F-2006-00257 INITIAL REQUEST

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01268716
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: September 12, 2023
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2023
• Case Number: F-2019-01343
• Publication Date: November 21, 2003

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CALGARY OFFICE CONNECT
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Information and Privacy Coordinator
Washington, DC. 20505
2002
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I sent an enquiry to the CIA via the interne and was advised to direct my information
request to you by MollyHale@uciasov . Tried the e-mail 'default links', but they only came up
as 'Page Not Found'.
I'm doing family history research and will try to briefly give some background
information, followed by my questions.
My uncle, Canadian Robert Henry Niven, went to England and joined the Royal Air
Force 'great expansion' in 1935. He was trained as a pilot and when his 4 year short-service
officer's commission was nearly completed, he was recruited in late 1938 by Squadron Leader
Fred Winterbotham (worked with the ENIGMA cipher and published the first book on the topic)
with the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/M16) and by Colonel Georges Ronin (after
Germany took over France, he became an Allied spy against the pro-German French Vichy
government) of the French Deuxieme Bureau, along with a wealthy Australian businessman
named Sydney Cotton (had been a Royal Naval Air Service pilot in WWI).
Also involved in their recruitment were Alfred and Ignacio Miranda who owned the
American Armaments Corporation based in New York. Employee Paul Koster also involved.
Basically they were gunrunners and were the subjects of a Congressional investigation in the
1930's over some conflict in South America, possibly Uruguay or Paraguay.
Cotton and Niven were provided (through the Miranda's and British & French
intelligence) with three Lockheed 12A Electra Junior aircraft, which they modified and installed
secret camera compartments in England with the assistance of Milo Burcham from the Lockheed
Aircraft company.
They had discovered a method of keeping camera lenses defrosted above 8,000' and in the
first half of 1939 they flew clandestine aerial reconnaissance missions in the civilian aircraft
photographing German and Italian war preparations and military establishments throughout
North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Cyrenaicia, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, & Somaliland), the
Middle East (Arabia and Aden), the Mediterranean (Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Crete, the Greek
Islands, the Dodecanese Islands) and Europe (Germany). Cotton owned a camera film making
company named 'Dufaycolor' and during the summer, the German's sent a Herr Schoene (likely
a German intelligence agent) to invite Cotton to Germany. Agfa films of Germany wanted to
purchase the rights to the Dufaycolor film process and market it on their film base. This gave
Cotton and Niven an ideal cover.
In Germany they met Herr Traeder, who was Reichmarshall Hermann Goering's business
manager. To sweeten the deal, they took photos from the ground of Goering's mansion, Karinhall
on Dufaycolor film and presented them as a gift. They also took secret photos of his underground
bunker system at the rear of the building, which was under construction. At the Frankfurt Air
Races in August they gave courtesy flights in their Lockheed executive aircraft to various
German dignitaries. On one occasion Albert Kesselring was flying the aircraft with German
fighters off each wingtip along the most heavily fortified part of Germany, the Ruhr Valley.
While he piloted the aircraft, Cotton worked a hidden camera switch beside his seat and my uncle
worked the cameras in the back. At the request of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
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and Lord Halifax, Cotton & Niven flew to Berlin to invite Goering as Cotton's guest to England
for a holiday. The real purpose of the trip was for a secret meeting so the British government
could try to convince him that England would go to war if Germany invaded Poland, and Goering
could hopefully convince Hitler. Goering cancelled at the last minute, all civil aircraft was
grounded and Cotton & Niven barely escaped Germany days before WWII began. They kept the
cameras working as they left Germany and with fighters again off each winglip. Previously, the
Gestapo had warned them to never to return to Germany or they would never be seen again.
Back in England they flew missions for Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) of British
Admiralty intelligence photographing the Irish coast looking for anii-aircraft installations and any
possible construction on U-Boat pens.
