Middleton VC
Title
Middleton VC
Description
Headline 'VC pilot died to save his crew after Turin raid'. Account of award of Victoria cross to Flt Sgt Rawson Hume Middleton RAAF who sacrificed his life to save his crew. Annotated 'John Reece attended Sgt Middleton's funeral after his body had been washed ashore'.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Language
Type
Format
Newspaper cutting mounted on a scrapbook page with handwritten note
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
SWooleyAJ[Ser#-DoB]v10050
Transcription
[Inserted] John Reece attended Sgt. Middleton’s funeral after his body had been washed ashore. [/inserted]
V.C. PILOT DIED TO SAVE HIS CREW AFTER TURIN RAID
“HIS DEVOTION TO DUTY IS UNSURPASSED IN R.A.F.”
The award of the V.C. was announced yesterday to Flt. Sgt. Rawdon Hume Middleton, of the R.A.A.F., who, seriously wounded and robbed of the sight of an eye on a raid to Turin, sacrificed his life to save his crew.
For four hours, in great pain and gradually losing his strength, able to see very little and almost unable to speak, he insisted on flying his battered Stirling back to England rather than land in enemy-occupied territory.
All the time he knew his own chances of survival were slight. He crossed the channel with fuel only for five minutes’ flying. Five of the crew baled out safely. The plane crashed in the sea and the bodies of the flight engineer and the front gunner were recovered next day.
But Middleton is missing. Apparently he was too weak to leave his plane. The official [missing words]
the cockpit since the captain could see very little and could speak only with loss of blood and great pain.
Course was set for base in a damaged aircraft with insufficient fuel. The possibilities of abandoning the aircraft or landing in Northern France were discussed. Middleton said he would try to reach England for the crew to bale out.
After four hours Stirling reached the French coast where intense light flak was encountered. Middle-[Missing words]
V.C. PILOT DIED TO SAVE HIS CREW AFTER TURIN RAID
“HIS DEVOTION TO DUTY IS UNSURPASSED IN R.A.F.”
The award of the V.C. was announced yesterday to Flt. Sgt. Rawdon Hume Middleton, of the R.A.A.F., who, seriously wounded and robbed of the sight of an eye on a raid to Turin, sacrificed his life to save his crew.
For four hours, in great pain and gradually losing his strength, able to see very little and almost unable to speak, he insisted on flying his battered Stirling back to England rather than land in enemy-occupied territory.
All the time he knew his own chances of survival were slight. He crossed the channel with fuel only for five minutes’ flying. Five of the crew baled out safely. The plane crashed in the sea and the bodies of the flight engineer and the front gunner were recovered next day.
But Middleton is missing. Apparently he was too weak to leave his plane. The official [missing words]
the cockpit since the captain could see very little and could speak only with loss of blood and great pain.
Course was set for base in a damaged aircraft with insufficient fuel. The possibilities of abandoning the aircraft or landing in Northern France were discussed. Middleton said he would try to reach England for the crew to bale out.
After four hours Stirling reached the French coast where intense light flak was encountered. Middle-[Missing words]
Collection
Citation
“Middleton VC,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed August 24, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/32620.
Item Relations
Item: Sergeant R H Middleton VC, RAAF | dcterms:relation | This Item |