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