Unsurpassed; All that man can do; Oaks from Acorns; New Scene

UNSURPASSED

The first member of the Royal Australian Air Force to win the Victoria Cross was Flight Sergeant Rawdon Hume Middleton, of Yarrabandia (N.S.W.), who was serving, with No. 149 Squadron, R.A.F.

The award was made posthumously, for Middleton sacrificed his life so that those of his comrades might be saved. 

His promotion to Pilot-Officer was gazetted after he became a casualty.

It is a striking commentary on Middleton's feat that the authorities, in composing his citation, found, in the last line, that word which expresses the ultimate in human endeavour. 

His devotion to duty, in the face of overwhelming odds, it said, was "unsurpassed".

In full, the citation reads:

"Flight-Sergeant Middleton was captain and first pilot of a Stirling aircraft detailed to attack the Fiat works, Turin, one night in November, 1942. Great difficulty was experienced in climbing to 12,000 feet to cross the Alps, which led to excessive consumption of fuel.

So dark was the night that the mountain peaks were almost invisible. During the crossing, Flight-Sergeant Middleton had to decide whether to proceed or turn back, there being barely sufficient fuel for the return journey. Flares were sighted ahead and he continued the mission, and even dived to 2000 feet to identify the target, despite the difficulty of regaining height. Three flights were made over Turin at this low altitude before the target was identified.

"The aircraft was then subjected to fire from light anti-aircraft guns. A large hole appeared in the port mainplane which made it difficult to maintain lateral control. A shell then burst in the cockpit, shattering the windscreen and wounding both pilots. A piece of shell splinter tore into the side of Flight-Sergeant Middleton's face, destroying his right eye and exposing the bone over the eye. He was probably wounded also in the body or legs; the second pilot received wounds in the head and both legs, which bled profusely. The wireless operator was also wounded in the leg.

"Flight-Sergeant Middleton became unconscious and the aircraft dived to 800 feet before control was regained by the second pilot, who took the aircraft up to 1,500 feet  and released the bombs. There was still light flak, some very intense, and the aircraft was hit many times. The three gunners replied continuously until the rear turret was put out of action.

"Flight-Sergeant Middleton had now recovered consciousness, and when clear of the target, ordered the second pilot back to receive first aid. Before this was completed, the latter insisted on returning to the cockpit as the captain could see very little, and could only speak with loss of blood and great pain.

"The course was set for base, and the crew now faced the Alpine crossing and homeward flight in a damaged aircraft with insufficient fuel. The possibilities of abandoning the aircraft or landing in Northern France were discussed, but Flight-Sergeant Middleton expressed the intention of trying to make the English coast so that his crew could leave the aircraft by parachute. Owing to wounds and diminishing strength, he knew that by then he would have little or no chance of saving himself. After four hours the French coast was reached. and here the aircraft, flying at 6,000 feet, was once more engaged and hit by intense light anti-aircraft fire. Flight-Sergeant Middleton was still at the controls and-mustered sufficient strength to take evasive action.

"After crossing the channel there was only sufficient fuel for five minutes flying. Flight Sergeant Middleton ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft while he flew parallel with the coast for a few miles, after which he intended to head out to sea. Five of the crew left the aircraft safely, while two remained to assist Flight-Sergeant Middleton. The aircraft crashed in the sea and the bodies of the front gunner and flight engineer were recovered on the following day.

"The gallant captain was apparently unable to leave the aircraft and his body has not been traced. [It was found later. Ed.]

"Flight-Sergeant Middleton was determined to attack the target regardless of the consequences and not to allow his crew to fall into enemy hands. While all the crew displayed heroism of a high order, the urge to do so came from Flight-Sergeant Middleton, whose fortitude and strength of will made possible completion of the mission. His devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds is unsurpassed in the annals of the Royal Air Force."

ALL THAT MAN CAN DO

This is the citation to the award: "Flight-Lieutenant Newton served in the Royal Australian Air Force in New Guinea from May, 1942, to March, 1943, and completed fifty-two operational sorties.

Throughout he displayed great courage and an iron determination to inflict the utmost damage on the enemy. 

His splendid offensive flying and fighting were attended with brilliant success.

"Despite this harassing experience, he returned next day to the same locality. His target, this time a single building, was even more difficult, but he again attacked with his usual courage and resolution and flew a steady course through a barrage of fire. He scored hits on the building but at the same moment his aircraft burst into flames.

