Friedrich Christiansen Friedrich Christiansen ( 12 December 1879 – 3 December 1972 ) was a World War I German seaplane ace who claimed shooting down twenty planes and an airship ; thirteen of those victories were confirmed . During World War II , he was the commander of the German Wehrmacht in the Netherlands . 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 Class 2 . 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 Class 1 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 Sept 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 the 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 November 11 , 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 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 Reich aviation ministry from 1933 to 1937 , and in 1936 he was promoted to " Generalmajor " . On April 15 , 1937 he was appointed " Korpsführer " of the National Socialist Flyers Corps , or " NSFK " . He was also promoted to " Generalleutnant " . On January 1 , 1939 he was named " General der Flieger " . Service during World War II . From 29 May 1940 until 7 April 1945 Christiansen was " Wehrmachtsbefehlshaber in den Niederlanden " ( Supreme Commander of the " Wehrmacht " in the Netherlands ) , and until June 26 , 1943 , was concurrently still Korpsführer of the NSFK . In addition , from 10 November 1944 until 28 January 1945 supreme commander of the 25th Army . After the war Christiansen was arrested for war crime s . On 2 October 1944 he had ordered a raid on the village of Putten in Gelderland , the Netherlands , in retaliation , after one of his officers , a " Leutnant " Sommers , was killed there by the Dutch resistance . When he heard about the actions of the resistance near Putten , Christiansen is reported to have said , „ " Das ganze Nest muss angesteckt werden und die ganze Bande an die Wand gestellt ! " " ( " Put them all against the wall and burn the place down ! " ) In compliance with this retributive sentiment , several members of the civilian population were shot , the village was burned , and 661 of the males of the town were deported to labor camps , the vast majority of whom never returned . Christiansen was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in 1948 in Arnhem for war crimes but was released in December 1951 . He died in Aukrug in 1972 . His release from imprisonment in 1951 was an occasion for his native town , Wyk auf Föhr , to renew Christiansen ' s honorary citizenship and reinstate a street name in his honor , previously changed by the British military administration in 1945 . These honors sparked controversies in Germany and the Netherlands and they were revoked in 1980 by the town council .