108 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
T
he 11,500 men of the RAAF
who fought as part of the RAF’s
Bomber Command in World
War 2 comprised only two per
cent of all Australians who enlisted,
but accounted for 20 per cent of all
combat deaths.
So it seems extraordinary that only
one of those airmen, Pilot Officer
Rawdon Hume Middleton, was
awarded a VC.
Modest and reserved, Middleton
worked as a jackeroo before enlisting
in the RAAF in October 1940.
Following training in Australia and
Canada, he was posted to fly Short
Stirling bombers with the RAF’s
No 149 Squadron.
On November 29 1942, Middleton- known to his crew as ‘Ron’ – was
tasked to attack the Fiat works at Turin
in Italy. The quiet Australian was so
highly regarded that three gunners had
stayed on with him even though they
had completed their tours.
By the time Middleton’s Stirling
‘H for Harry’ had climbed to 12,000ft
to cross the Alps, it was using an
excessive amount of fuel. Weaving
through the mountains and unsure
of his position, Middleton was on the
verge of abandoning the mission when
the front gunner called out, “[Turin’s]
there, look to starboard”.
Far to the right the crew could see
the city, illuminated by flares and
bomb bursts. Aware that pressing
on might leave insufficient fuel to
get back to England, Middleton
nevertheless told his crew, “We’re
going down”.
Flying through heavy flak,
Middleton had just identified the
target when a shell burst in the
cockpit, wounding both pilots. The
bomber plunged into a dive, its
wings and fuselage continually hit by
shrapnel. As the co-pilot pulled the
aircraft out of the dive only metres
from the ground, Middleton recovered
consciousness. He resumed control,
pressed on with the bombing run, and
successfully attacked the target.
Despite dreadful injuries – his
right eye had been shot away leaving
the bone completely exposed, and his
lower body was severely wounded –
Middleton remained at the controls
while the co-pilot’s wounds were
dressed.
Middleton considered diverting to
North Africa to avoid the return climb
over the Alps, but he was determined
to get his men back to England and
instructed them to jettison everything
they could: armour plating, camera,
oxygen bottles, ammunition, flares,
seats, fire extinguishers, sextant. The
navigator used an axe to chop off
anything which was not essential and
could be thrown overboard.
The smashed windscreen exposed
both seriously wounded pilots to an
icy blast. Standing between them, the
front gunner kept a lookout and set
the compass. Other crew members
checked the dinghies, uncertain
whether they would even reach
the Channel. Middleton asked the
crew not to talk to him unless it was
essential, as it was desperately painful
for him to reply.
Once the plain of France had been
reached the crew could have bailed
out but Middleton was determined to
keep his men out of German hands.‘H for Harry’ battled on towards
England.
Still there was no respite: over
northern France the Stirling was
suddenly coned by 12 searchlights
and light flak hit the wings. Although
severely weakened by his injuries
Middleton threw the aircraft into
violent evasive manoeuvres.
At last the French coast came into
view, simultaneously, the engineer
told Middleton he could guarantee five
minutes of fuel but not ten.
In a voice thick with pain and
exhaustion, Middleton instructed his
crew to prepare to bail out and asked
for his own parachute to be passed
to him: in retrospect, his wireless
operator believed that that was “no
more than a gesture to reassure us” as
Middleton must have known that he
was “too far gone” to get out himself.
Against the odds the Stirling
made it over the Channel. As the
aircraft crossed the coast of England
five of the crew bailed out while two
stayed behind to help their grievously
wounded captain. Middleton turned
the Stirling back over the Channel
in an attempt to ditch. The aircraft
crashed into the sea, killing all three
men. The bodies of the front gunner
and flight engineer were recovered the
following day but Middleton had been
incapable of escaping and his remains
were not found.
Two months later his body would
wash ashore near Dover. He would
be buried in St John’s churchyard,
Beck Row, Suffolk, with full military
honours.
As the wireless operator later
recounted, “No-one will ever know
what was going on in Middleton’s
mind in those last few moments ...
During the return home there were
many opportunities for us to abandon
the aircraft and for Middleton to live.
But he preferred that we, his crew,
should not fall into enemy hands. That
was the kind of man he was.”
Middleton was posthumously
promoted to pilot officer and
awarded the Victoria Cross. The
citation concluded with an inspiring
valedictory: “His devotion to duty
in the face of overwhelming odds is
unsurpassed in the annals of the Royal
Air Force.”Devotion to duty
Pilot Oicer Rawdon Middleton, VC
ON TARGET
DR ALAN STEPHENS
WILLIAMS
FOUNDATIONBelow – Air Commander
Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Steve
Roberton and Suzanne Pierpoint,
Rawdon Middleton’s great niece,
unveil a plinth in Pilot Officer
Middleton’s memory at RAAF
Base Wagga last November.
Bottom – A RAF Bomber
Command crew with a Short
Stirling bomber, similar to that
flown by Rawdon Middleton and
his crew.DEFENCE & IWM