Grahame Christie

Malcolm Grahame Christie CMG DSO MC ( 27 January 1881 - 3 November 1971), known as either Colonel or Group-Captain Graham Christie, was a British Air Attaché in Berlin, 1927–1930, and subsequently worked as an intelligence officer in Germany from 1930 until 1939.

Christie investigated the political situation in Germany in the 1930s, initially as a freelance amateur, then after 1933 on behalf of Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office Sir Robert Vansittart, who regarded Christie as the best source to provide information on the inner workings of the Nazi party to the British government.^[1] In 1935 Christie arranged for Konrad Henlein, the leader of the pro-Nazi Sudeten German Party, to visit London and meet with Vansittart. Henlein successfully used the visit to play the part of the reasonable statesman and convince the British to put pressure on Czechoslovak officials to accede to the demands of the Sudeten Germans.^[2]

Early life[]

Christie was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire on 27 January 1881, the son of John and Annabelle Christie, his father was a bank manager. In the 1911 Census of Leeds Christie is in the Grand Central Hotel and is described as a Chemical Engineer.

First world war[]

Christie joined the Royal Flying Corp in 1914^[3] and latter transferred to the Royal Air Force as a Second Lieutenant when it was formed in 1918.

Honours and awards[]

24 January 1917 - Captain (temporary Major) Malcolm Grahame Christie MC of the Royal Flying Corp, is appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order for valuable service rendered in connection with the war.^[4]

Family[]

A great-nephew of Christie, The Honourable Dr Nicholas Blain, in his book Pilots and Management: Industrial Relations in the UK Airlines (1972)., paid tribute to Christie as “one of the earliest pioneers of British aviation”.^[5]

References[]

^ Ferris, John Robert, Intelligence and Strategy: Selected Essays "Vansittart, intelligence and appeasement", Routledge, 2005, p. 64
^ Parker, R. A. C. (1993). Chamberlain and Appeasement: British Policy and the Coming of the Second World War. Macmillan Education. p. 147.
^ "No. 28980". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 November 1914. p. 9518.
^ "No. 29916". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 January 1917. p. 927.
^ Blain, A.N.J. (1972). Pilots and Management: Industrial Relations in the U.K. Airlines. Allen and Unwin. ISBN 9780043310489. Retrieved 7 June 2020.

External links[]

The Papers of Group Captain Malcolm Christie held at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge

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[1] Ferris, John Robert, Intelligence and Strategy: Selected Essays "Vansittart, intelligence and appeasement", Routledge, 2005, p. 64

[2] Parker, R. A. C. (1993). Chamberlain and Appeasement: British Policy and the Coming of the Second World War. Macmillan Education. p. 147.

[3] "No. 28980". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 November 1914. p. 9518.

[dso-4] "No. 29916". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 January 1917. p. 927.

[5] Blain, A.N.J. (1972). Pilots and Management: Industrial Relations in the U.K. Airlines. Allen and Unwin. ISBN 9780043310489. Retrieved 7 June 2020.

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