Werner Hosewinckel Christie (air force officer)
Werner Hosewinckel Christie (13 December 1917 – 29 December 2004) was a Norwegian air force officer, who reached the rank of major general in the Royal Norwegian Air Force.[1]
Personal life
He was born in
Johan Koren Christie, an uncle of politician Werner Christie and a grandnephew of politician Hans Langsted Christie and architect Christian Christie.[3] He was also a second cousin of Jacob Christie Kielland and Else Christie Kielland.[2]
In 1945 he married Elisabeth Marie Cathrine Hille, which made him a son-in-law of bishop Henrik Greve Hille.[2]
Career
Christie took his
air force-in-exile at Little Norway, and spent the rest of the war as a fighter pilot. He commanded the Norwegian No. 332 Squadron, then the RAF's 234 Squadron, and as wing leader of 150 Wing and the Hunsdon Wing flying the P-51 Mustang, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. After 244 operational missions he was shot down over Germany on 18 April 1945 and held as a prisoner of war until the war's end.[2] Not many from his Hærens Flyveskole class survived the war.[4]
After the war, Christie wanted to continue in the air force. He graduated from the
aerial attaché at the Norwegian embassy in Stockholm from 1949 to 1951. He was appointed as head of the Norwegian Air Force High Command (Luftforsvarets overkommando) in 1951, with the rank of major, but did not stay for long. He worked at the military airport at Gardermoen from 1952 to 1954 and at the air force staff academy from 1954 to 1956. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1953. From 1956 to 1959 he was the secretary-general of Norsk Aero Klubb. He then returned to the Air Force, and was promoted to colonel in 1962 and major general in 1968.[2]
He left the air force in 1977. He worked for the clothing company Helly Hansen for a year,[2] and then for the Norwegian Red Cross from 1978 to 1982.[1] He was also a member of the gentlemen's skiing club SK Fram from 1963.[5] He died in December 2004 in Oslo.[2]
References
- ^ Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g Henriksen, Vera. "Werner Christie". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
- ^ Welle-Strand, Erling (6 January 2005). "Werner Christie (obituary)". Aftenposten (in Norwegian).
- ^ Qvale, Fredrik, ed. (1989). Skiklubben Fram 100 år (in Norwegian). pp. 9–11.