His parents moved to England in 1914 after his father joined the Royal Flying Corps to fight in World War One.
[2] In 1942, he attended a university short course at Worcester College, Oxford in preparation for joining the Royal Air Force.
[1] He was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 27 October 1944 as a pilot officer on probation (emergency).
578 Squadron shortly after the Normandy landings and undertook attacks on retreating German forces.
[2] After retiring form the RAF, Curtiss maintained links with aviation and the military: he was director and chief executive of Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) from 1984 to 1989, and secretary of the Defence Industries Council from 1985 to 1989.