Orders, Decorations and Medals

An important Second World War flying log book appertaining to fighter ace Wing Commander J. E. Storrar, D.F.C. & Bar, A.F.C., Royal Air Force, a veteran of the Battle of Britain, comprising standard issue R.A.F. Pilot’s Flying Log Book (Form 414) with ‘Book II’ and ‘Storrar J. F./Lt.’ in black ink on the front cover, together with some notes in biro, and the title page inscribed ‘James E. Storrar, F./Lt.’, with entries covering the period November 1940, when Storrar was serving in Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron in the Middle East, to June 1942, when he was serving at No. 55 O.T.U., with nearly 50 operational sorties logged with No. 73, including claimed victories and ‘shot down and wounded myself’ on 8 April 1941, and brief service in No. 205 Squadron in September 1941, together with list of ‘Aircraft Shot Down’ in the right hand column of the Record of Service page (at this time a total of 9 confirmed, 3 unconfirmed and 1 probable, three of the former as half-shares), and list of aircraft flown on inside back cover, colour on the spine faded, one or two pages torn and some wear overall, contents otherwise good and an important record of a fighter ace £800-1200

James Eric “Jes” Storrar was born in July 1921 at Ormskirk and entered the Royal Air Force on a short service commission in October 1938.

Posted to No. 145 Squadron at Croydon in October 1939, he was ordered to France with his unit as part of the Hurricane Wing of the Advanced Air Striking Force, fellow pilots including such notable characters as Flying Officers E. J. “Cobber” Kain and N. “Fanny” Orton - see Squadrons Up! A First Hand Account of the R.A.F., by the war correspondent Noel Monks, for a colourful and detailed history of 73’s part in the campaign in France and the Low Countries. For his own part Storrar claimed three confirmed Me. 110s over Dunkirk and St. Omer, and a stray Do. 17 over the Gravelines area.

With the advent of the Battle of Britain in July, No. 73 became heavily engaged from its base at Church Fenton, and Storrar rapidly added to his score, an He. 111 falling to his guns south of St. Catherine’s Point on the 11th, in addition to a confirmed Me. 109 in a combat south of the Needles on the 27th, half shares in an He. 111 south of Bognor on the 18th and a Ju. 88 near Worthing on the 29th, and an unconfirmed Do. 17 south-east of Selsey Bill on the 15th. While on 8 August he added two confirmed Ju. 88s and another damaged, all off the Isle of Wight - one of these he closed until he could see the enemy pilot looking at him, even in fact his hand on the 88’s control stick. Rounding off that month’s claims with a probable Me. 110 over Selsey Bill, he added another probable Do. 17 to his accolades in early September, prior to the Squadron’s move to the Middle East. He was awarded the D.F.C.

Back in action by January 1941, Storrar joined Squadron Leader A. D. Murray and Sergeant A. E. Marshall in destroying eight enemy aircraft on their landing ground on the 3rd, followed by a confirmed CR. 42 over Tobruk on the 6th, while in February, having caught another Italian aircraft on the ground at Appolonia airfield on the 1st, he shared in the destruction of another at Benina airfield on the 5th, and claimed a damaged Me. 110 over Benghazi on the 19th. His final victory in this theatre of war was a Ju. 87, shot down south-east of Derna on 8 April, and in November he returned to the U.K. to be “rested” with an appointment as C.O. Gunnery Training Squadron, No. 55 O.T.U. at Annan.





In early 1943, however, Storrar returned once more to an operational footing, taking command of No. 65 Squadron, a Spitfire unit operating out of Drem on cross-Channel offensive sweeps. And he quickly returned to form, claiming a probable Fw. 190 off Le Havre in late June, a confirmed 109 over Cassel on 18 August, a Fw. 190 damaged south-west of Dunkirk on the last day of the same month, and a confirmed Fw. 190 north of Rouen on 18 September. He was awarded a Bar to his D.F.C., his tally of victories now amounting to 12 and 2 shared destroyed, 1 unconfirmed destroyed, 2 and 1 shared probables, 3 damaged, and 1 and 8 shared destroyed on the ground.

Following a “rest” period with No. 53 O.T.U., he joined 1697 A.D.L.S. (Air Delivery Letter Service) Flight at Hendon in April 1944, carrying secret mail in Hurricanes after the Normandy invasion, his return trip there on 9 June being claimed as the first undertaken by a British aircraft since D-Day. Be that as it may, Storrar was now marked out for senior command and, having converted to Mustangs while C.O. of No. 234 Squadron in early 1945, became Wing Leader at Hunsdon (March-May), Digby (May-July) and Molesworth (July-August), in which period he led the escort on the famous strike against the Gestapo H.Q. in Copenhagen.

Post-hostilities, Storrar held a staff appointment at No. 12 Group before going out to Italy as C.O. of 239 Wing in early 1946, and he was released from the service in the rank of Wing Commander in April 1947. Shortly thereafter joining the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, he served in No. 609 Squadron from 1949-52 and in No. 610 Squadron until its disbandment in March 1957, latterly as C.O. He was awarded the Air Force Cross and the Air Efficiency Decoration.

In civilian life “Jes” Storrar was a successful veterinary surgeon based in Chester, but as one obituarist noted, ‘he retained something of the flamboyant style of a Battle of Britain pilot’, hence his red silk lined jackets and the car registration ‘JES’ on his Jaguar XJS. He died in 1995.

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