Two women were also involved on some of the European ffights to operate the cameras
while Cotton flew the aircraft and Niven navigated. One was Cotton's cousin, Andrea Johansen,
and the other was Pat Martin, Cotton's girlfriend_ When the RAF took over their unit they
weren't hiring women, so Pat Martin was sent to Italy to spy on the ground and determine Italian
intentions. She barely escaped Italy when Germany invaded France, then again barely escaped
when the Germans took Paris. On her return to England, she was only able to get a job as an
ambulance driver for the rest of the war and Andrea married Niven. Pat Martin later married
U.S. Army Brigadier General Beck and still lives on their ranch on the island of Kauai in Hawaii,
USA. Neither woman ever received any official recognition.
The Royal Air Force took over their little unit from intelligence, calling it variously, the
Special Survey Flight, the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), the Photographic
Development Unit (PDU) and 212 Squadron. They were provided with Spitfires and a Lockheed
Hudson, which was modified for photo reconnaissance and was flown from French airbases.
Cotton had also set up his own photo interpretation unit that the RAF also took over. Many of the
other pilots who did photo reconnaissance during WWII were trained by Niven and another RAF
pilot named Maurice 'Shorty' Longbottom. Part of their unit was sent to Iraq to take clandestine
aerial photos of the Russian oilfields at Baku, preparatory to a raid on them This caused quite a
stir in Berlin and Moscow when the Germans recovered the intelligence documents on the
operation when they took France. About two weeks after the Dunquerque evacuation, Cotton and
Niven evacuated ENIGMA personnel and equipment from France just before the Germans took
Paris, again escaping at the last minute.
Due to his unorthodox style and anti-bureaucratic tendencies, Cotton was given a medal
and replaced. Niven was a Squadron Leader now, was given the DFC, then flew about half a
dozen to a dozen sorties during the Battle of Britain in an armed Spitfire fighter, but was dropped
to his substantive rank of Flight Lieutenant and sent out in his own car to drive around England
measuring grass fields for emergency landing strips. Eventually he was promoted to Wing
Commander and assigned as Commanding Officer of RAF 59 Squadron at North Coates, a
squadron with an extremely high casualty and mortality rate. About a month and a half later
(29/30 May 1942) he went missing on a sortie attacking German shipping convoys near the
Dutch Frisian Islands on what was likely a diversionary mission for the first 1,000 Plane Raid
Over Cologne.
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Cotton has now come to be regarded as the father of modem photo reconnaissance by the
British and Australians. The main aircraft they used was G-AFTL, which was in the Lexington
Kentucky Air Museum until recently. It is still flying in the USA today and is referred to as
"Lockheed's First Spy Plane". It's been in a number of movies, including 'The A Team', 'Doc
Savage', 'The Amelia Earhart Story' and 'The Howard Hughes Story'. The other two Lockheed
12A's were in France and one may still be in service.
So far I've been able to locate 22 books that give some or parts of their experiences. If
you're interested I can provide you with the list.
QUESTIONS:
I have been trying to learn if Cotton and Niven did any work for Bill Donovan and/or Sir
William Stephenson (Intrepid), but am difficulty getting information other than what is published
in books. Would you be able to answer the question of whether they did work for them (or even
one or more missions) or not, or be able to direct me to someone who could?
Have also been having little success on finding anything about Alfred and Ignacio
Miranda, or their employee Paul Koster. Can you help there? Is there a book out there
somewhere that you're aware of that deals with gun runners during the period from WWI through
WWII? Koster was a rather interesting character in his 70's who seems to have worked for just
about everyone, including the Germans, French, British and maybe Americans, but was loyal to
whoever he worked for at the time.
Again having no success in learning anything much about Herr Schoene, other than he
was a pilot in Von Richtofen's (the Red Baron) Flying Circus in WWI when Herman Goering
was there. After WWI he did flight training in South America and lost his leg in an air crash, then
came to work for Goering in Germany. I suspect he might have been working for German
intelligence. Again, any help or suggestions on him would be appreciated_
Would appreciate hearing about any information you may have on this topic, even if I
haven't asked the question.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Phone
E-Mail:
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