Flight-Lieutenant Newton maintained control and calmly turned his aircraft away and flew along the shore. He saw it as his duty to keep the aircraft in the air as long as he could in order to take the crew as far away as possible from the enemy position. With great skill he brought his blazing aircraft down on the water. Two members of the crew were able to extricate themselves and were seen swimming to the shore, but the gallant pilot is missing. According to other air crew who witnessed the occurrence, the escape hatch was not opened and his dinghy was not inflated. Without regard for his own safety, he had done all that man could do to prevent his crew from falling into enemy hands.

"Flight-Lieutenant Newton's many examples of conspicuous bravery have rarely been equalled and will serve as a shining inspiration to all who follow him."

OAKS FROM ACORNS

Two of the R.A.A.F. bomber squadrons in the United Kingdom hold the Group records for the largest number of aircraft sent on a single raid. They have made more than two hundred and fifty raids, and these have included some of the most notable attacks on the hottest spots in Europe. Citation after citation to gallantry awards made to members of the R.A.A.F. has referred to raids on "some of the most heavily defended targets in Germany". 

One of these squadrons made a hundred and forty-six raids on Germany in a year, part of which was taken up in converting twice to different types of aircraft first from Wellingtons to Halifax's, then from Halifax's to Lancasters. It made twenty-two raids in a single month, and about fifty of its members have been decorated. A junior squadron, also flying Lancasters. has made sixty-four raids.

Besides these heavy squadrons, there are Australian Wellington medium bomber, Ventura daylight bomber, Mosquito daylight bomber, and Spitfire fighter squadrons. In other units, Australians fly Hurricanes, Typhoons, Whirlwinds, and in fact, every type of combat aircraft in use in the R.A.F.

The other four-fifths of Australian airmen serving abroad are with R.A.F. squadrons in units of Coastal, Bomber, Fighter, Training, or other Commands, in the United Kingdom or elsewhere. They are in all kinds of aircraft on all kinds of operations.

Because of their dispersal units, and their service in the remote corners of the earth, it is seldom that the work of this four-fifths is recorded. Then suddenly some gallant deed flashes meteor-like across the war-smoked sky: there is an award, and the name of some Australian, and an indication of the work being done, is given. Such a case was that of Flight-Sergeant R. H. Middleton, V.C. Another brilliant instance was the great raid on the Moehne and Eder dams. 

It was not until the awards were announced that it was known in Australia that Australians took a leading part. Thirteen of them participated in this devastating and audacious raid on May 15, and between them they won a quarter of the awards granted three Distinguished Service Orders, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a Distinguished Flying Medal. It was an Australian who released the first bomb which breached the Moehne dam, and Australians in other aircraft were primarily responsible for smashing the Eder dam.

Australians in R.A.F. and RAAF squadrons have been in strength on all the great bombing operations based on the United Kingdom. Their deeds are punctuated by such names as Jena, Copenhagen, Berlin, Rostock, Augsberg, Turin, and Milan. Where the heaviest flak is, there too are the Australians.

Other place names come to mind, too:- Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, South Africa, Russia, Iraq. Everywhere the Allies fly against the enemy, there Australians fly. On training-cum-operational work, Australians patrolled the Caribbean Sea when the United States air forces were hard put to it to meet the U-boat menace. These Hudson men received a letter of commendation for probably destroying two submarines, in which the commander of the United States task force expressed appreciation of their efficiency.

R.A.A.F. squadrons in the Middle East have flown 28,892 hours in operations against the German, Vichy French, and Italian air forces. One bomber squadron in twelve months made 286 operational sorties, flying for 1,805 hours, mostly at night. Its tasks included anti-submarine patrols, convoy-protection, and mine-laying and bombing runs on harbours and ships. In these bomb raids, nearly 20,000 pounds of bombs were dropped, and in the thirty-six mine-laying operations, 4000 pounds of mines were sown. Torpedoes and incendiary bombs launched and dropped are not included in these figures. 

A flight detached for operations based on Malta, in the first three months of this year made 311 sorties in 2,065 flying hours, dropping 40,000 pounds of bombs against Axis shipping. It scored direct hits on three 5,000-ton motor vessels, a destroyer, and a cruiser, and destroyed a 4,000-ton motor vessel and a Junkers 52 transport plane. Operating on convoy protection and anti-submarine patrol, another Australian squadron in twelve months to last August completed 1,094 sorties in some 7,000 flying hours. One famous fighter squadron has shot down about 220 enemy aircraft.

