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Flight Sergeant Christopher Higham CURLING (748682)
B Flight, 160 Squadron Royal Air Force Date of birth: 1st November 1918 Date of death: 2nd December 1942 Died aged 24 Buried at Fayid War Cemetery in Egypt Plot I Row B Grave 23
Christopher Higham Curling was born at Faversham on the 1st of November 1918 the younger son of John Harris Curling, a farmer, and Ethel Byron (nee Ames) Curling of Perry Court, Faversham in Kent. He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Olds House from September 1932 to 1935. He gained his School Certificate in 1934 and went on to Wye Agricultural College in 1935 after which he had planned to become a farmer. On the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve rising to the rank of Flight Sergeant and was posted to 160 Squadron who, from June 1942 were operating Liberator aircraft from Aqir in Palestine. He is known to have taken part in the following operations:- On the 22nd of September 1942 he took off at 19.08 in Liberator AL620 under the command of Flying Officer Mackie for a shipping strike at Benghazi. They dropped bombs successfully across a line of ships and landed at 06.10 the following morning. On the 27th of September 1942 he took off at 19.00 in Liberator AL638 under the command of Wing Commander McNair for another shipping strike on Benghazi. During the bombing run their bomb doors wouldn't open and after another abortive attempt they returned to base with the bombs still aboard landing at 05.30. On the 1st of October 1942 he took off in Liberator AL638 at 14.03 under the command of Flying Officer McNair for a shipping strike on an enemy convoy in the Mediterranean. With propeller trouble having delayed their take off they sighted and attacked an enemy destroyer and an enemy freighter. Their bombs overshot the destroyer and undershot the freighter with no damage being observed to either vessel. They landed at 23.25. On the 6th of October 1942 he took off at 13.47 in Liberator AL548 under the command of Sergeant Wilson for an attack on a 6,000 ton enemy vessel being escorted by 5 enemy destroyers. At 18.40 they sighted their target and began their bombing run which had to be aborted as the lead Liberator was unable to release its bomb load and radioed that it was going round again. They made their second run at 18.48 by which time they were under attack by enemy fighters. Bombs were seen to burst 200 yards in front of the enemy freighter. During the fighter attacks their mid upper turret was destroyed but the gunners claimed one Junkers 88 aircraft as destroyed and 2 Messerschmitt 110 aircraft as damaged. They landed at 23.46. On the 16th of October 1942 he took off at 07.32 in Liberator AL599 under the command of Flying Officer Mackie for a shipping strike on Benghazi. Due to heavy cloud cover over the target the leader instructed them to divert to the alternative target of Mersa Mathum. They dropped their bombs when their leader did but could not observe the results due to cloud. They landed at 15.07. On the 27th of October 1942 he took off at 19.25 in Liberator AL599 under the command of Flying Officer Mackie for an attack on an enemy airfield in Crete. They arrived over the target at 23.57 and dropped a mixture of bombs and incendiaries. As they completed their run a sheet of flame was seen coming from the ground behind them and fires were visible on their return journey. They landed at 04.15 the following morning. On the 31st of October 1942 he took off at 19.31 in Liberator AL599 under the command of Flying Officer Mackie for an attack on the German airfield at Maleme. They arrived over the target at 03.20 by which time a large fire was already in progress on the airfield. They dropped their bombs on the fire but did not observe the results. They landed at 05.01 the following morning. In November 1942 the squadron moved to Shandur airbase in Egypt. On the 11th of November 1942 he took off at 07.06 in Liberator AL599 under the command of Flying Officer Mackie for an operation to attack a 3,000 ton enemy freighter which was thought to be escorted by two enemy destroyers. They spotted the freighter which was not being escorted but had two enemy fighters circling it at 7,000 feet. They dropped their bombs 500 yards to the rear of the vessel and returned home landing at 16.15. He was taken ill with an infection and was admitted to hospital where he was recovering well. On the 2nd of December 1942 Christopher Curling, while still very weak, went out for a walk and fell accidentally into a slit trench. He ruptured his spleen and died of his injuries. He is commemorated on the memorial at Wye Agricultural College

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