A WORLD War II veteran from Wimborne who flew daring missions which helped defeat the Nazis has spoken of his emotions after more than 150 airmen gathered for a final reunion.

Des Curtis, 81, was master of ceremonies at a weekend banquet for the Mosquito Aircrew Association, which met for the last time at the Royal Air Force Museum in London.

The association was set up in 1991 for the veterans and Mr Curtis has been actively involved, most recently as the group's treasurer.

He said: "It was a very emotional and moving evening. Our special guest was the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup, who gave a fine speech about the state of the RAF today.

"I had a letter this morning from one man saying it was the most memorable reunion he had ever been to.

"I told the hotel staff not to put on the Horlicks until 11.30pm and by the end of the night I had them all on the floor singing Auld Lang Syne. We went out with a noisy bang."

Sixty years ago Mr Curtis, of Melverley Gardens, was involved in an air attack on a prison in Amiens in France which helped more than 250 resistance fighters, who were being held awaiting execution, to escape.

Earlier this year, as part of the D-Day commemorations, he joined seven association members for an emotional final trip to Amiens to pay tribute to their fallen comrades.

He added: "It's not totally the end as we are having a memorial made for the Mosquito Museum in St Albans which we will be dedicating next April to all the air and ground crew who were involved with the plane."

The Mosquito was designed by de Havilland in 1938 but it was not until March 1940 that there was sufficient interest in the plane to start production.

A total of 7,781 were built in the UK, Australia and Canada.

With a top speed of 400mph, the two-seater plane could outpace any other plane at that time - and it remained the fastest aircraft in Bomber Command until May 1951.

First published: Oct 21