In this theatre, with its vast distances, air transport has played an exceedingly important part in the Allied victories. In the heat of battle, equipment, men, medical and other supplies have been flown right into the front line. And, inevitably, Australians have been among the transport crews. From Cairo to the Cape, Khartoum to the Gold Coast, Port Said to Casablanca, Aleppo to Calcutta, Mosul to Akaba; from the shores of the Caspian to the salt lakes of Kuffra; from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, to Gibraltar, Crete and Cyprus, they have carried the materials of war. They have carried men, they have removed the wounded, and they have even moved up whole fighter wings by air, taking them right on the heels of the enemy. On all the most advanced aerodromes, freshly won from the enemy, transport aircraft, and the dark blue of the R.A.A.F. uniform, have been seen.

One R.A.F. transport squadron in which a number of Australians are serving, has had a varied and typical service experience. For the first six months of the war with Italy, its Bombay aircraft formed about one half of the available British bomber strength. As Allied strength increased, it reverted to its transport tasks, and ferried materials across the dangerous Mediterranean. Troop-carrying became a normal routine, and the squadron also flew paratroops to an as yet undisclosed destination. During the siege of Tobruk, the squadron flew supplies to that fortress, landing supplies and then taking away the wounded. On another occasion, it flew a complete fighter wing to a point far behind the enemy lines. It not only took the fighters in, but kept them supplied, and when they had done their task, flew them out again. During the campaign in Tunisia, it evacuated thirty-five casualties from behind the enemy-held Mareth line.

On the Australian front, the R.A.A.F. has performed prodigies. Since December 8, 1941, when the Japanese entered the war, Allied aircraft in this area have between them destroyed some 1,350 Japanese aircraft in the air. They have probably destroyed another 5oo and have damaged about 6oo. Of those destroyed, about 1,000 were fighters and about 400 were bombers. Of the probables, about 400 were fighters and about 100 were bombers; while of those damaged, about 350 were fighters and about 200 were bombers. No estimate of the ground damage done can be made. It is stupendous.

In the few chances they have had for combat with the enemy, the Spitfire squadrons in the North-western area of Australia have destroyed about 70, probably destroyed some 20, and damaged about 50 enemy aircraft.

These losses to the enemy, however, have not been caused without grievous loss to Australia in men. Since the outbreak of the war, the R.A.A.F. casualty list on all fronts has risen to 7,021. Of these, 3,483 are classed as killed, died or presumed dead, 1,377 missing, 512 are prisoners of war.

On the side of glory is a list of 918 decorations. Some of the recipients are serving in the R.A.A.F., some are in British squadrons. They include three Victoria Crosses, 29 DSOs, 442 D.F.Cs, 26 D.F.Cs and Bar, five C.G.M, 252 DFMs, two DFMs and Bar, and seven George Medals. Fifteen others have been commended, 229 have been mentioned in dispatches, and 18 have received foreign awards.

The total expenditure on the R.A.A.F. from the outbreak of war until the end of August this year was about £225,000,000 including £69,000,000 on the Empire Air Training Scheme.

Perspective is given to the composite scene by this fact: during the last war, 158 pilots were trained in the Australian Flying Corps; to-day, more than that number are trained in a single school.

Overhauling a Spitfire by B2/67

NEW SCENE

It was a miracle that Australia was not invested by the enemy: it might well have been, with complete and tragic success, had the enemy advanced more boldly than he did. His over-caution, his prolonged reconnaissance and probing of ill-fortified or defenceless bastions, lost him Australia - or at least, Australian bases.

There can be no harm in telling the enemy this now. Doubtless he is biting his nails at his errors. To-day Australia is strong, and since the defeats of the enemy in the Solomons and New Guinea, is no longer in the front line, but is a well-held rearward base, safe from invasion, menaced only by the possibility of sporadic raids. Even sporadic raids are becoming less likely.

This policy of offensive defence was not peculiar to the Australian front; it was to be found on all fronts except, perhaps, in Russia, where the Red Army and Air Force staged each winter a counter-drive; but in Russia, too, there was an element of defence about the operations, for Russian lands had been invested and were held by the enemy, and the Red blows were aimed to save their country from the new blows and new seizures they feared.

