Johan Koren Christie (23 July 1909 – 5 July 1995) was a Norwegian engineer and air force officer, who reached the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

Personal life

He was born in

Vang, Hedmark Vang is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1992 when it became part of Hamar Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was at Fredvang. This sit ...

as a son of professor Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1877–1927) and Karen Amalie Wedel-Jarlsberg (1886–1952). He was a brother of pianist

Amalie Christie Amalie Christie (21 December 1913 – 4 March 2010) was a Norwegian classical pianist, author and anthroposophist. Personal life She was born in Vang, Hedmark as a daughter of professor Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1877–1927) and Baroness Karen ...

and officer Werner Hosewinckel Christie and a grandnephew of politician

Hans Langsted Christie Hans Langsted Christie (1826–1907) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He was born in Fridalen in Aarstad, a son of customs treasurer Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1785–1872).Christian Christie Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie (24 December 1832 – 13 September 1906) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Bergen as a son of customs officer Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1785–1872) and Hansine Langsted (1802–1864) ...

. He was a second cousin of

Jacob Christie Kielland Jacob Christie Kielland (20 January 1897 – 19 October 1972) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Bergen to architect Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland (1866–1926) and his wife Anna Magdalena Katherine (1871–1948), née Christi ...

. In 1939, he married Gustava Kielland Winsnes (1910–1993). They had the son Werner Christie, a politician.

Career

Christie took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1927, attended from 1929 to 1930 and graduated from the Technische College of Berlin in 1935. From 1936 to 1938, he worked at

Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport ( no, Trondheim lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, Trøndelag, Værnes, a vill ...

as well as a lecturer at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

. In 1939, he was hired in the company Norsk Aluminium, and he was on a working trip in

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

when

World War II 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 ...

reached Norway on 9 April 1940. He subsequently travelled to Norway, where he was involved in

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

near Kongsvinger between 13 and 17 April. He joined a group which retreated north. After learning that

southern Norway Southern Norway ( no, Sørlandet; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical region (''landsdel'') along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function. It roughl ...

had fallen to German rule, he travelled to the

Norwegian legation in Stockholm The Norwegian Legation in Stockholm played a significant role during the Second World War. Until 9 April 1940 the legation consisted of four persons, and at the end of the war about 1,100 persons were connected to the legation. Refugee cases were ...

and was dispatched as a courier for General

Otto Ruge Otto Ruge (9 January 1882 – 15 August 1961) was a Norwegian general. Ruge was Commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces after Nazi Germany's assault on Norway in April 1940. Early career Ruge grew up in Kristiania (Oslo) i ...

northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

, where fighting continued. On 7 June 1940, when Norway capitulated, Christie followed the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

in their exodus to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was sent to

Little Norway Little Norway ( no, Lille Norge), officially (FTL, "Air Force Training Camp"), was a Norwegian Army Air Service/Royal Norwegian Air Force training camp in southern Ontario during the Second World War. Origins When Nazi Germany attacked Norway o ...

in Canada on 21 July, but returned to London in 1941 to command the . He also underwent training, and from 1943 he served as an RAF Pathfinder in No. 35 Squadron RAF. He wrote a diary from 1943 to 1944, which has not been published, but is available for historians. In June 1944, he quit active flight, and became connected to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces. He then headed the Repatriation Office, which tracked and rescued Norwegian concentration camp prisoners as Germany lost the war. He was decorated with the

War Cross with Sword The War Cross with Sword (Norwegian Bokmål: ''Krigskorset med sverd, ''Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Krigskrossen med sverd'') is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leadershi ...

, the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch, the Distinguished Flying Cross,

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and even the German Cross of Merit. After the war, he held both civil and military jobs. From 1946 to 1949, he worked for

Det Norske Luftfartsselskap Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (literally "The Norwegian Aviation Company") or DNL, trading internationally as Norwegian Air Lines, was an airline and flag carrier of Norway. Founded in 1927, it operated domestic and international routes from 193 ...

(Norwegian Air Lines), and from 1949 to 1952 he worked in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. From 1952 to 1963, he led the , and from 1963 to 1974, he was in charge of the . He also headed the Aviation Accident Committee from 1959 to 1962, a predecessor of the

Accident Investigation Board Norway The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (NSIA; no, Statens havarikommisjon, SHK) is the government agency responsible for investigating transport-related accidents within Norway. Specifically, it investigates aviation accidents and incident ...

. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1959 and major general in 1963. He was also a member of the gentlemen's skiing club SK Fram from 1961. As a pensioner he was involved in the

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

, in the groups ('Generals and Admirals for Peace') and ('Generals and Admirals against Nuclear Arms'). He died in July 1995 at the family farm in Vang.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Johan Koren 1909 births 1995 deaths People from Hamar Technical University of Berlin alumni Norwegian expatriates in Germany 20th-century Norwegian engineers Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian Army Air Service personnel of World War II Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian expatriates in Canada Norwegian World War II pilots Norwegian Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Royal Norwegian Air Force generals Norwegian World War II memoirists Norwegian diarists Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Directors of government agencies of Norway Norwegian anti-war activists SK Fram members 20th-century Norwegian writers Norwegian people of Scottish descent 20th-century diarists