Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Reginald Percy Mills, (7 December 1885 – 4 July 1968), was a senior commander in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

and later the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the early years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Reginald Mills was born in Spalding, Lincolnshire, the son of William Henry Mills, an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and Emily Wiles Quincey Mills (née Hobson). His siblings included

William Hobson Mills William Hobson Mills FRS (6 July 1873 – 22 February 1959) was a British organic chemist. Biography William Hobson Mills was born in Hammersmith on 6 July 1873, the eldest of five children of William Henry Mills, an architect, and Emily Wil ...

, an organic chemist and winner of the

Davy Medal The Davy Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry". Named after Humphry Davy, the medal is awarded with a monetary gift, initially of £1000 (currently £2000). H ...

. He was educated at

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

. Between 1905 and 1912 he held reserve commissions in

The Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regimen ...

and the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

, becoming a regular officer in the latter in 1912.

Royal Flying Corps service

Mills was awarded

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

Aviator's Certificate no. 377 on 17 December 1912, and was appointed a flying officer in the RFC on 14 August 1913, joining No. 4 Squadron. He was among the first RFC pilots to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

at the beginning of the

and saw action at the

Battle of Mons A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. On 22 January 1915 he is believed to have scored an air-to-air kill with a rifle fired from the cockpit of his plane. On 10 April 1915 he became a flight commander in No. 7 Squadron and was appointed commanding officer of No. 6 Squadron on 9 December 1915. He commanded 6 Squadron until September 1916, during which time it participated in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. On 21 September 1916 Mills assumed command of 14th Wing in Italy, before transferring to the command of 51st Wing in October 1917, a position he held until the end of the war.

Royal Air Force service

Mills was awarded a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in August 1919 (shortly afterwards redesignated as

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

). He held a variety of staff positions throughout the 1920s, including chief staff officer in the RAF in India. In late 1928 and early 1929, he superintended the rescue of

British embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Com ...

staff and others in the Kabul evacuation by air operation. He retired an

air vice marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

in 1942.

Family and later life

Mills married Helen Bulpett at Yatesbury Church on 29 April 1919. The marriage was later dissolved. He retired to

Hobart, Tasmania Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

, where he died in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Reginald 1885 births 1968 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Military personnel from Lincolnshire Royal Fusiliers officers Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers British emigrants to Australia