On the western European front, the first signs were seen of the offensive trend. Britain was beginning to add weight to her air blows against Germany. Those blows were, in fact, assuming the proportions of what was tantamount to an invasion of Germany.

Even in the Middle East there was this standing-at-bay attitude, though there the Allies were at their nearest approach to offence. But it was an equivocal offence, as the mighty see-saw of advance and retreat showed. The margin of defeat, with the loss of Egypt, was perilously tenuous at El Alamein, where the men of the R.A.A.F. performed prodigious deeds in the preliminary smashing of Rommel's hopes. In other parts of the Middle East, we were frankly on the defensive, though strength was being built up with all possible speed to enable the Allied armies and air forces there to fulfill their allotted tasks in future global strategy.

In Burma, last of the great fronts, the Allies stood with their backs to the wall. In Burma and India were many Australians who had managed to reach sanctuary from the rout of Malaya. Their efforts were remote from either offence or defence, for events had been too swift for our war planning, and there was but little equipment. Good use was made of what there was, and Australians flew in seaward reconnaissance from Ceylon and Indian bases, and figured in the strikes against the first naval and air attacks launched by the Japanese on India, and in the not very numerous bombing missions against Japanese targets in Burma.

That was the picture, not bright, but much less gloomy than it had been, than it might have been, and still representing a colossal task for the Allies. Never in the history of the world had an alliance of nations been faced with such fearful handicaps. How resolutely that task has been faced, how well those handicaps have been gradually but surely overhauled, has been shown in the past twelve months; for on all fronts, the war has assumed a new character.

Notwithstanding that the enemy was hammering at our gates, and we faced our greatest peril, the order of importance of the great fronts to Australia in those days was, first, the general European front, then the Middle East front (which includes Burma and India), and, lastly, the Australian front. If Australia fell, while the European front held, ultimate succour was sure; if the Middle East front collapsed and the others held, Australia's hope of aid from Britain was diminished and her chance of succumbing was increased; if Britain fell, Australia would have been enslaved also.

Moreover, from the purely R.A.A.F. interest, Australia's greatest air strength was centred in the United Kingdom, with minor strength in the Middle East, and that in this area nearly exhausted by the heroic, almost unbelievable stand made by the few combat squadrons in Malaya and the islands to the north.

In Europe, Australians were taking splendid part in the crescendo of bombing raids on Germany and enemy-occupied Europe, in the ceaseless patrols to seaward, the anti-submarine sweeps, convoy protections, shipping strikes, intrusions, night fighting, and day interceptions. It is difficult to assess the relative importance of these tasks. Great as the value of the offensive bombing was, and great as the value of the work of the Coastal Command squadrons was, it is probable that at that stage of operations the defensive work of the fighters, in which Australian fighter pilots took an important role, was still paramount.

To-day, strategy has changed, and in Europe, emphasis is on bombing. The story to be told in this volume of the R.A.A.F. in the United Kingdom, unlike that told a year ago, will be mainly about the exploits of Australians flying medium and heavy bombers over enemy targets. There will, of course, be references to the men of Coastal Command, whose skill, courage, and new technique have helped to give Allied shipping greater immunity than at any other time since the war began. The work of the Australians in Fighter Command will also be described, though it takes a minor place compared with a year ago.

On the other hand in the Middle East  campaign the prime weapon has been the fighter, or the various adaptations of the fighter. such as the ground strafer, the fighter-bomber and the intruder. Men of the R.A.A.F. in the Middle East know these specialized weapons intimately. Indeed, they helped to perfect their technique by hazardous experiments in the great laboratory that Rommel's armies in the desert provided. The swiftly moving weapons in this category are "ambidextrous" -that is to say, whether in advance or retreat, they attack the enemy, using the same technique for the same purpose-to stop the enemy's columns, to cause confusion in his lines of communications, to clutter up his roads, to smash his men and material, in short, to halt him, whether moving east or west.

Auxiliary to these aircraft, which must be considered as essential adjuncts to any army, and almost as weapons of the army, were medium and heavy bombers, which blasted the enemy at his rear-ward bases, ports and installations, and Coastal Command aircraft which sent much of Rommel's hope of victory to the bottom of the Mediterranean. Australians flew on many of these missions. They flew, too, in the ferry service, linking up every key point in the whole vast Middle East command.

