George Patterson "Pat" Christie

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CHRISTIE, F/O George Patterson (40081) - Distinguished Flying Cross -
Photo Development Unit (although with No.242 Squadron when announced)
Awarded as per London Gazette dated 16 August 1940.

No published citation other than "for gallantry and devotion to duty in the execution of air operations." Public Records Office Air 2/6085 (Non-Immediate Awards, 1940-1941) has recommended citation:

On 13th June 1940, this officer, in an unarmed aircraft, attacked a Breda bomber off the coast of Monaco, and by repeatedly diving at it, forced it to land in the sea. The five occupants of the machine climbed out and swam for the shore, and the aircraft sank almost immediately. Flying Officer Christie has obtained valuable information concerning enemy movements and concentrations by daylight reconnaissance flights over enemy territory.

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CHRISTIE, F/L George Patterson (40081) - Bar to DFC - No.66 Sq.
Awarded as per London Gazette dated 14 January 1941.

This officer has shown outstanding ability and leadership over a long period of air operations. He is a keen and determined pilot and has destroyed at least seven enemy aircraft.

NOTE: Public Record Office Air 2/10175 has recommendation dated 18 December by Group Captain F.O. Soden, Officer Commanding, RAF Station Biggin Hill. The document has been torn; words in brackets are missing but presumed from context:

Flight Lieutenant Christie was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for outstanding [work] whilst in the Photographic Development Unit, and since [then] has destroyed six enemy aircraft. He has shown great keenness and determination and [exhibited] his undoubted ability as a skilful leader.

On 20 December 1940 the Air Officer Commanding, No.11 Group (Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory) added his comments:

This gallant young officer was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for outstanding work in France. Since returning to this country he has shown undoubted ability and skill as a leader, combined with great keenness and determination as a fighter pilot. Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross he has personally destroyed six enemy aircraft. This brings his total to seven enemy aircraft destroyed. I strongly recommend him for the immediate award of a Bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross.

On 21 December 1940 Air Marshall William Sholto Douglas (Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Fighter Command) wrote "Approved" on the form.

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Reports Older Nazi Airmen 'All Right' - Youths Are Bullies

An East Coast Canadian Port, January 17, 1941 - (CP) - Flight Lieutenant George Patterson Christie of Montreal, told reporters today of some of the things he has noticed about Nazi airmen in the months he has been flying Royal Air Force war-planes. Christie, recently awarded a bar for his Distinguished Flying Cross, arrived aboard a British steam ship from Britain. "The Germans under 25," he said, "are much as you'd expect them to be - brazen bullies who become bewildered when it suddenly dawns on them that Nazi tactics don't go everywhere. Usually when you meet a chap over 25, he's alright."
Christie, son of a McGill University professor, C.V. Christie, recalled one successful duel he waged against a lone German fighter.
"He managed to land safely," he recalled, "and after I came down we had quite a chat. He was a good fellow - over 25. We discussed mistakes we had made and the best methods of correcting them."
"The German wore an Iron Cross. His chief worry was about my rank. It would have been a black mark for any Nazi pilot to be shot down by a man of lower rating than himself. He was pretty happy when he saw that our ranks corresponded."
Christie was among a group of R.A.F. men arriving to carry out various tasks on this continent. He was non-committal on reports, circulated by traveling companions, that he will be married before returning to Britain.

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LEADING SCORER IN LIBYAN VICTORY IS HALIFAX PILOT
Bags Two Enemy Planes as British Destroy 20 Axis Raiders
DOWNED LIKE FLIES

London, Feb. 16, 1942 — (CP Cable) — Sgt.-Pilot R. H. Christie, of Halifax, was top scorer in the Royal Air Force's smashing victory over the axis Libyan air force Saturday, shooting down two of the 20 planes destroyed and damaging another.

All Damaged
Fought in the Acroma area, ten miles west of Tobruk, 18 Kittyhawk fighters shot down the 20 Italian and German planes and damaged the remainder of an axis force of 30 planes.
Christie, whose squadron is credited with 11 1/2 victories, got two Macchi 200s and damaged a Messerschmitt in the five-minute battle.
Members of the Royal Australian Air Force knocked off the others-"like flies," the returning airmen said.
One of the Australian pilots said: "The enemy were just about to start ground strafing when we pounced on them. There were at least 30 of them, but numbers didn't mean a thing. It was like swatting flies the way they went down.
"On the ground below as we dived and banked I could see the troops flinging their hats into the air as the ground shook to the impact of falling aircraft. I counted six of the enemy hitting the ground in the same number of seconds. ...Not one enemy aircraft escaped undamaged."
A British victory at sea also was announced by the admiralty. It said submarines of the Mediterranean fleet had sunk one large and one medium-size supply ships, and that another medium supply ship probably had been sunk by a torpedo.
The admiralty also said a submarine fought a spirited action with an enemy armed trawler, hitting the ship with at least 15 shells before being forced to dive by the fire of enemy shore batteries. The trawler crew were abandoning ship when the submarine dived, the admiralty announced.

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18 Canadians Missing As Air Tempo Increases

Ottawa, July 9, 1942 - (CP) – The Royal Canadian Air Force in its 312th casualty list of the war, reported today one man killed on active service overseas and eighteen missing after overseas air operations.
Today's list was the longest in some days.
Besides those missing and killed, the overseas section of the list contained the names of one man previously reported missing and now reported killed on active service; one previously reported missing and now reported prisoner of war; and three previously reported missing and now presumed dead.
Four men were listed as killed on active service in Canada, two as drowned accidentally in Canada, one as dead of injuries suffered on active service in Canada and one as seriously injured on active service in Canada:
Including, with next of kin:
Christie, George Patterson, D.F.C., Squadron Leader, killed on Active Service in Canada. Mrs. G.P. Christie (wife), Pointe Claire, Que.

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POINTE CLAIRE LAKE VIEW MEMORIAL GARDENS
Quebec, Canada
Grave Reference: Masonic Sec. Row W. Grave 5

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