[4] As a teenager, Storkey served in the Territorial Force as an infantryman with the Wellington Regiment, eventually achieving the rank of colour sergeant after five years of service.

On 7 April 1918, while holding the lines near Villers-Bretonneux, his company, with Storkey as its second-in-command, was sent forward to clear Hangard Wood, believed to be lightly held by the enemy.

The company commenced its advance early in the morning after a covering artillery barrage lifted, but Storkey had fallen asleep and was left behind at the starting line.

By this time, machine gun fire had caused a quarter of the company to become casualties, including its commander, Captain Clarrie Wallach.

[7] Taking command, Storkey led a small party on a foray to outflank the machine gun post that was holding up the advance.

Despite being detected as they approached, he seized the initiative and led a prompt charge that saw his party capture a machine gun along with 50 Germans and killing or wounding about 30 more.

[12] The citation for Storkey's VC, published in The London Gazette, read: For most conspicuous bravery, leadership and devotion to duty when in charge of a platoon in attack.

The splendid courage shown by this officer in quickly deciding his course of action, and his skilful method of attacking against such great odds, removed a dangerous obstacle to the advance of the troops on the right, and inspired the remainder of our small party with the utmost confidence when advancing to the objective line.Later wounded for a third time, Storkey was promoted to captain the following month and given command of his own company.

[9] As part of a special furlough,[15] he returned to Australia in November 1918 and was discharged from the AIF in January the following year by which time the war was over due to the armistice.

[6] He qualified as a lawyer in 1921 and briefly worked in private practice before becoming a crown prosecutor for the New South Wales Department of Justice; his jurisdiction covering the south-western area of the state.

[16] In 1955 Storkey retired and moved to England where he lived in Teddington, Middlesex, with Minnie née Burnett, his English-born wife, whom he had married in 1922 in Sydney.

[16] The machine gun captured during the action at Hangard Wood that saw him awarded the VC is displayed at the Australian War Memorial[18] in Canberra, where a street is also named for him.

In 1983 there was a controversy when the school Parents' League wanted to sell the VC to finance student scholarships but backed down in the face of public protests.