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Cenotaph record

Victor Selwyn Curd

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Photograph of Lieutenant Victor Selwyn Curd. Image kindly provided by Carolyn Beadle, (May 2019) from Clara Elizabeth Curd's collection. Image has no known copyright restrictions.

Photograph of Lieutenant Victor Selwyn Curd. Image kindly provided by Carolyn Beadle, (May 2019) fro …

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Victor Selwyn AWMM
  • Surname
    Curd AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    10 August 1917 AWMM
  • Date of birth
    10 August 1917 Public - carolyn - Other relative - 8 May 2019 - Personal information
  • Place of birth
    Pukekohe, South Auckland Public - carolyn - Other relative - 8 May 2019 - Personal information
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    Prospect Terrace, Pukekohe, South Auckland Public - carolyn - Other relative - 8 May 2019 - Personal information
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    Clara Elizabeth Curd (mother) and Henry Curd (father) Public - carolyn - Other relative - 8 May 2019 - Personal information
  • Relationship status
    Son Public - carolyn - Other relative - 8 May 2019 - Personal information

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes
    Accidental Death, Cause of Death AWMM
    Killed in an aircraft accident AWMM

Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Victor Curd was the son of Henry and Clara Elizabeth Curd, of Pukekohe, Auckland, New Zealand. AWMM
    • Victor was educated at Pukekohe Technical High School, South Auckland. He worked in his father’s Pukekohe company (Cooper & Curd Ltd) as a Motor Mechanic after leaving school.

      Vic (18 years) had a passion for flying and was a finalist in the New Zealand Herald Aviation Scholarship in May 1936 gaining second place and tying with Miss R Pickwick (21) of Auckland.
      After the start of the second world war Vic volunteered for the aircrew with the RNZAF. He was put on the waiting list for flight training but was given the option of joining the Fleet Air Arm with monthly drafts leaving for training in the UK. In January 1941, Vic joined about 35 others as part of the 7th Scheme F draft in Wellington in the R.N.V.R.

      After travelling on the HMS Akaroa from Wellington to the UK, Vic began training at HMS St Vincent to become a pilot on the Fleet Air Arm. This was a training establishment of the Royal Navy. Vic joined the 26 Pilots Course at HMS St Vincent and completed the elementary flying training course flying Tiger Moths at 14 EFTS, RAF, Elmdon, Birmingham. Between 1941 and 1942 Vic attended another flying training course at the Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) which became the main training establishment and administrative centre of the Fleet Air Arm. Here he learned to fly Harvards at 1 SFTS, RAF, Netheravon, Wiltshire where he gained his pilot’s flying badge and was commissioned Sub Lieutenant (A) in February 1942.
      In 1942 Vic was then assigned to the 756 Fleet Air Arm Squadron at HMS Kestrel training flying airmen for TAG air gunnery training. During the end of 1942 he was in another training squadron at HMS Jackdaw, flying torpedo-bombers most flying the Fairey Swordfish which was a Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance biplane dive bomber. They operated from escort carriers and were effective against U boats.

      After being transferred to the 781 Squadron on 20 January 1943, Vic was commissioned a Lieutenant (A). In April, Vic was part of the 818 Squadron which sailed aboard the HMS Unicorn. The 818 Squadron’s mission was to provide cover for the Gibraltar convoy escort, to patrol for U boats and search for enemy ships in the Bay of Biscay.

      In February 1944, Vic decided to join a training squadron at RNAS Machrihanish, Argyll and Bute (HMS Landrail) for duty on the bombing ranges and in May had joined the 768 Squadron at Ayr, South Ayrshire (HMS Wagtail) for a deck landing course.

      On 4 July 1944 Vic and his passenger Lieutenant Jefford, also a pilot, were flying an Avenger I. PN772 over the Scottish hills and in foggy visibility his plane flew into Black Loch Hill three miles from Campbeltown where they were both killed. He is buried at Kilkerran Cemetery, Campbelltown, Argyll and Bute, Scotland Public - carolyn - Other relative - 7 May 2019 - https://www3.stats.govt.nz/New_Zealand_Official_Yearbooks/1936/NZOYB_1936.html#idsect1_1_147811
      http://navymuseum.co.nz/
      NZ Herald 11 May 1936 Flying Competition
      New Zealand Herald 27 April 1936 Page 11
      New Zealand Herald 5 May 1936 Page 10 Flying Competition
      AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME LXXIII, ISSUE 52, 3 MARCH 1942
      Flying Navy: New Zealanders who flew in the Fleet Air Arm, Allison, David, 2009
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    4 July 1944 AWMM
    Age 27 AWMM
    Campbelltown, Argyll and Bute AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
    Accidental Death AWMM
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
    Campbeltown (Kilkerran) Cemetery, Argyllshire, Scotland AWMM Division 4. Grave 593. AWMM
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name
    Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM

Roll of Honour

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Related Serviceperson

Sources

Sources

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  • External links
  • References
    • Allison, D. (2009). Flying Navy: The story of New Zealanders who flew in the Fleet Air Arm in World War I and World War II and the Roll of Honour of those who died in action and on active service. Auckland, N.Z.: Fleet Air Arm Museum of New Zealand. AWMM
    • Information kindly provided by family AWMM
    • Record Book of Naval Personnel - c.1920-1945 - Lists Navy number, alphabetical list of names of ratings trained in England, numerical lists of officers. Archives New Zealand, R21346617, AAYT 8495 N12 AWMM
    • Personnel - War service - Required for RN [Royal Navy] - Fleet air arm (naval airmen) - Scheme F (Part 8), Archives New Zealand, R21465683, AAYT AWMM
    • Allison, D., Richards, R., & Fleet Air Arm Museum of New Zealand. (2009). Flying navy : the story of new zealanders who flew in the fleet air arm in world war i and world war ii and the roll of honour of those who died in action and on active service. Auckland [N.Z.] : Fleet Air Arm Museum of New Zealand. AWMM

Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
11 May 2019carolynAucklandOther relative

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