I. J. Fitch

Air Commodore
Isaac John Fitch
Born 3 October 1903
Bedford, England
Died 25 July 1944 (aged 40)
Florida Island, Solomon Islands
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Air Force
Years of service 1926-1944
Rank Air Commodore
Service number 22162
Commands held Commanding Air Officer, Tarawa
Battles/wars World War II

Air Commodore Isaac John Fitch (3 October 1903 – 25 July 1944) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force, Deputy Director of Intelligence at the Air Ministry and Commanding Air Officer of Tarawa during World War II.[1][2][3] His relatively brief career was cut short when, en route to Australia, the plane carrying him crashed into a hilltop on Florida Island killing everyone on board.[1][3][4]

Early life

Isaac John Fitch was born in Bedford on 3 October 1903.[1] He was the third son of Frank Fitch, a Master Baker and Confectioner,[5] and Mary Redfern Fitch, both of Bedford.[6][7] He was educated at Bedford Modern School.[2]

Career

Fitch joined the Royal Air Force in 1926 as a pilot officer on a short service commission.[1] After flight training he served with Army cooperation squadrons at home and in India until 1929.[1] In 1930 he was promoted to flying officer after completing a signals course and thereafter served for five years in the Middle East.[1] In 1937 he passed the RAF Staff College course in Andover[8] and was promoted to Squadron Leader.[1]

During 1938 and 1939, Fitch was in the Directorate of Signals at the Air Ministry.[1][9][10] At the outbreak of World War II, he initially served on signal duties in France[1] and was made Group Captain on 1 June 1942[11] and Air Commodore in September 1943.[1] Later that year, Fitch was made Deputy Director of Intelligence at the Air Ministry[12] and Commanding Air Officer of Tarawa.[2][3]

Consairways crash

On 25 July 1944, Fitch took a flight from Tarawa, his final intended destination being Australia.[3] He was flying with Consairways, a war airline that had been established by Donald Beatty[13] and was under contract to Air Transport Command.[3][14] The plane crashed into a 750 ft hilltop on Florida Island on approach to Carney Field, whilst travelling from Tarawa to Guadalcanal, en route to Australia.[3] It has been written that Fitch was carrying a case that ‘contained war plans detailing the upcoming major offensive in the Pacific, formulated by President Franklin Roosevelt and Pacific Command and was being delivered to General MacArthur’.[4]

Fitch was first interred in Lunga and re-interred in the Bourail New Zealand War Cemetery.[3]

Personal life

In 1931 Fitch married Florence (née Gribble) in Bedford, England.[15] She survived him.[7] He was a useful rugby player and played for Bedford, for whom he made 93 appearances between 1921 and 1928.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Obituary in The Times, 5 September 1944
  2. 1 2 3 History of Bedford Modern School, by A. G. Underwood (1981); updated 2010
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "G J B Claridge". rafweb.org. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 Administrator. "Archaehistoria - Site FLOR5. Aircraft – "TOP SECRET CARGO" :- Consairway C-87 Liberator Express, 41-11706.". archaehistoria.org. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  5. ↑ 1911 England Census
  6. ↑ England & Wales, Birth Index, 1837-1915
  7. 1 2 England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790-1960. 31 August 1944
  8. ↑ "'Leadership and morale' by Squadron Leader IJ Fitch". nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "air ministry - air force - air staff - 1938 - 0386 - Flight Archive". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "The Air Force List, December 1939". Mocavo. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  11. ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35618/page/2924/data.pdf
  12. ↑ "Air Force list". archive.org. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Beatty, Mary Alice (1986) To Love the Sky. Huntsville, Alabama: Albright & Company
  14. ↑ "Consairway provides non-military support in Pacific". Daily Republic. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  15. ↑ England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005
  16. ↑ Neil Roy, '100 Years of the Blues. The Bedfordshire Times Centenary History of Bedford RUFC', (Bedford, 1986), pp. 202-208


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