Middleton VC Rest Area
Bywong, NSW
Federal Highway (M23)
At a Glance
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
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Campsites(5)
Attractions(5)
Toilets(3)
Groceries(5)
Fuel(5)
Dump Points(1)
EPIC (Exhibition Park Campground)
$? · 19.8km
Pubs(5)
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Wineries(5)
Weigh Stations(5)
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