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.

Personal life

He was born in Vang, Hedmark 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 and officer Johan Koren Christie, an uncle of politician

Werner Christie Werner Hosewinckel Christie (born 26 April 1949) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was Norway's first Minister of Health from 1992 to 1995, serving in Gro Harlem Brundtland's third cabinet. Werner Christie was educated as a me ...

and a grandnephew of politician Hans Langsted Christie and architect Christian Christie. He was also 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 ...

and Else Christie Kielland. In 1945 he married Elisabeth Marie Cathrine Hille, which made him a son-in-law of bishop

Henrik Greve Hille Henrik Greve Hille (1 October 1881 – 31 May 1946) was a Norwegian clergyman. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Hamar from 1934 to 1942 and again from 1945 until 1946. Biography He was born at Vang in Hedmark, Norway. He was the son of ...

Career

Christie took his examen artium in 1935, and attended the Technische College of Berlin from 1935 to 1937 and '' Hærens Flyveskole'' from 1937 to 1939. As World War II broke out, Christie, with the rank of sergeant, was called to Sola Airport as a member of Norway's

neutrality Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction ...

guard. However the airport was attacked by Germany on 9 April 1940 and fighting ensued. The Norwegians lost the battle, but Christie managed to retreat to the inner country. His group was involved in fighting until 23 April, whereafter it retreated further east. Norway eventually fell to German rule, and in the autumn of 1940 Christie fled to Canada via Sweden, the Soviet Union and the United States. He joined the 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. Not many from his ''Hærens Flyveskole'' class survived the war. After the war, Christie wanted to continue in the air force. He graduated from the RAF Staff College in 1946, worked for the Scandinavian Airlines System from 1947 to 1949 and as 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 () 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 Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including th ...

. He then returned to the Air Force, and was promoted to colonel in 1962 and major general in 1968. He left the air force in 1977. He worked for the clothing company Helly Hansen for a year, and then for the Norwegian Red Cross from 1978 to 1982. He was also a member of the gentlemen's skiing club SK Fram from 1963. He died in December 2004 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Werner Hosewinckel 1917 births 2004 deaths People from Hamar Technical University of Berlin alumni Norwegian expatriates in Germany Norwegian expatriates in Canada Norwegian World War II flying aces Norwegian Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Royal Norwegian Air Force generals Shot-down aviators Norwegian prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian Army Air Service personnel of World War II Royal Norwegian Air Force personnel of World War II SK Fram members Norwegian military attachés Wing leaders Royal Air Force officers Norwegian people of Scottish descent