Middleton VC Rest Area
Bywong, NSW
Federal Highway (M23)
At a Glance
About
The Middleton VC Rest Area sits alongside the Federal Highway (M23) at Bywong, NSW, as stop 18 of 20 on the Remembrance Driveway. Arriving from the Anderson VC Rest Area to the south, travellers are now within reach of the route's final two stops, with the Newton VC Rest Area the next marker ahead. This is a straightforward roadside rest area with picnic tables and dedicated truck parking, open around the clock and suitable for larger vehicles including caravans and road trains needing a break on the highway corridor. The rest area honours Flight Sergeant Rawdon Hume Middleton, known to those close to him as Ron, born on 22 July 1916 at Waverley in Sydney. He grew up in the rural hamlet of Yerranderie before his family settled in Narromine in western New South Wales, and he worked as a jackeroo before enlisting in the RAAF in late 1940. A great-nephew of the explorer Hamilton Hume, Middleton went on to fly Stirling heavy bombers with No. 149 Squadron RAF out of RAF Lakenheath in England, on secondment from the RAAF. On the night of 28–29 November 1942 — his twenty-ninth combat sortie, one short of completing his tour — he captained a Stirling detailed to attack the Fiat aircraft works at Turin, Italy. Over the target, anti-aircraft fire struck the cockpit with devastating effect. Despite catastrophic injuries, Middleton held command of the aircraft across the Alps and back over the English Channel, ensuring his crew had every chance of survival before the aircraft went down. He was 26 years old. His Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously, recognising an act of sustained courage and self-sacrifice that has remained one of the most affecting stories of Australian service in the Second World War. For travellers making the full length of the Remembrance Driveway, pausing here carries particular weight.
Victoria Cross Recipient
Flight Sergeant Rawdon Hume Middleton VC
No. 149 Squadron RAF (RAAF secondment)
Rawdon Hume 'Ron' Middleton was born on 22 July 1916 at Waverley, Sydney, and grew up in the rural town of Yerranderie before the family moved to Narromine in western New South Wales. He was a great-nephew of the explorer Hamilton Hume. He worked as a jackeroo before enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force in late 1940. After training, he was posted to No. 149 Squadron RAF in February 1942 as a bomber pilot flying Stirling heavy bombers from RAF Lakenheath in England.
On the night of 28–29 November 1942, Flight Sergeant Middleton captained a Stirling bomber detailed to attack the Fiat aircraft works at Turin, Italy — his twenty-ninth combat sortie, one short of completing his tour. Over the target, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire; a shell exploded in the cockpit, destroying his right eye and badly wounding his face. Despite excruciating pain and only intermittent consciousness, Middleton continued to pilot the heavily damaged aircraft for four hours back across the Alps and France. Reaching the English coast with five minutes of fuel remaining, he ordered his crew to bail out, saving five of his men. He then turned the crippled aircraft out over the English Channel rather than risk crashing on populated land. He and two crew members who had stayed with him were lost when the aircraft crashed into the sea.
Middleton was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross — the first VC awarded to a member of the RAAF. His body was washed ashore on 1 February 1943 and he is buried at St John's Church, Beck Row, Suffolk, England. He was twenty-six years old.
Born 22 July 1916, Waverley, NSW. Died 29 November 1942, English Channel.
References
Remembrance Driveway →
Stop 18 of 20 along the Remembrance Driveway
View all 20 stops
- Sir Roden Cutler VC Rest Area
- Partridge VC Rest Area Southbound
- Kenna VC Rest Area
- Keith Payne VC Rest Area
- Gordon VC Rest Area
- Mackey VC Rest Area
- Kingsbury VC Rest Area
- Chowne VC Rest Area
- Derrick VC Rest Area
- French VC Rest Area
- Kibby VC Rest Area
- Edmondson VC Rest Area
- Gratwick VC Rest Area
- Gurney VC Rest Area
- Badcoe VC Rest Area
- Wheatley VC Rest Area
- Anderson VC Rest Area
- Middleton VC Rest Area
- Newton VC Rest Area
- Edwards VC Rest Area
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