Born at Wednesbury, near Wolverhampton, he went to school locally, and after the war studied textiles at Leeds University, subsequently establishing his own highly-successful business in Bradford.

A keen cyclist and sportsman, he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in November, 1939.

He was on the first Thousand Bomber raid to Cologne, was commissioned in January 1943 and, having joined No 158 Squadron, was in a Halifax on a raid over Berlin when his aircraft was hit by flak over the target.

All four engines stopped and the aircraft spiralled towards the ground. The crew were getting ready to bale out when one engine picked up, and the pilot was able to recover and start the remaining three.

After attacking other heavily-defended German cities, Curtis was awarded a DFC for "high courage and devotion to duty".

Larry Curtis would fly more than 70 bombing operations.

In July 1943 he joined No 617 Squadron, replacing an operator who had been killed during the Dam Busters raid. He joined the crew of the Australian Mickey Martin (later Air Marshal Sir Mick Martin), whom his CO, Leonard Cheshire, VC, described as "the greatest bomber pilot of the war".

Throughout Larry Curtis' first winter with No 617, the Squadron attacked precision targets, including the V-1 flying bomb sites in the Pas de Calais.

His 12th sortie, in February 1944, was to be at the extreme range of the Lancasters, being the Antheor rail bridge which provided the Axis Powers with a vital coastal link between Italy and the south of France.

The Lancasters of Cheshire and Martin were to fly over the target at low level, to illuminate it for the other bombers.

Surrounded by hills, the viaduct was extremely difficult to bomb – two earlier attempts had failed.

As Martin's bomber dived, fire from one of the flak guns on the viaduct smashed through its nose, killing the bomb aimer, damaging the engines and destroying the bomb-release circuits.

The bombs were still on board and the bomb doors could not be closed. Curtis sent out an SOS which was picked up by an airfield on Corsica, but his request that a doctor be on stand by was met with the response that no doctor was available. He then made contact with a United States airfield on Sardinia, and the crippled bomber changed course while members of the crew managed to release some of the bombs using a ruler.

Martin put down at Elmas Field, and while on Sardinia, Curtis flew a couple of unofficial bombing sorties with an American squadron. A few weeks later he heard that he had been awarded a Bar to the DFC he had earned for earlier operations.

After the Antheor operation, he was made the squadron's signal leader and was involved in the highly successful attack against the Michelin plant at Clermont Ferrand.

On June 5, he took part in the hoax, timed to coincide with the Normandy D-Day landings, which fooled the Germans into believing the Allies had launched an amphibious force across the Channel to attack the Pas de Calais coast.

As the Normandy invasion progressed, Curtis took part in missions which attacked V-1 storage sites in northern France with the 12,000lb Tallboy bomb.

His 38th and final operation with No 617 saw the bombing and sinking of the Tirpitz, holed up in a Norwegian fjord. Earlier in the war, while flying in Wellingtons with No 149 Squadron, he had attacked the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Brest.

Leaving the RAF in May 1946, and then graduating from Leeds University, he worked in the wool trade at Bradford.

He established his own company, Curtis (Wool) Holdings, which he managed with his three sons. The company became the largest crossbred wool processing and trading company in the northern hemisphere, and in 1983 received a Queen's Award for Exports.

He had a passion for motor racing and took part in many hill climbs and sprints. He remained competitive until he was in his late 60s, when he was still driving a Chevron which had raced at Le Mans.

In his mid-70s he decided to learn French, and he became sufficiently competent to be awarded a certificate allowing him to act as a tour guide. He continued learning until shortly before his death.

He was a staunch member of the 617 Squadron Association and a member of its committee. He remained a close friend of Sir Micky Martin, and made a number of visits to Sardinia to visit the grave of Bob Hay, his bomb aimer killed over Antheor.

He married Barbara Craven in 1945. She and their three sons survive him.