A World War II DFC medal group awarded to Group Captain Randolph Stuart 'Milly' Mills, of 263 Squadron, serving in Norwegian expeditions, commander of 87 Squadron in the Battle of Britain, and Assistant Air Attaché in the USA.

Born on 20 October 1909, Stuart Mills joined the RAF in January 1927 and was promoted to a Flying Officer in November 1937. On 20th October 1939 he joined the newly formed 263 Squadron at Filton, and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. The squadron flew Gladiator bi-planes, and he served on two expeditions with the Squadron in Norway.

On 19th April 1940, the squadron was ordered to Scapa Flow to embark on the carrier HMS Glorious and sail towards the Norwegian coast. On the 27th April, Mills was on patrol in a Gladiator over Lake Lesjaskog, providing cover for a further six Gladiators to take off. During the patrol he engaged and shot down a Heinkel IIIs and engaged in six other combats over the lake in the next two and a half hours, before being shot up and forced to land on the lake under machine gun attack. The next day the squadron covered the withdrawal of troops and returned to their ships with eight hours of attacks by dive bombers.

Flight Lieutenant Mills was awarded the DFC on 10 May 1940, the citation reads:

Flight Lieutenant Randolph Stuart Mills (36067): "This officer was one of the Flight Commanders of a squadron whilst in Norway. During an enemy bombing attack he remained in his cockpit and started his engine, taking off under machine gun fire. He assisted in destroying one Heinkel III aircraft and attacked eight other aircraft of that type and three Junkers 88. He also carried out a successful forced landing when enemy shots had removed one aircraft cylinder and starboard inner-plane strut'

In May 1940 the squadron returned to Norway on HMS Furious. Three of their aircraft, including Mills, left the carrier in poor weather and flew into a mountain near Torksen on Senja Island, which was shrouded in thick fog. He escaped Norway on a Navy ship and returned to Scotland in June 1940. In August 1940, Mills took command of 87 Squadron at Church Fenton and was subsequently promoted to Squadron Leader.

At the start of 1941, Mills was posted to Washington DC as an Assistant Air Attaché, to develop British training facilities in the USA. Mills also personally briefed Roosevelt on European operations. He was promoted to Wing Commander in 1942 and acting Group Captain in 1944. He did not return to the UK until 1945. He retired from the RAF on 20th October 1956, retaining the rank of Group Captain. He died on 7th January 1996.

The medal group comprises a Distinguished Flying Cross, 1939 - 1945 War Medal with Battle of Britain bar, Atlantic Star with Air Crew Europe bar, Burma Star, Defence Medal, War Medal, Coronation Medal 1953 and Jubilee Medal 1977, all framed with photographs of Group Captain R.S. 'Milly' Mills.

The lot also includes his Pilot's Flying Log Book from April 1940 to February 1956 (this replaced his log books dated from 1932, which were lost in action at Torsken Senja Island), a copy of his service record from the RAF, a scrapbook of newspaper articles and photographs relating to his time in Los Angeles, other documents realting to his time in the USA, copies of documents at the Public Records Office relating to action in 1940, and other RAF related ephemera.