Middleton VC The Life of Pilot Officer Rawdon Hume Middleton, VC of the Royal Australian Air Force as Remembered by His Friends and Colleagues
East Bentleigh, Australia: Privately printed, 1991. Tall octavo, illustrated printed wrappers, xvii, 202 pp., illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout, some maps included, 12 appendices included. Corners slightly bumped, very light foxing on spine and covers, slight spotting on top edge of text block, otherwise a very good copy. First edition. A biography of Pilot Officer Rawdon Hume Middleton, VC, member of the Royal Australian Air Force during World War Two. This volume covers Middleton's early life, his training and his tragic death on the 28th of November, 1942, at the age of twenty-six. Middleton, attached to No. 149 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, was flying with his crew over Italy when he and his aircraft sustained horrific wounds from enemy fire. Middleton rallied enough to return to the English Coast to allow his crew to safely bale out, but died when his plane finally crashed into the English Channel. He was hailed a hero who put his crew before himself and became the only Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross (albeit posthumously) while serving in Europe. Item #4515
Price (AUD): $65.00