Friedrich Christiansen (12 December 1879 – 3 December 1972) was a German general who served as commander of the German Wehrmacht in the occupied Netherlands during World War II.
Christiansen was a World War I flying ace and the only seaplane pilot to receive the Pour le Mérite. He joined the Nazi Party in the interwar period, eventually rising to the rank of Korpsführer of the National Socialist Flyers Corps. After the German invasion of the Netherlands, Christiansen was appointed as the Wehrmachtbefehlshaber (Chief Military Commander) in the Netherlands. In response to attacks by the Dutch Resistance, he ordered reprisals against Dutch civilians such as the Putten raid. He was also responsible for the Dutch famine of 1944–1945 that resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians after ordering an embargo on all food transports to the western Netherlands. After the war, Christiansen was arrested and convicted of war crimes.
Early life
He was born in Wyk auf Föhr, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, into an old seafaring family, the son of a sea captain. The generations-long seafaring tradition within his family charted an obvious course for his future. In 1895 he joined the merchant marine, serving for 7 years and volunteering in 1901 for MTBs. After one year, he returned to the merchant marine, serving several years aboard the 5-masted Preussen (at the time, the largest sailing ship in the world,) as Second Officer. In 1913 he decided to deviate from this career, and learned to fly. Having graduated and gaining licence No. 707, he became a flying instructor at a civilian flying school.
Service during World War I
In August 1914, Christiansen was called up and posted to Zeebrugge as naval aviator. He flew Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 seaplanes over the North Sea, the English Channel, and Britain. For his bombing missions on Dover and Ramsgate, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. From 1915 to 1916 Christiansen went on numerous reconnaissance and bombing missions, helping to make his unit at Zeebrugge one of the most successful in the German Naval Air Service. On 27 April 1916, as Leutnant der Matrosen Artillerie (Lieutenant of Naval Artillery,) Christiansen was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class and Knights Cross with Swords of the House Order of Hohenzollern.
Christiansen claimed his first air-to-air victory 15 May 1917 by shooting down a Sopwith Pup off Dover. On 1 September 1917 he took command of Naval Air Station at Zeebrugge, and being promoted to Oberleutnant zur See, shot down a Porte FB2 Baby off Felixstowe the same day. On 11 December 1917 he shot down the non-rigid coastal class airship C-27, Cdr. Flight Lieutenant John Francis Dixon, DSC, near the Belgian coast.
Christiansen continued to carry out reconnaissance, rescue, and bombing missions, such that by December 1917, he had completed 440 missions, including shooting down Airship C27. At this time he was also awarded the Pour le Mérite ("Blue Max"), the first of only three given to naval aviators and the only one to a seaplane pilot. He was promoted to Kapitänleutnant in 1918.
On 15 February 1918 Christiansen shot down a Curtiss H12B flying boat off Felixstowe, followed by 2 more on 24 April and 25 April. In June he claimed three more Felixstowe F2As. On 6 July he surprised and damaged British submarine in the Thames estuary, killing its captain and five crewmen (the submarine reached harbour). By 11 November 1918 he raised his personal tally to 13, as well as some shared victories, which cumulatively may have brought his total to 21.
Activity between wars
Following the German Revolution of late 1918, Christiansen was a member of the 3rd Marinebrigade commanded by Wilfried von Loewenfeld. In 1922 Christiansen was active again in the merchant marine, as a ship's captain. He continued in this pursuit until 1929, when he was employed as a pilot by the Claude Dornier Company. While with Dornier, he flew what was at the time the largest seaplane in the world, the Dornier Do X on its maiden Atlantic flight to New York in 1930. Christiansen's distinguished career led him eventually to being called to a post in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM/Reich Aviation Ministry) from 1933 to 1937, and in 1936 he was promoted to Generalmajor. On 15 April 1937 he was appointed Korpsführer of the National Socialist Flyers Corps, or NSFK. He was also promoted to Generalleutnant. On 1 January 1939 he was named General der Flieger.