Grahame Christie
Malcolm Grahame Christie ( 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. 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. 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 Corps in 1914 and latter transferred to the Royal Air Force as a Second Lieutenant when it was formed in 1918. 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”.