@ teetering head (post 52)
Early generation jets on both sides of the Channel had their engines at about half span, like the Meteor, Me 262 and the Arado bomber whose type number slips my memory. Probably due to good structural theory and practice as it was known at the time.
I seem to remember that among the early drafts of what became the Canberra, Mr. Petter investigated "close-in" engines but finally went for the mid-span layout.