed into the sea while another thought he had bailed out. A search was mounted for him but he was not located. Originally reported as missing, by July the following year he was presumed to be dead. Park is credited with the destruction of ten enemy aircraft, a share in another aircraft destroyed and one damaged. Following a recommendation by Rolls, Park was posthumously awarded the
Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM); this was announced in
The London Gazette on 3 April 1945 but with effect from the day before his presumed death. The citation for his DFM read: His name is recorded on the
Malta Memorial, which commemorates the nearly 2,300 Commonwealth airmen who were killed over and around the Mediterranean. ==Notes==