The Lachlan Shire community is being encouraged to honour local heroes who served their country in times of war at ANZAC Day commemorations (25 April).
One of the most renowned of these was Yarrabandai pilot Rawdon Middleton, who was the first Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) member to be awarded a Victoria Cross in the Second World War. Rawdon Middleton worked as a jackeroo on ‘Lee Wang’, a station managed by his father, before enlisting in the RAAF in October 1940.
Middleton learned to fly at Narromine. He arrived in Britain in September 1941 and by December was promoted to Flight Sergeant.
‘Ron’ became first pilot and captain of Stirling bombers in July 1942. By 28 November that year, he had completed 28 operational flights. Three of his crew members had already flown their required thirty flights and could have left but stayed in the Air Force out of loyalty to Middleton.
That night, Middleton led the Stirling aircraft in to attack the Fiat works at Turin, Italy. When they reached their target, the plane was hit by flak. One shell exploded in the cockpit, destroying Ron’s right eye, exposing the bone above it and injuring his body.
In intense pain and with a severely damaged aircraft, Middleton refused to attempt a landing over German-occupied France, instead insisting on returning to England to save his crew from becoming prisoners.
At the end of the four hour flight, five of the crew managed to parachute to safety over the English coast. With almost no fuel remaining, he flew back over the English Channel. Two of the crew remained with their captain, parachuting over sea and drowning. Middleton was too weak to leave the Stirling, which crashed into the sea. The RAAF pilot was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and promoted to Pilot Officer.