Born in England, Commander Curtis was operating an advertising agency in London until war broke out in 1939. He fought dock fires in the 1940 blitz, went through Officers’ Training Course, and commanded an LCT and LCF in the 1942 operations. After training with the Commandos he commanded an LCF in the Normandy landings. At the time of publication he was serving in the Combined Operations Division, Admiralty, London.