MIDDLETON, Thomas Yapp

MIDDLETON, Thomas Yapp – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWII
SERVICE NO : QX14427
RANK : Staff Sergeant
UNIT : 2/125th Australian Brigade Workshop
ENLISTMENT DATE : 10/07/1940
AGE : 20
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Brisbane, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Brisbane, Queensland
RELIGION : Church of England
OCCUPATION : Junior Mechanic
DATE OF DEATH : 30/09/1996
PLACE OF BURIAL : Stanthorpe, Queensland

MEMORIALS : Unknown

View Veteran’s Service File : MIDDLETON, Thomas Yapp

NOTES :

MIDDLETON, Thomas Yapp (Tom) was born in 1920 and was named in memory of his late uncle, Thomas Yapp, who was killed in WWI. Tom was the son of John (Jock) Morrison Middleton 775 and Lily (nee Yapp).

In 1940 Tom was working as a junior mechanic. With the outbreak of WWII, he enlisted in the Army and saw service in the Middle East and Papua New Guinea.

After the war Tom married Daisy Heskett and they built a new Post Office at Cottonvale. This business had been part of his parents store prior to this time.

His brother William (Bill) John Middleton 426366, who served in the RAAF during WWII, took over the Cottonvale Store when their father Jock retired. Tom’s sister Jean married Thomas Gordon Baldwin MID QX11165.

James Morrison Middleton (Q186955), who was his uncle, had served with the Royal British Naval Division during WWI and went on to enlist in the Australian Army during WWII.

Read about Southern Downs Military History here.