...(there were still civil Comets in the late 60s)...
Indeed there were - in fact the last civil operator, Dan Air, flew its last Comet 4 flight in 19
80. I was fortunate enough to have flown a few times as a passenger on Dan Dare's Comets in the 1970s; they were a very familiar sight on the UK-Balearic Islands route. And very comfy they were too!