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Middleton, Rawdon Hume

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Rawdon Hume
Surname Middleton
Gender M
Age 26
Decorations VC
Date of Death 29-11-1942
Next of Kin Son of Francis Rawdon Hamilton Middleton and Faith Lillian Middleton, of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia.
MIDDLETON RH

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Short Stirling I
Serial Number BF372
Markings OJ-H

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Beck Row, Mildenhall
Grave Reference Row D. Grave 1.
Epitaph TRUE TO THE END

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 212

Enlistment Information

Service Number 402745
Service Royal Australian Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 149 (East India)
Squadron Motto Fortis nocte (Strong by night)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Australia

Other Memorials

Location Middleton Close, Beck Row, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial & inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Dedicated to Plt Off R H Middleton VC, RAAF, killed in action 29th November 1942. Middleton Close is named after him
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Location St. George's Church, Methwold, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour & inscribed window
Memorial Text Roll of Honour of 149 Sqn RAF and a window remembering the men and women of all Nations who served at RAF Methwold, 1939-1945
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Miscellaneous Information

VC citation (London Gazette 15th January 1943): “Flight Sergeant Middleton was captain and first pilot of a Stirling aircraft detailed to attack the Fiat works at Turin in November 1942. Great difficulty was experienced on the way to the target and while over the target the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Flight Sergeant Middleton was badly wounded and his right eye was destroyed. The second pilot was also badly wounded. The possibilities of abandoning the aircraft or landing in northern France were discussed but Flight Sergeant Middleton stated his intention to attempt to reach the English coast. After crossing the Channel there was only sufficient fuel for five minutes flying. Flight Sergeant Middleton flew the aircraft parallel with the coast and ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft. Five of the crew left the aircraft and two remained to assist him. The aircraft crashed into the sea and all remaining onboard were killed. Flight Sergeant Middleton was determined to attack the target regardless of the consequences and not to allow his crew to fall into enemy hands. While all the crew displayed heroism of a high order, the urge to do so came from Flight Sergeant Middleton, whose fortitude and strength of will made possible the completion of the mission. His devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds is unsurpassed in the annals of the Royal Air Force”.
Known as Ron

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1002/22
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1002/21

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Jeffery J E (Sgt)
Mackie J W (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 28-11-1942
End Date 29-11-1942
Takeoff Station Lakenheath
Day/Night Raid Night (70% moon)
Operation Turin. 228 aircraft, 3 losses (1.3%). Some bombs were dropped before PFF had marked the targets but the remainder achieved very accurate bombing. Guy Gibson and F/L Whamond dropped the first 800lb bombs on Italy
Reason for Loss Hit by flak over the target, badly wounding both pilots. Despite tremendous difficulties en route, the crew were able to regain the south coast where F/S Middleton gave the order to bale out. He remained with the aircraft and two other crew members were unable to comply. All three perished when they crashed into the sea off Dymchurch, Kent. F/S Middleton was posthumously awarded the VC for his valour.

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.