Thomas Ernest MIDDLETON

Thomas Ernest Middleton was born in Bath, Somerset in 1889 to Henry Tibbutt Middleton and Isabella Cooper Cargill Duncan. He was the eldest of 4 children, Henry born New Zealand 1891, Isabella Gladstone born Queensland 1893 and Mary Elizabeth born Victoria 1895.  His father Captain Middleton was the Cairns Harbour Master.

Thomas’s brother Harry (Henry) also enlisted and served in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment and returned home safely 1919.

On his enlistment in Sydney, his age was 25 years 11 months, his occupation a Mercantile Marine Officer and his next of kin was his mother Isabella Middleton, Wellcamp near Toowoomba, Queensland. He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 10 stone and had a fair complexion, brown eyes and light brown hair. He was Church of England.

He had spent two years in the Australian Navy. Just prior to the war his father captained ships such as “Kuranda” and “Arawatta” along the Australian east coast.

Thomas Middleton embarked from Sydney on the HMAT Seang Bee on 11 February 1915 for the Gallipoli Peninsula where he was killed in action on 19 May 1915. He was buried in the 3rd Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery, Anzac but his remains were exhumed and  he is presumed buried in the 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey.