BF372 OJ-H

A Short Stirling of No. 149 Squadron, coded OJ-H, captained by Flight Sergeant Rawdon ‘Ron’ Middleton of the RAAF on the raid against the Fiat works at Turin, 28/29 November 1942. Hit over the target on his third run across it, Middleton lost his right eye and was gravely wounded, but flew the aircraft back over the Alps and France; reaching the English coast almost out of fuel, he held it steady long enough for five of his crew to bale out before it crashed into the sea, killing him. His was the first Victoria Cross awarded to a member of the RAAF.