in 1942 Christie took his
examen artium in 1935, and attended the
Technische Hochschule in Berlin (today
Technische Universität 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 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. 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. He then returned to the Air Force, and was promoted to colonel in 1962 and major general in 1968. He died in December 2004 in Oslo. ==References==