Norman Stewart Middleton
Norman Stewart Middleton was born in January 1921, in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng) and moved to Pietermaritzburg, Natal (now kwaZulu-Natal) when he was 10. In 1940, after finishing school, he signed up to join the army.
He was a soldier during World War II in North Africa and Italy and was wounded by shrapnel in an air raid. After the war, Middleton returned to Pietermaritzburg and began working at Eddels shoe factory, where he became an active member of the Leather Workers’ Union, eventually becoming vice-chairperson.