AUSTRALIAN PILOT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 11, 14 January 1943, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN PILOT

1 ] Heroic Episode In Raid < On Turin < t British Official Wireless I Rec. 1.30 p.m. RUGBY, Jan. 13. "J The Victoria Gross has been 1 awarded to Flight-Sergeant Rawson Hume Middleton, Royal Australian 1 Air Force, who was captain and first * pilot of a Stirling bomber detailed to j attack the Fiat works, Turin, on * November 28. He was reported missing next day. Great difficulty was experienced in j climbing to 12,000 ft to cross the £ Alps, and this led to excessive fuel consumption. So dark was the ( night that the mountain peaks were £ almost invisible and Middleton had t, to decide whether to proceed or turn ] back. There was barely sufficient j fuel for the return journey. t Flares were sighted ahead and he i continued on his mission. He even t dived to 2000 ft to identify the target. Three flights were made over Turin ( at this low altitude before the target ( was identified. The aircraft was sub- i jected to fire from light anti-aircraft ] guns, and a large hole in the port f main plane made it difficult to con- j trol, while a shell which burst in the ] cockpit shattered the windscreen • and Wounded both pilots. i Middleton's right eye was de- i stroyed by a shell splinter, and he ; was also wounded in the body and legs. The second pilot and the wireless operator were also wounded and Middleton became unconscious. The second pilot managed to get control of the plane and the target was bombed. Intensive Anti-aircraft Fire When Middleton recovered consciousness he ordered the second ; pilot to receive first aid and took j control of the plane. He decided to ; try and make the English coast, so , the crew of the aircraft were once , more engaged and were hit by intense , light anti-aircraft fire, but Middleton mustered sufficient strength to take evasive action. : After crossing the channel there was only sufficient fuel for five minutes' flying, and Middleton ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft while he flew level with the coast for a few miles, after which he intended to keep out to sea. Five of the crew left the aircraft while two remained to assist Middleton. The aircraft crashed and the bodies of two were recovered next day. The gallant captain was apparently unable to leave the aircraft, and his body has not been traced. His devotion to duty is unsurpassed in the annals of the R.A.F. He was born in 1916 at Waverley, New South Wales, enlisted in the R.A.F. in 1940 and was trained in Canada as a bomber pilot. v