In his memoires, F/L E Allen notes that in Sept. 1943, a second tour crew came in and their navigator, one S/L John Curtiss became thier captain, this having been the first occurence of a nav becoming a pilot that he recalls. He goes on to note that Curtiss went on to become 59 Sqn C/O and had been reposted by June of 1944 and replaced by W/C Gilchrist.

W/C Curtiss went on to serve as Air Marshal and was Air-Officer Commanding No.18 Group RAF and Air Advisor to Commander-in-Chief Fleet during the Falklands conflict. He also served as a Military attache to Washington during the early 1970's.

Taking part in the Berlin Airlift - John Curtiss went on to become President of the British Berlin Airlift Assoc. Curtiss was the veteran of 263 trips. At the height of the operation, a plane was landing at RAF Gatow every 90 secs. He returned to Gatow for the 60th Anniversary celebrations in May 2009 (left - seen in this picture with Sir Glen Torpy - right).