{{unreliable sources|date=March 2017}}{{Infobox military person |name=Walter Storp |birth_date={{birth date|1910|2|2|df=y}} |death_date={{death date and age|1981|8|9|1910|2|10|df=y}} |birth_place= Schnecken, East Prussia |death_place=Goslar |image= |caption=Storp (left), on the cover of ''Der Adler'', a propaganda publication of the Luftwaffe (1943) |nickname= |allegiance={{flag|Weimar Republic}}<br/>{{flag|Nazi Germany}} |branch=<!----{{navy|Weimar Republic}}<br/>{{navy|Nazi Germany}}<br/>--->Luftwaffe |service_years=1928–45 |rank=Generalmajor |commands=KG 6, SKG 210, KG 76 |unit= |battles=Spanish Civil War<br />World War II |awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |other_work= }}
'''Walter Storp''' (2 February 1910 – 9 August 1981) was a German bomber pilot and commander of several bomber wings during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Storp reached the rank of Generalmajor and ended the war as commander of the 5th Air Division in Norway.
Storp was born on 2 February 1910 in Schnecken, East Prussia, the son of a forester. After he received his ''Abitur'' (diploma) in 1928 he joined the military service and served in the navy.<ref name="Schumann pp185,187">Schumann 2007, pp. 185, 187.</ref> Holding the rank of ''Oberleutnant'' he served in the ''Bordfliegerstaffel'' 1./106 (on board flyers squadron) until February 1936. From May to September he was a pilot aboard the heavy cruiser ''Admiral Scheer'', participating in the ship's first cruise of the Spanish Civil War in August 1936.<ref>Kaiser 2010, p. 71.</ref>
Storp was assigned to the Reich Ministry of Aviation on 1 October 1938 and at the same time became the chief pilot of general Hans Jeschonnek. Serving briefly with KG 30 in early 1940, Storp became temporary ''Gruppenkommandeur'' of III ''gruppe,'' KG 4 between May and August 1940.{{cn|date=April 2017}} He was then appointed group commander of II./Kampfgeschwader 76 (II./KG 76—2nd Group of the 76th Bomber Wing) on 12 September 1940. He and his crew performed a successful low-altitude attack over the English Midlands on 27 September 1940.<ref name="Schumann p185">Schumann 2007, p. 185.</ref>
In April 1941 Storp was appointed commander of Schnellkampfgeschwader 210, leading the unit during operations against the Soviet Union during 1941. He then was transferred to a RLM staff appointment in October 1941, before a further move in September 1942, as ''Geschwaderkommodore'' of Kampfgeschwader 6. A return to KG 76 occurred in June 1944, while in February 1945 he became Commander of the ''5th Flieger-Division'' until the end of the war.
==Awards== * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (2 October 1939) & 1st Class (26 April 1940)<ref name="Thomas p353">Thomas 1998, p. 353.</ref> * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (20 October 1940)<ref name="Schumann p187">Schumann 2007, p. 187.</ref> * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ** Knight's Cross (21 October 1940) 149th recipient in the Luftwaffe as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the II./ Kampfgeschwader 76<ref name="Scherzer p727">Scherzer 2007, p. 727.</ref> ** Oak Leaves (14 July 1941) as Major und ''Geschwaderkommodore'' of the Schnellkampfgeschwader 210<ref name="Scherzer p727"/>
==References== {{Reflist|25em}} {{Refbegin}} * {{Cite book |last=Kaiser |first=Jochen |year=2010 |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kampfflieger—Band 1 |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Bomber Fliers—Volume 1 |language=German, English |location=Bad Zwischenahn, Germany |publisher=Luftfahrtverlag-Start |isbn=978-3-941437-07-4 }} * {{Cite book |last=Scherzer |first=Veit |year=2007 |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives |language=German |location=Jena, Germany |publisher=Scherzers Militaer-Verlag |isbn=978-3-938845-17-2 }} * Schumann, Ralf (2007). ''Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 des LG 1'' (in German). Zweibrücken, Germany: VDM Heinz Nickel. {{ISBN|978-3-86619-013-9}}. * {{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Franz |year=1998 |title=Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z |trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z |language=German |location=Osnabrück, Germany |publisher=Biblio-Verlag |isbn=978-3-7648-2300-9 }} {{Refend}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box |before=none |after=Major Arved Crüger |title= Commander of Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 |years=24 April 1941 – 30 September 1941 }} {{succession box |before=Oberstleutnant Hahn |after=Oberstleutnant Hermann Hogeback |title= Commander of Kampfgeschwader 6 |years=1 September 1942 – 11 September 1943 }} {{succession box |before=Oberstleutnant Rudolf Hallensleben |after=Oberleutnant Robert Kowalewski |title= Commander of Kampfgeschwader 76 |years=1 June 1944 – 30 September 1944 }} {{succession box |before=— |after=— |title= General der Kampfflieger |years=1 October 1944 – 31 January 1945 }} {{succession box |before=Oberst Dr. Ernst Kühl |after=— |title= Commander of 5th Air Division (1944–1945) |years=31 January 1945 – 8 May 1945 }} {{s-end}}
{{Subject bar | portal1=Aviation | portal2=Biography }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storp, Walter}} Category:1910 births Category:1981 deaths Category:People from Slavsky District Category:Military personnel from East Prussia Category:Major generals of the Luftwaffe Category:Luftwaffe World War II generals Category:German World War II bomber pilots Category:Reichsmarine personnel Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom