Edgar Charles William Middleton (26 November 1894 – 10 April 1939) was a British playwright and author.
Biography
He was educated at Bancroft's School, Woodford, Essex, then worked for the Eastern Telegraph Company in Cape Town as a cable operator.
Military service
When war broke out in 1914 he resigned his post and returned to UK, taking up a commission in the 12th Essex Regiment as temporary Second Lieutenant on 11 November 1914. He relinquished his commission on 5 May 1915 to transfer into the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), where he was given a probationary commission as Flight Sub-Lieutenant. He trained and qualified in ballooning at Roehampton and observed the second bombardment of Ypres from an observation balloon. However, he became ill when in Dunkirk and suffered a "serious mental breakdown". He received a letter from the Admiralty, dated 15 December 1915, stating that he had been found unsuitable for the Air Service and terminating his appointment.
Journalist
He then tried to get work as a journalist and wrote articles for the Daily Mail under the name "Air Pilot", and it was in this capacity that an unfortunate incident occurred which led to him being arrested and tried under the Defence of the Realm Act. On 12 April 1916, Middleton visited Dover and met up with former colleagues in the RNAS, telling them, "I have come to Dover to do a bit of spying for Pemberton Billing". He asked whether officers still lived about two miles from the aerodrome and had to travel there each meal time. He was arrested and appeared at Dover magistrates court on 20 April where, despite pleading not guilty, he was committed for trial at Kent Assizes, charged with "unlawfully attempting to elicit information with respect to the movements or disposition of His Majesty's forces (to wit, the Royal Naval Air Service) such as might be of value to the enemy." He was released on bail. At his trial in Maidstone on 22 June he pleaded guilty, and the Lord Chief Justice dealt leniently with him on the basis that he was trying to work for the improvement of the Air Service, and he had no evil motive and was loyal to his country. He was bound over in the sum of £25.
Middleton continued as a journalist, but also turned his hand to writing books, drawing upon his experiences in the Air Service to produce Aircraft (1916), The Way of the Air: A Description of Modern Aviation (1917), Glorious exploits of the air (1917), Airfare of to-day and of the future (1918), Tails Up (1918), and The Kingdom of the Air (1919), culminating in The Great War in the Air, a history of the air in the war in four volumes with an introduction by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu which was released in 1920.
Marriage
In 1920 he married Yevonde Philone Cumbers (1893–1975), who in 1914 had set up her own studio as Madame Yevonde – Portrait Photographer. During their courtship she offered to relinquish her career for him, but he considered that would be a mistake, to her relief. She was upset on their honeymoon when he told her that he could not bear the thought of children, since she regarded marriage as pointless without children. Nevertheless, she concentrated her efforts instead on her career and went on to become a remarkable pioneer in colour photography in the 1930s.
Middleton's journalistic career continued, with appointments including aeronautical editor of the London Daily Mail, London Correspondent for the New York Sun and correspondent for the Calgary Herald in their new London office. He also contributed to the Daily Express, Daily Mirror, Evening Standard, Evening News, Sunday Times, Sunday Express, Sunday Dispatch, Sunday Pictorial, Woman's Journal, Woman's Pictorial and other publications. In 1921, he and his wife were two of the 43 Foundation Members who attended the inauguration of PEN International, an organisation which celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression and which now has over 20,000 members in more than 100 countries.
