MAH Christie

Discuss all aspects of Classic Minis in Motorsport be it historic or current, the cars, the personalities & the venues
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uncle bernie
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:42 am

MAH Christie

Post by uncle bernie »

Hi Mark,

Michael Christie motors , were a part of Alexander's and I believe were a Roots Dealer, I thought you might find this amusing, somebody from a blog called Plane Talk was trying to find out Michael Christie's initials, they stood for Michael Alexander Hunter................

"Wow, thanks for all that Kev. Your input reinforces my belief that the films are centred around 57 Squadron after further viewing of some of the reels.

Today I have been concentrating on trying to establish who exactly M.A.H. Christie is/was. After some investigation, I believe he was the son of British diplomat, Group Captain Malcolm Graham Christie. Invalided out of the RAF in the 1920s, Christie Snr worked with Sir Robert Vansittart in the inter-war years, and acted as an independent investigator during the Second World War. He died in 1971 at the ripe old age of 90 (by throwing himself out of a window). A number of his papers are stored in the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge (apparently at the outbreak of war in 1939, Christie destroyed a number of his papers, and consequently there are gaps). Interestingly, Christie left his papers to his housekeeper, a Mrs Enid Scott, who donated the papers to the Archive. This leads to believe that his son either died first, or they were estranged at the time of his father making his will.

I have a feeling that Flight Lieutenant M.A.H. Christie survived the war, as I have found references to a M.A.H. Christie racing Mini Coopers around the same time as Stirling Moss in the late 1950s/early 1960s. I believe that this M.A.H. Christie is the man I am looking for, but have drawn a blank at finding out what the initials M.A.H. might have stood for. I have tried seaching for Michael/Mark/Marcus/Max/Matthew/Maurice/Miles Christie, with no likely looking leads. It is of course a possibility that M.A.H. shared his father's first name of Malcolm, in which case he might have been known by either his second or third names. If I could just establish his name then I think the rest of the jigsaw in relation to 57 Squadron will start to fall into place.

At the moment though, I just seem to be banging my head against a brick wall. Maybe I ought to pursue the motor racing/Mini Cooper line of investigation. I might also try contacting the Churchill Archive to see if they have any further information on Group Captain Malcolm Christie's family life which could shed further light on the matter."

Wheeee, I love being an Accessions Assistant!
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