He was the son of Thomas Middleton, of 89 Queen’s Crescent, Sunderland.
Linda Gowans has submitted the following:-
Norman Middleton was born in Newcastle in 1893, but by 1899 his family had moved to 29 Hylton Street, Sunderland. The 1901 census includes his father Thomas, born Blyth 1863, a Draper’s Assistant, his mother Charlotte Isabella, born 1867 in North Shields, and their three children, of whom Norman was the middle one, born in Gateshead, Newcastle, and Sunderland. Charlotte died aged 37 in 1904; in 1911 Thomas was a widower, in the same employment but now living at 89 Queen’s Crescent with daughter Mildred Annie and son Alan Reed. Norman was not present. (Other research notes an address at 165 Cleveland Road.) Norman’s father Thomas appears to be the T. Middleton who was a Secretary of the Freewill Offering Scheme for St Gabriel’s New Church Fund, and served as Churchwarden and on the Church Council at various times between 1907 and 1914.
Records show that at the time Norman Middleton received a temporary commission as Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve on January 16th 1915, he was serving on HM Yacht ‘Sanda’, originally the 300 GRT steamer yacht ‘St Serf’, built by Hawthorns & Co. of Leith, launched in 1905 and completed in 1906. On 26 January 1915 she was hired by the Admiralty as an auxiliary patrol vessel on the Dover Patrol with two 6-pounder guns.
With Lieutenant David Brown, he was killed in action off the Belgian coast when on Friday September 24th 1915 ‘Sanda’ sailed for Zeebrugge in company with a bombardment force in support of an attack by the British Army. Shooting began at 07.00 on the 25th, and shore batteries started replying at 09.00. ‘Sanda’ was hit near the deckhouse and sunk, probably by an 8 inch shell from German batteries at Blankenberghe, around 09.15. Thirteen officers and men were lost. Survivors were rescued by the drifter Fearless. Among those lost was the oldest naval officer serving at sea, Lieutenant-Commander Henry T. Gartside-Tipping, R.N., who was aged over 70 when he volunteered for war service in August 1914.
Portsmouth Naval Memorial, on Southsea Common, was unveiled on October 15th 1924 by Prince Albert, the future King George VI. Nearly 10,000 naval personnel of the First World War who were lost or buried at sea are commemorated here.
Morpeth Herald 08/10/1915 carries a brief obituary:
MIDDLETON.- Killed in action, Sept 25th. Sub-Lieut. Norman Middleton, R.N.R., of H.M. Yacht “Sanda”, aged 22 years, elder son of Thomas and the late [Mrs] C.I. Middleton, of 165 Cleveland Road, Sunderland, and grandson of the late William Middleton, builder, Blyth.
Norman Middleton is remembered at Sunderland on S140.009, S140.010 and S140.048 part 8 and on our List of Ships’ crews
