A SUPERB & EXCESSIVELY RARE & EARLY
(Coastal Command)
'& MI6 'TOP SECRET'
("D" Flight) No.1 Photo-Reconnaissance Unit
"SPITFIRE Mk1"
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS
(1940)
1939-45 Star, Aircrew Europe Star, Defence & War Medals
with
NEW ZEALAND MEMORIAL CROSS
Group of Six
To:
41047. Flying Officer, S.J.MILLEN R.A.F.
KILLED IN ACTION
on
16th DECEMBER 1940
( D.F.C. Privately 'Chisel' Engraved, )
41047. FLYING OFFICER. S.J. MILLEN. DFC. RAF.
Officially Dated
1940.
(New Zealand Memorial Cross Officially Impressed) RAF. 41047. F/O S.J.MILLEN. D.F.C
(BIOGRAPHY)
Samuel James Millen was born in 1914 at WANGANUI, New Zealand.
The Son of Samuel George A.Millen and Olive Jane Kidd Millen latterly of Porirua,Wellington,NZ.
Samuel, who we feel had a good deal of previous private flying experience in New Zealand, came to England and joined the pre-war Royal Air Force on a four year short service commission in about May 1939 aged 25. He is first seen as 'Acting' Pilot Officer 'on probation' being confirmed as Pilot Officer on 27th June 1939 with publication in The London Gazette on 4th July 1939 (Page 34642).
Promoted Flying Officer 3rd September 1939 with publication in The London Gazette on 20th September 1939.(Page 34949)
In June 1940 he was posted to the then 'Top Secret' Photo Reconnaissance Unit which was at the time flying specially converted Spitfire MkI fighters.
The early PR units were in the employ of MI6 who had long been conducting clandestine photo recce flights over Germany in civilian aircraft with the then 'state of the art' photography gear. These aircraft were able to jettison this gear through hatches in the fuselage should the need arise due to interception or forced landing.
(UNIT HISTORY)On 24th September 1940, The Royal Air Force formally took over the "HESTON FLIGHT", a civilian photo reconnaissance unit headed by the well known Australian, Sydney Cotton based at Heston Aerodrome. As described above,the unit had previously been contracted to MI6 to perform top secret & clandestine photographic reconnaissance over Europe,using civilian registered Lockheed 12a aircraft. The flight was redesignated several times, first on 1st November 1939 as No.2 Camouflage Unit, then on 17th January 1940 as the Photographic Development Unit, then on 18th June 1940 the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit ...and finally on 14th November 1940 as No.1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit.
(F/O S.J.MILLEN D.F.C)
On 29th October 1940 F/O MILLEN flew from RAF St Eval, Cornwall, on the first operational sortie of one of the two prototype long-range 'bowser wing' Spitfire I (PR) Type D conversions.
He conducted what was at the time an epic and record breaking Spitfire photo-reccee flight of 5 hours and 55 minutes. The route covered an immense distance and took in STETTIN---ROSTOCK---EMDEN---CUXHAVEN---and BERLIN.
We have just been very fortunate to obtain copies of most of F/O Millen's photo recce sorties (and his written comments and reports) from 25th July 1940 to the date of his sad loss during a sortie off the coast of Northern France on 16th December 1940. 
These records cover 44 of his reported 50 sorties with 'D' Flight No1 P.R.U.and include the full route and sortie details of his epic 5hr 55m flight recorded in his DFC citation ( the log gives the duration as 5hrs 35mins )
For this magnificent, prolonged and highly navigationally intricate sortie and for other clandestine photo-reccee flights Flying Officer Millen was awarded THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS on 1st November 1940. By the time his citation was written he had flown 30 photographic sorties over heavily defended occupied enemy territory.
His DFC was published on 12th November 1940 ( London Gazette, Page 6491 )
[
THE ORIGINAL CITATION LETTER , WHICH WAS 'SECRET' AND NEVER PUBLICLY RELEASED, EVEN AFTER THE WAR, READS:]
THE ORIGINAL CITATION LETTER , WHICH WAS 'SECRET' AND NEVER PUBLICLY RELEASED, EVEN AFTER THE WAR, READS:] "Late in Oct. 1940 F/O Millen successfully completed exceptional photographic reconnaissances over four important targets in Germany in a new type of aircraft. He returned to his aerodrome after a flight of five hours 55 mins.at an altitude of 27,000 feet. He has conducted thirty photographic operations over enemy territory in unarmed single seater aircraft at high altitudes. The success he has achieved is due to his initiative and keenness combined with enthusiasm and very thorough preparations before flight "
Five years after his tragic death, this citation was relayed to M.O.D. Wellington, New Zealand, from Air Ministry London and onward to his mother Mrs Olive Millen on 25th October 1945.
The original letter ( shown here ) concludes with the paragraph.
"In forwarding this citation, Air Ministry have requested that it be treated as confidential and that it is for the information of next of kin only. This citation will, therefore, not be released to the press for publication"
Six weeks after receiving his award and at 14:15 on the afternoon of 16th December 1940 F/O Millen took off from RAF St Eval in Cornwall in a Spitfire Mk1 (X4350) LY- on a photo reconnaissance sortie over the English Channel to the coastal area of Brest in Northern France. This aircraft was painted in Green Camotint.
He failed to return from this sortie having been shot down by a German flak battery just off the coat of France at Lannilis, Finistere, 20 km North of Brest. His body was later washed ashore at Treflez,31 km NE of Brest and is buried there in the village churchyard.
His is the only war grave in this churchyard.
He was 26 years old and had completed 723 flying hours.
It was his 50th and final sortie with the Top Secret No1 PRU.
PER ARDVA AD ASTRA Awards of the DFC to Coastal Command aircrew are very rare indeed, and those for 1940 are almost impossible to locate. Only some 750 awards of the DFC were made in 1940 with the vast majority of these being awarded to Battle of Britain fighter pilots. It is perhaps an unrighted travesty that this Spitfire pilot and his fellows who actually flew unarmed right through the combat zone of the Battle of Britain are not entitled to wear a Battle of Britain Clasp.AN EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT GROUP OF GREAT RARITY(NOTE:) This clandestine & top secret photographic unit did not issue individual pilots flying log books to operational officers. All sortie details were entered into the unit operations book which was kept under the strictest of secure circumstances at the unit HQ. This record has only just been made public in 2015 ( under the 75 year rule) at The National Archive and as seen above we have obtained fascinating details of most of F/O Millen's recoded sorties from it.These operations were so secret that even Millen's mother in NZ was only told what he did for his DFC by confidential letter after the war was over, and even then received the instruction that the details were for her eyes only and were not to be passed to the press.(SOLD)