Turin
28 November 1942 — Turin
- Date
- 28 November 1942
- Target
- Turin, Italy
- Force dispatched
- 228 aircraft
Narrative
In the late autumn of 1942 Bomber Command carried the war over the Alps to the industrial cities of northern Italy. On the night of 28/29 November a force of more than 220 aircraft attacked the Fiat works at Turin. Flight Sergeant Rawdon ‘Ron’ Middleton of the RAAF, captain of a No. 149 Squadron Short Stirling, made three runs across the target to identify it and was gravely wounded by a shell that burst in the cockpit, losing an eye. He flew the crippled Stirling 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.
Order of battle
1 aircraft. Each crew links to the men who flew it; each airman to their own record.
| Aircraft | Type | Squadron | Pilot | Crew | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BF372 OJ-H |
Short Stirling | Rawdon Hume Middleton | 1 aircrew → | Crashed on return |
The fallen
135 airmen in this archive died on 28 November 1942 or the day that followed. For a raid of this kind these are overwhelmingly the night's losses, though a death-date match is not by itself proof an individual flew this operation.
- Aircraftman 1st Class William Henry Addis (20)
- Pilot Officer Norman Alexander Allen (22)
- Flight Sergeant Donald Davie Anderson
- Aircraftman 1st Class Herbert William Barker (38)
- Pilot Officer Francis Alfred Beane (38)
- Corporal Joseph Victor Raoul Beaudry (26)
- Pilot Officer Allen Catto Bradley (29)
- Sergeant Raymond Herbert John Broady (28)
- Sergeant George Alfred Brown (24)
- Sergeant Thomas Buckley (21)
- Flight Lieutenant Herbert James Bullmore (27)
- Flying Officer Albert Moore Carey
- Sergeant Leonard James Casey (21)
- Sergeant George Edmund Henry Ceeney (21)
- Sergeant Roy James Christian
- Pilot Officer Samuel Stewart Clark (24)
- Sergeant William James Clinton (43)
- Aircraftman 1st Class George Moore Cooke (21)
- Sergeant John Henry Cooper (31)
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Samuel Crompton
- Sergeant John Johnston Crosbie (22)
- Flight Sergeant Richard Noel Cruit (19)
- Flying Officer Godfrey Melville Cunningham (25)
- Aircraftman 1st Class Denis Melville Cuthbertson (26)
See all 135 who died on 28 November →
Source: Wikipedia: Ron Middleton (VC) →