LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Hartley MIDDLETON
Service No: 423153
Born: North Sydney NSW, 20 February 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME 667), Germany, 6 October 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Hamburg Cemetery, Hamburg, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sydney James Hartley Middleton and Annie Esther Middleton, of Northbridge, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: North Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster ME 667 took off from RAF Spilsby at 1730 hours on the night of 6/7th October 1944, detailed to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at 2032 hours at Lehester Deich, a small hamlet 10 kms north east from Bremen, and all the crew were killed.
The crew members of ME 667 were:
Pilot Officer Douglas Roy Abell (417773) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer John Mervyn Felgate (436371) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer William Walter Furse (115476) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Clifford Henry Houghton (1620799) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Ronald Maravan-Williams (1579978) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer John Hartley Middleton (423153) (Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Arthur Payne (187217) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Samuel John Trimble (403204) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9300 MIDDLETON J H