Anton Christensen, was born in Randers in Denmark in , [2] but had emigrated to New Zealand in The naturalisation of his father on 6 October [4] , and with him the family, meant that Christensen became a British Subject.
Christensen attended course No. Following the Wings parade on 27 February Christensen arrived in England in March He was not very enthusiastic about this role. In a letter to his mother in late June he wrote:. The secret aircraft, that he was to fly, was the Mustang Ia fighter. On 19 August , more than 6, forces raided the French coastal town of Dieppe Operation Jubilee. The operation was the first major joint operation conducted by the British and Commonwealth forces in the European theatre.
At sea eight Allied destroyers supported the operation, and in the air seventy-four Allied air squadrons provided cover and tactical reconnaissance.
Mustangs from 26 and Sqns at Gatwick were the first reconnaissance machines in the air at hrs. The raid provided valuable, but costly lessons for the later invasion of Normandy. Of the nearly 4, Canadians embarking on the operation, only 2, returned to England, and many of these were wounded.
There were 3, casualties, which included 1, prisoners of war. Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe fought a hard battle in the air. At the end of the day, according to the renowned aviation author Norman Franks, the RAF could claim a great victory. On the Allied side, the Army Co-operation had the highest level of casualties per squadron: the four squadrons involved lost ten aircraft. This was due to the deep penetration required of these squadrons bringing them well beyond the Allied fighter cover.
