Captain Thomas Percy Middleton (born 10 May 1893, date of death unknown), Distinguished Flying Cross was an English

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

fighter ace credited with 27 victories while flying a two seated fighter.

Early life

Middleton was born in Earlsfield, Surrey, England, on 10 May 1893. He initially served in the 6th London Brigade of the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

, but transferred to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in 1916.

First combat tour

His first tour of combat in fighters came in Number 48 Squadron of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. This unit was the first supplied with the two seater

Bristol F.2 The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Biff"'' ...

b fighter. Because either the pilot or the observer/gunner could fire upon enemy aircraft, both members of the flight crew would be credited with any victories on missions they flew together. Middleton scored his first victory on 30 April 1917. He scored four more victories in May, in the vicinity of

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

, France, becoming an ace on the 27th with a double triumph. He scored twice more in June before being withdrawn from combat duty for a rest. Middleton's seven wins were achieved while teamed with three different gunners; one of them, Scotsman Alexander W. Merchant went on to become an ace in his own right.

Second combat tour

Middleton returned for a second tour of combat duty on the Western Front as a flight leader in Number 48 Squadron of the newly founded

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. He was still piloting Bristols. He reopened his victory list shortly after his return, on 17 April 1918, shooting down on

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

and driving another down out of control. He scored doubles on both the 3rd and the 8th. He then switched gunners, from Captain Frank Godfrey to British Lieutenant Alfred Stanley Mills. With Mills in the rear seat, Middleton ran off five more wins in May, ending the month with 18 victories. In June, Middleton switched back to Godfrey in the back seat, and scored five more victories, followed by another in July. On 3 August, Middleton was awarded one of the first Distinguished Flying Crosses. There was a lapse in victories until September; then Middleton resumed with Mills once again teaming as his gunner. Middleton and Mills shot a Hannover C down in flames on 15 September, followed by two

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qui ...

s destroyed on 20 September. Middleton was the fourth highest scorer of the 44 aces in 48 Squadron. His 27 victories came overwhelmingly over German fighter planes; only three of his wins were over enemy reconnaissance craft. Three of the observer/gunners he had teamed with became aces in their own right; Merchant with 8 wins, Mills with 15, and Godfrey with all 12 of his victories won from Middleton's rear seat.

Postwar life

After the war, Middleton emigrated to Argentina.

Inline citations

References

* ''British and Empire Aces of World War I''. Christopher Shores. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , . * ''Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War 1''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2007. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Thomas Percy 1893 births Year of death missing Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)