I._J._Fitch
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 the Second World War.[1][2][3] His relatively brief career was cut short when, en route to Australia, the aeroplane carrying him crashed into a hilltop on Florida Island killing everyone on board.[1][3][4]
Isaac John Fitch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 October 1903 Bedford, England |
| Died | 25 July 1944 (aged 40) Florida Island, Solomon Islands |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1926–1944 |
| Rank | Air commodore |
| Service number | 22162 |
| Commands held | Commanding air officer, Tarawa |
| Battles/wars | Second World War |
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]
Fitch joined the Royal Air Force in 1926 as a pilot officer on a short service commission. After flight training he served with Army co-operation squadrons at home and in India until 1929. In 1930, he was promoted to flying officer after completing a signals course and thereafter spent for five years in the Middle East.[1] In 1937, he passed the RAF staff College course in Andover[citation needed] and was promoted to squadron leader.[1]
During 1938 and 1939, Fitch was in the Directorate of Signals at the Air Ministry.[1][8] At the outbreak of the Second World War, he initially served on signal duties in France[1] and was made group captain on 1 June 1942,[9] and air commodore in September 1943.[1] Later that year, he was made deputy director of intelligence at the Air Ministry[10] and commanding air officer of Tarawa.[2][3]
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[11] and was under contract to Air Transport Command.[3][12] The plane crashed into a 750 ft hilltop on Florida Island on approach to Carney Field, while 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]
In 1931, Fitch married Florence (née Gribble) in Bedford, England.[13] She survived him.[7] He was a useful rugby player and played for Bedford, making 93 appearances between 1921 and 1928.[14]
- A. G. Underwood (2010) [1981]. History of Bedford Modern School.
- "G J B Claridge". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- Ewan M. Stevenson. "Site FLOR5. Aircraft – "TOP SECRET CARGO" :- Consairway C-87 Liberator Express, 41-11706". Archaehistoria. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- 1911 England Census
- England & Wales, Birth Index, 1837–1915
- England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790–1960. 31 August 1944
- "Air Ministry – Air Force – Air Staff – 1938 – 0386". Flight. 10 February 1938. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2023 – via Flightglobal Archive.
- "The Air Force List, December 1939". Mocavo. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015. - The London Gazette, 3 July 1942, issue 35618, p. 2924
- "Air Force list". Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- Beatty, Mary Alice (1986), To Love the Sky. Huntsville, Alabama: Albright & Company
- Ian Thompson (31 January 2014). "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