Bernard was the second son of Arthur Purling Middleton and his wife, Meta May Maud Briscoe Birch. His father was in the Indian Civil Service and Bernard was born in India. His father had been born in Dorset, but his mother was born in Darjeeling. Her father was a Commissioner for Police in India.
The Middletons and their two young sons visited England in the summer of 1921.
Bernard was educated at Repton. His parents came to England in 1935, returning to India on 18 October. Bernard Matriculated in 1937 and spent some time in India, that year, returning on 10 September. He gave his address as Hotel Majestic, Cromwell Rd. SW5, the address which his parents had used in 1935.
He came up to Christ Church in 1937 and graduated with a 4th in Classics Mods in 1939.
In December 1940, he married Wendy Elsa Figdor of St. James, Cape Town.
He was a Lieutenant with the Hampshire Regiment when he was killed in Sicily on 27 August 1943.
He is buried in the Catania War Cemetery Plot I. J. 13.
He is commemorated in the Royal Military Chapel, Sandhurst.
His obituary in The Times on 26 August 1943 asked for Indian and South African papers to copy. His widow remarried in 1947.