Banbury's World War Two Lancaster Bomber hero passes away aged 100

One of the last remaining Lancaster Bomber navigators, Clifford Storr, passed away at his Seccombe Court Care Home in Adderbury on Sunday, December 10.

Clifford, who was born in Yorkshire, joined the RAF at age 17 and, after passing rounds of academic and medical exams, was sent off to navigator training in Stratford to become a fully qualified air navigator.

He rose up the ranks and went on to become a senior NCO Aircrew with the rank of Sergeant in 1943. He and his crew undertook operations in Monchengladbach and Berlin that year and played a vital role in bombing a number of industrial cities that were supporting the Nazi regime.

Clifford had a remarkable career as a navigator on Lancaster Bomber planes, completing more than 50 incredibly dangerous operations during the war. One raid over Berlin reportedly saw Bomber Command lose 79 aircraft in one night.

During one operation in January 1944, after Clifford had been promoted to Flight Lieutenant with 103 Squadron after receiving a King’s commission, Clifford and his bomber were pursued and attacked by German planes.

Clifford’s pilot carried out some evasive manoeuvres but then proposed that everyone should bail out as the situation looked hopeless, which was no good for Cliff as he had accidentally deployed his parachute in the ensuing chaos and had nowhere to go anyway.

Thankfully, the bailout was not needed, and Clifford and his crew were able to return to England, where the damaged plane was forced to make a crash landing in a duck pond, which sadly resulted in the death of the rear gunner.

Talking last year about his heroic actions during the war, Clifford said: “I never knew if it was my turn next and if I would see the empty places at breakfast the next morning.

"Conditions on board were very basic, with no creature comforts. It was cold, noisy, and very frightening when subjected to almost constant anti-aircraft fire over Germany.”

Clifford remained in close contact with his fellow servicemen and was a frequent visitor to the Banbury Royal Air Force Association base at Newland House.

He also made the journey to the RAF memorial centre in Lincolnshire last year, where he received a heroes welcome by all at the centre.

Chair of the Banbury RAFA, Chris Adams, said: “All those who knew Cliff couldn’t help but be impressed by his WW2 flying record and his immense sense of pride in having served in the RAF.

"Blue Skies Cliff, you were a true hero and an inspiration to us all.”

After leaving the air force, Clifford had a successful career as a legal executive, where he was respected for his perception and incisive thinking by some of the highest judges in the country before retiring to Banbury to be near family.

Clifford’s memorial service will be held at St Mary’s Church in Banbury on the afternoon of Wednesday January 31, and will feature a guard of honour, a military choir, and military and civilian dignitaries.

Chris Adams said: “We have agreed that a formal memorial service in Banbury would be appropriate, which would allow the service and the wider community the opportunity to recognise Cliff as one of a golden generation of aviators who stood firm during some of the nation's darkest days.”