Obituary: Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss, navigator to REG LEVY
Today we pay tribute to another valiant aviator who has taken his place among the stars: Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss, who died last week at the age of 88. Those who have been enthralled by this thread in recent years, particularly Reg Levy, one of our stars, will find this account of special interest.
John Curtiss was born on December 6, 1924, to an Australian engineer who had come to England in 1914 and joined the Royal Flying Corps. Young John went to Radley and joined the Oxford University Air Squadron in 1943 to train as a pilot but was streamed as a navigator, joining 578 Sqn after D-Day in 1944.
Daylight raids on V1 and V2 sites were interspersed with night raids on Germany, on one of which a 1000lb bomb from an aircraft above went clean through the Halifax fuselage, an event vividly described by Reg. Later, with another crew on a training flight , Curtiss baled out when their Halifax caught fire, he and the W/Op being the only survivors.
After the war he served on the Berlin Airlift of 1948/49, went to staff college and became Sqn Ldr, was promoted to Group Captain and left Wittering as station commander. His subsequent posts included commandant of the RAF Staff College and commander of 19 Group, formerly Coastal Command. After being knighted, in 1982 he joined the five-man command team for the Falklands conflict with its much publicised Vulcan raid on Port Stanley.
After retirement Sir John became chief executive of the SBAC and led planning for the Farnborough air show. He maintained his links with the RAF and at 83, with two artificial hips, he made his second parachute jump in aid of charity. He wanted to do another one but said later he had been grounded by his family.
Last edited by Geriaviator; 22nd Sep 2013 at 09:50.
Reason: Change title