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I lived in the very pub the pilots drank at during the battle of britain, the White Hart Brasted Kent right in the middle of bomb alley, there are many reminders of the era, i think it a wise choice to have such a monument of a great man, pilot and hero on behalf of everyone who didn't return from the skies, we still owe them everything.

- R.Carter, Christchurch NZ, 06/05/2009 04:05
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I was a five year old child during the Battle of Britain, living in Mitcham, South London, throughout the war. I remember the battle very well, watching the dog fights when the enemy came over. The spitfires would race across the sky then swoop up into the clouds and we would hear the rat-a-tat as they went into combat. Soon there would be a crowd out in the gardens egging them on, shouting at them to "Give them what for". Those boys were our heroes, we knew their worth. Keith Parks certainly played his part in saving Britain. Our world would have been a different place if we hadn't won that battle. Some of those boys were only eighteen years old.

- Yvonne Worrall, Shrewsbury, 04/05/2009 11:40
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Sir Keith led the organization & deployment of the R.A.F. fighter command defense of England,of London & yes, of Lord Nelson's statue in Trafalgar Square.
Der Fuhrer had announced his plan to bring Lord Nelson's statue to Berlin as booty after the fall of Great Britain.
Paul,USAF TAC ,Retired

- Paul Whitaker Neal, Old Saybrook,Connecticut, USA, 29/04/2009 02:42
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I lived in London during the period of 1939-1945 and have much to thank those people who sacrificed their lives for our safety during the Battle of Britain and this statue will do much to represent the bravery of The Few. It will serve as a constant reminder of the debt we owe them and the fortitude of the British people in a time of crisis.

- J M Halls, London, 28/04/2009 16:31
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A brilliant idea - The Battle of Britain pilots were true heroes and we owe our freedom to them. It should be remembered that most of these pilots were young British boys hardly out of school and a British acheivment. The British always stood up to Germany unlike our so-called wartime allies, Russia and Poland. Therefore this statue should remind everybody that the British and the British alone stood up for their own freedom and that of the world. We should stop being ashamed of being right and standing up for what is right.

- Evan Mcgilvray, Leeds, 28/04/2009 11:33
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Problem is, it seems to me - how many London chavs know anything about "The Few", what with New Labour's blatant distortion of the history curriculum in our Primary and Secondary schools?

- Ted, London, 28/04/2009 10:48
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We only have the WWs as an example of how UK united and worked as one. Lets honour all of these people and Aircraft with statues in the Capital and elsewhere to remind us of how great the Great Britain used to be.

- Mike, London England, 28/04/2009 10:16
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Good idea. They ought to follow it up with one of William Wilberforce as well - the link being people who won/defended our freedoms.

- Nigel, London, 28/04/2009 10:05
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Ok; let’s look at this clearly, all over London there are statues to heroes long past and more recent etc; very few people ever stop and look at them; they are just one of so many other British heroes; and we have many trust me.

Everyone knows Nelson is on the top of his column; many know Churchill is in Parliament Square; some know the Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt are sitting next to each other in Old Bond Street etc; but apart from the well known ones; who today stops and looks at the rest of them etc.

Now we older people know what WW2 was about; and who was who in that war etc; but few young people are even aware of WW2, and some do not believe we ever had a war at all; it is just stuff from films they have seen; like Ben Hur etc; it is not real to them.

They would not look twice; at just another Bronze, of just another man, like all the other bronzes, of all the other men etc.

But kids love things like aeroplanes; and most kids know the shape and style of Spitfires and Hurricanes; they are often in comics as well as films; and they demand another look by almost everyone; that is the attraction of Spits and Hurricanes.

As an ex taxi driver; trust me on this; I know what tourists to London want to see; and that is the London of their illusions and mind images many have formed over the years abroad; when they visit us here; they want to see that London.

Even Our old war planes are a big smash in fly-pasts at royal events; but not the new jets etc.

- Mickyinlondon, london, 27/04/2009 23:06
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Wars are won and lost by Generals and Sir Keith Park was one of the most inspired Generals of WW2. He implemented Dowdings ideas practically and in such a manner that enabled the RAF to fight of the largest air attack the world had ever seen.

He was popular with his men and showed them he was willing to take risks others could never dream of and flew his Hurricane if the bandit country that was SE England. A brave man who should be recognised as one of the few who managed to turn the tide of war. A rae deat even for a General.

- Duncan, Kent, 27/04/2009 17:55
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Everyone should remember that it was "Stuffy" Dowding and Sir Keith Park who outwitted the Luftwaffe.
After the way both these men wwere treated at the end of the Battle by the likes of Leigh Mallory, it makes it doubly important that Park has the Plinth.
However the Labour Government hate all war heroes and bully boy Brown hates being reminded of real character and courage.

- Minnie, London, UK, 27/04/2009 16:35
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Wonderful idea, but it would be safer for all concerned to defer the statue (either spitfire or Mr Parkes) until the Conservatives are elected into office.

England hating Labour would surely take advantage and ruin it, as they have ruined everything else to do with England!

- Mrs, London UK, 27/04/2009 16:28
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My wife and I heartily agree with this idea of a statue of Sir Keith Park being put on the fourth plinth. Without his guidance, and the men of the RAF, during theBattle of Britain there may not have been a country, city, square or plinth on which to put the statue. We owe him and his crews the lives we lead today.

- Ray Tebble, Ealing, England, 27/04/2009 15:42
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This is a fantastic idea and must go ahead to remind ourselves the hero's of yesterday forever and at a time when Great Britain stood alone against the Nazi threat across Europe.

- Joe, Swanley Kent, 27/04/2009 14:42
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There is no chance of Brown's Britain-haters putting a real Britsh hero in any place of prominence; they despise everything that Sir Keith Park and his ilk fought for and stood for.

- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 27/04/2009 14:29
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He never got the proper recognition in his lifetime. Only later was it realised that he and Downing were right and Leigh-Mallory ( and Bader) wrong, on the " Big Wing" Debate

- R Jones, Bristol UK, 27/04/2009 14:10
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I agree with Mickyinlondon. No one person won the war or made a sole contribution, it was the effort of a few which contrubited to the saviour of many. Therefore the statue should comprise of a plane, a solider/sailor and a woman, with a child looking up at them.

- A. Winsley, london, 27/04/2009 13:36
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I think a large bronze; or even the real thing, on the plinth, should be a Spitfire or Hurricane; the most famous ever fighting plane the British ever had; and known all over the world; is a better choice than just one man etc.

The Battle of Britain was fought and won by all airmen; pay tribute to the lot and the Spitfire or Hurricane; not just one man of many.

- Mickyinlondon, london, 27/04/2009 12:46
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If Nicholas Soames and Tony Benn are in agreement about this, it must be the right thing to do. It is foolish to contend that it is appropriate to honour anything less than this sort of valour with a statue at Trafalgar Square.

- Bloke, London, 27/04/2009 11:58
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It's OUTRAGEOUS that it's taken nearly 70 years for someone to think of it!

"Andrea: Unhappy the land that has no heroes!
Gallileo: No, unhappy the land that needs heroes."
(Bertholt Brecht)

I wonder who from our own times will have a statue erected for them by a future generation . . . ?

- Roz, France, 27/04/2009 10:58
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