Forest Lake veteran Patrick Curtis remembers his time as a telegraphist on ship during WWII

FOREST Lake navy veteran Patrick Curtis considers himself lucky after surviving major battles and being struck by lightning during World War II.

Forest Lake World War II navy veteran Patrick Curtis. Photo by Chris McCormack.

Forest Lake’s Patrick Curtis, 90, struck luck after not only surviving one of the biggest battles of World War II, but also getting away with minor injuries after being struck by lightning.

At 17, Mr Curtis enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy, following in the footsteps of four of his uncles who served in World War I.

Mr Curtis worked as a telegraphist for 35 cents a day on ship “Westralia” and was one of only two men on board delegated a sub-machine gun.

His ship was to transfer American soldiers to landings in southeast Asia. and in 1944 the ship was among significant conflict the Battle of Leyte, in the Philippines.

“Quite often kamikaze would come down,” Mr Curtis said.

Recently Mr Curtis visited the Australian War Memorial where he saw footage of the battle and before this, he hadn’t told his family exactly what he seen.

“They had a film showing the kamikaze coming and Pat said, ‘That’s our ship,’” wife Jan Curtis said.

“You don’t understand the number of kamikaze coming down at them and just flying into the boats.”

Forest Lake World War II navy veteran Patrick Curtis. Photo by Chris McCormack.

He refers to his vessel as “the lucky ship” because only two crew members were injured despite the Japanese dive-bombing around them.

Another night while Mr Curtis was receiving messages, he received a jolt, being struck by lightning.

“I was blistered all over and when I went down to the sick bay in the morning to report injuries they said I had tropical rash,” he said.

“They put me into isolation!”

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Originally published as Forest Lake veteran Patrick Curtis remembers his time as a telegraphist on ship during WWII