André Fouchard Christoffersen

André Fouchard Christoffersen is trained as observer and serves in the French Foreign Legion before the war. In 1941, he arrives in London and volunteers for the Royal Air Force. He fails to become pilot, and joins “The Buffs” in May 1942.

André Fouchard Christoffersen is born on 11 October 1919 in Copenhagen, Denmark. [1]

In the mid-1930s he is at sea on different ships crossing the Atlantic. He arrives in Vancouver, BC, on 26 February 1935 on-board MS AMERIKA. Later that year, on 18 June 1935, he deserts the liner SS FREDERIK VIII. He signs on the SS GYDA bound for Jamaica on 22 July 1935. The records state that she returns to New York again on 7 September 1935 on-board SS ANNA MAERSK from Cristobal. [2]

He returns to Denmark and serves in the Army Flying Corps from February to November 1937. He is trained as observer, but is too young to be trained as pilot. Therefore, in 1938, he volunteers for the French Foreign Legion. He deserts on 13 September 1940 and arrives in England via Palestine and Egypt in 1941. [3]

Enlists in the Royal Air Force

He joins the Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve in March 1941 with the rank of Aircraftman 2nd Class (1385562), and is posted to No. 1 Receiving Wing (Flight No. 1, 30 Intake). In April 1941 he has been further posted to No. 8 Initial Training Wing, Newquay, Cornwall.

He does not pass the initial exams, and is re-posted to Blackpool to be trained as Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. He is not satisfied with this situation, but is given a second chance, as he is again accepted as Pilot under training in October 1941. This time he passes the initial exams, but fails a second. He leaves the Royal Air Force in April 1942.

He tries to be accepted for service in the Royal Norwegian Air Force and Fleet Air Arm, but in the end, in May 1942, he joins the East Kent Regiment “the Buffs”, to which many Danes were recruited during the war (No. 6300536).

He survives the war, but at present, I have no further information. [4]

Sources

1. Rigsarkivet, Danske Råd i London, Rekrutteringskontoret, pk. 70
2. Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, Ancestry.com. Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
3. Rigsarkivet, Danske Råd i London, Rekrutteringskontoret, pk. 70
4. Rigsarkivet, Danske Råd i London, Rekrutteringskontoret, pk. 69 and 70