[1][2] His Danish father, Anton, from Randers, Denmark had settled in New Zealand about 1912 and married a young widow, Lilian Allen, nee Ladbrook.

Arnold became a member of 2nd Hastings Boy Scout Troop and after leaving school decided to go into journalism gaining a position with the Hawke's Bay Daily Mail newspaper.

At 0800 hours on 19 August 1942 flying a tactical reconnaissance mission in support of the amphibious commando Dieppe Raid Pilot Officer Christensen of No.

His lead pilot’s aircraft quite quickly dived into the sea off shore, and Christensen tried to make it back across the English Channel, but halfway to safety his engine seized, and he had to ditch on the water, spending two days adrift in a tiny dinghy before being washed ashore on the French coast and taken prisoner.

He spoke Danish and some German and was the escape committee’s Intelligence expert on Denmark[12] He teamed up with two Norwegians, Halldor Espelid and Nils Jorgen Fugelsang and the Australian James Catanach who spoke excellent German and conversational Norwegian, in a group heading for Denmark and possibly ultimately neutral Sweden.

Nearing the border suspicious policemen insisted on carefully examining their papers, checking their briefcases which contained newspapers and escape rations.

[14] Although the four escapees had split up pretending to be travelling individually hoping to reduce the risk of recapture they were all in the same railway carriage, more policemen arrived and closely examined every passenger, soon arresting all four suspects.

[20][21][22][23][24][25] Christensen was one of the 50 escapees who had been listed by SS-Gruppenfuhrer Arthur Nebe, reportedly on Hitler’s personal order, to be killed[26] so was amongst the unfortunate executed and murdered by the Gestapo.