Sgt Aksel Niels Christensen

Sgt Aksel Niels Christensen served as an aircraft mechanic in the USAAF during World War Two. He was a Danish citizen at the time of enlistment, but was naturalized in the USA during the war.

Aksel Niels Christensen (or Kristensen) was born on 12 July 1914 in Copenhagen, the son of carpenter Thorvald Aksel Kristensen and Anna Marie Kristensen (née Larsen).^[1]

The family emigrated to the United States, his father arriving in New York on 21 September 1921 and the rest of the family following the following year.^[2]

In 1940, he lived in Hurley, Jackson County, Mississippi and worked for the heavy construction company Jones Construction Company. This company was among many other things contracted to build Camp Shelby, which became the largest military camp in Mississippi.^[3] He declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States on 17 March 1941, at which point he was working as a farmer in Lucedale about 20 miles from Hurley.^[4]

Christensen volunteered for the United States Army Air Force on 10 June 1942 at Camp Shelby.^[5] He was trained as an aircraft mechanic.^[6]

He was naturalised as citizen on 26 November 1943 at which point he was stationed at 317th Bomb Squadron, 88th Bomb Group at Avon Park, Florida.^[7] This squadron was activated on 15 July 1942, and was part of 88th BG until it was inactivated on 1 May 1944. The squadron operated as a replacement training unit at the time of Christensen’s service.^[8]

Christensen later served at Bromley Field in Mobile, Alabama, before returning to farming in Hurley after the war. He died on 17 June 2006.^[9]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Vor Frelser Sogn.

[2] Ancestry: New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.

[3] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.

[4] Ancestry: Mississippi, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1907-2008.

[5] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.

[6] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88261674/aksel-n-christensen: accessed 22 January 2023).

[7] Ancestry: Florida, Naturalization Records, 1847-1995.

[8] Maurer, M. (1982). Combat squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, p. 386.

[9] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88261674/aksel-n-christensen: accessed 22 January 2023).