Since the Allied armies' clean sweep of Northern Africa, and the establishment of what Mr. Churchill has described as "the third front" in the "soft under-belly of Europe", Australians in all air arms in the Middle East have taken part in the attacks on Pantellaria, Sicily and Italy.

In Burma there has been a gradual and ominous gathering of air strength, and the wings of aircraft flown by Australians with R.A.F. squadrons are casting over the Japanese in the Burma jungles the shadow of great retributive events to come. The end of defence and of offensive defence is near, and the era of outright and unqualified offence is approaching.

But, great as these changes have been, there has been no greater change than in the Australian scene. In a matter of months we have passed from near exhaustion of fighting potential to domination. The enemy is on the run.

Tremendous efforts lie behind this change, efforts not only by Australia's own squadrons,

but also by those of our Allies. The arrival of American armed forces, ground, amphibious and air, into the Australian scene changed the whole aspect. Not only was our limited, battered, and battle-weary air force augmented by the United States fliers, but modem high speed first-line fighting aircraft were delivered to the R.A.A.F., to replace obsolete Wirraways with which they had so gallantly attempted to stein the Japanese advance. Production of Australian-made aircraft also flowed more strongly, and to-day R.A.A.F. squadrons are mounted in superior aircraft.

Perhaps one of the most outstanding events which contributed to this air superiority on the Australian front was the delivery to the R.A.A.F. of two matchless British types of modern combat aircraft, Beaufighters and Spitfires. That these magnificent weapons did much to overtake the enemy's initial advantages cannot be doubted. Not only did they put Australian fliers on a footing with the Japanese, they gave them weapons, in the case of the Spitfire, which had marked superiority over the Zero in many respects, and in the case of the Beaufighter for which the enemy had no parallel.

To complete the R.A.A.F. armoury were American Kittyhawk fighters and Vultee Vengeance dive bombers; Australian Boomerang fighters and Beaufort torpedo-bombers; Catalinas, Hudsons, and Bostons.

Not only were Australian pilots provided with these new weapons, they were supported in battle by R.A.F. fighter pilots who were sent to the tropic scene from England. It was a striking underlining of the policy expressed. that Britain would not lay down her arms until the three spokes of the Axis-Germany, Italy and Japan-had been smashed, and t6 wheel of their destiny lay in ruins on the rocky road to world domination they had -hosen. Added edge was given to the striking force of the R.A.A.F. by the recall from other theatres of war of tried Australian pilots.

But although the R.A.F. men who came to help us, and the Australian pilots who were called from abroad, had much to teach the men who had been fighting or were yet to fight along our northern perimeter, they, too, had much to learn from the men who had held that perimeter intact: for, of all fronts, the most hazardous is the Australian front. 

Added to the perils of combat are the hazards of terrain. On this front, in sea, weather, mountains, and jungle, death stalks. The open country of the Western Desert, although overrun by the enemy, provided countless stories of men who walked back. There are far fewer recorded cases of men, who, crash landing, have walked back through the reeking jungles of New Guinea; and such as there are so teem with terror and hardship that contemplation of the others is not agreeable.

On the Australian scene, men of the R.A.A.F. are operating in three main spheres. Most notice has been given to those based in New Guinea. From that island, Kittyhawks, Beaufighters, Catalinas, Hudsons, and Bostons have struck against the enemy, in dog-fights and interceptions; in low-level attacks on ground installations, barges, tanks, and ships; in bombing missions; and on seaward reconnaissance.

The second sphere from which the R.A.A.F. has operated, latterly taking almost sole responsibility for its protection, and for strikes at island bases, is the Darwin area. From here Spitfires, Beaufighters and Hudsons operate. The sorties by the Hudsons across the treacherous Timor Sea have been magnificent. In pre-war days much was made of the terrors of this crossing. No civil pilot made it without heavy emphasis being laid on the hazards encountered over this stretch of treacherous water. Yet, ever since they have been stationed at Darwin, Hudson bombers of the R.A.A.F. have made daily and nightly sorties, daring the weather, the water and Japanese action. Many of them have made the return crossing in the foulest conditions with damage suffered while audaciously attacking enemy positions.

The third sphere in which the R.A.A.F. has been operating is the counterpart of the R.A.F. Coastal Command. This work has been less spectacular, perhaps less dangerous; but its worth is gauged by the almost entire immunity of Allied shipping from enemy molestation in Australian waters.

For the R.A.A.F., the year has been one of notable achievement.

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