Scotsman James B. Corstorphine (1894-1976) was employed by Bank of Hawaii on Kauai for 33 years, beginning in 1926 as an assistant cashier at the Lihue Branch on Rice Street, and retiring in 1959 as vice president and manager of
Scotsman James B. Corstorphine (1894-1976) was employed by Bank of Hawaii on Kauai for 33 years, beginning in 1926 as an assistant cashier at the Lihue Branch on Rice Street, and retiring in 1959 as vice president and manager of the Lihue and Hanapepe branches.
He immigrated to Hawaii from Scotland with his mother and sister in 1911 to unite with the father of the family, David Corstorphine, who left Scotland for Hawaii four years earlier and had found work as a luna at the Big Island’s Waiakea Mill Co.
James B. Corstorphine joined his father at Waiakea Mill Co. as an office worker soon after his arrival on the Big Island, and was later hired in the office of the Hamakua Mill Company.
When World War II broke out in Europe, Corstorphine quit the plantation to sign up with the Canadian Army. He eventually became a night fighter pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service.
Corstorphine was once asked what the difference was between day and night flying, and he replied with a Scottish burring of the r’s that remained with him throughout his life, “Oh yes. The difference is you’re scared oftener at night than in the day time.”
In aerial combat he flew a Sopwith Camel — a single-seat, British biplane with twin, synchronized 30-caliber machine guns.
“The truth is they wouldn’t shoot very far,” he explained. “We had to fly in close to our targets.”
When asked how close, he glanced out the window of his office on Rice Street in the direction of the nearby Lihue Post Office and replied, “Well, closer than that post office across the street.”
After the war, Corstorphine was employed by Kealia’s Makee Sugar Co. for a spell before joining Bank of Hawaii, then named Bishop National Bank of Hawaii.
Banker James B. Corstorphine and his wife, Elsie, had three sons: David, John and James Corstorphine.
