Lieutenant Philip Kenneth Edward Curtis VC (7 July 1926 – 23 April 1951) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Curtis was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions during the Battle of Imjin in the Korean War.
Military career
Curtis was born in Devonport in Devon, the only child of John Curtis, a labourer, and his wife, Florence . As a teenager he served as a volunteer ARP warden. In 1944 he joined the British Army, but did not go overseas. On 3 May 1946 he was commissioned into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as a second lieutenant, before being demobilised in 1948 and placed on the reserve of officers.
Anthony Farrar-Hockley, adjutant of the Glosters at Imjin River, witnessed Lieutenant Curtis' gallant deed, a desperate counterattack to regain a key position lost to the Chinese advance. At sunrise a Chinese attack was repulsed, but the British position was untenable. Below is part of Farrar-Hockley's account.
thumb|right|Curtis's grave at the UN Memorial Cemetery
Curtis is buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery, Busan, Korea.
The medal
The VC investiture took place on 6 July 1954. Since Curtis's wife Joan had died before the Korean War, the investiture was attended by his mother, his seven-year-old daughter Susan and his mother-in-law, Beatrice Hayes.