Jimmy Storie - Telegraph As they made their escape, there was a series of deafening explosions, flames were licking through the high roofs of the hangars, the planes on field were alight and their cannon shells were exploding with the heat. To counter such raids, the Germans started to deploy guards beyond base perimeters. But Stirling and his men simply switched tactics. In July 1942, in a raid on the airfield at Sidi Haneish, L Detachment took part in one of its most spectacular missions. "The planes were all parked up on either side of the field," Storie said afterwards. We drove our Jeeps in a line and went in with guns blazing. Each of us singled out an aircraft, brewed it up and then we swung around and went down the other side. These raids proved Stirling's theory that a few highly trained men deployed in unconventional style could do more damage than a whole regiment using more conventional methods. The hazards, however, did not all come from the enemy. Lying up before a raid on Berka airfield, Storie found himself infested with fleas and could hardly close his eyes. Then, as night fell and they finally reached the airfield, an air raid siren sounded. He threw himself to the ground as the whole area was lit up by flashes from AA guns and shrapnel from RAF bombs crashed around him. Storie had many close shaves. One evening, after dark on the Benghazi plain, his group, seven in number, ran into a fully manned enemy roadblock. A German NCO, swinging a red lantern, stepped out into the road. His demand for a password was met with a string of swear words from the German-speaking member of the SAS unit. They had been at the front for six weeks, the man was told, they were hungry, in need of a bath and in no mood for formalities. The SAS were all in uniform. A mile away, the fires were still smouldering from their raid the night before on an airfield, which had killed many Germans. The stakes could hardly have been higher. Mayne cocked his revolver. Storie followed suit. The German sentry heard the clicks in the stillness. He knew the men were British but he also knew that if he gave the alarm he was a dead man. He let them through. On another occasion, Storie was returning to his lines when his Jeep was shot up by a Stuka dive bomber. Two of his comrades were killed and he and one other SAS man were stranded in the desert. They walked back to camp but found it abandoned. Setting off again they aimed for the coastal road but after several days dodging the enemy patrols they were captured. Storie was flown to Germany. At an interrogation camp in Munich, he feared that he would be executed because Hitler had decreed that no quarter should be given to special forces engaged in sabotage. He managed, however, to convince his captors that he was an RAF crewman who had been shot down and was sent to Stalag VIIIB in Silesia. He was liberated by the Americans in 1945. James Storie, always known as Jimmy, was born at Ayr on December 3 1919. He left school aged 14 and for four years worked as a tile fixer. He joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers and served with 11 (Scottish) Commando before being recruited to "L" Detachment SAS Brigade. After the war he was demobilised and was a warder for a time at Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow. He then returned to his job as a tile fixer and eventually retired to Muchalls, Aberdeenshire. A voracious reader, Storie particularly loved Robert Burns, and was able to recite many of his poems by heart. Jimmy Storie died on January 8. He married, in 1945, Morag Hutton, who survives him with their two sons and two daughters. Sergeant Jimmy Storie, born December 3 1919, died January 8 2012