John Cooper Fitch
MilitaryAssigned to 15BS, 12AF flying A-20 Havoc's flying more than 50 bombing missions. Transferred to 335FS, 4FG, 8AF USAAF. Credited 1/2 kill (Me262). Whilst carrying out a third strafing pass on a train, shot down 4 miles SW Neumarkt, Germany in P-51 44-15351 and taken Prisoner of War (POW). 20-Feb-45. MACR 12546.
Awards: AM (OLC), PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Post war: Racing driver, 1st American to compete successfully in Europe post war. In an 18 year career he won such notable sports car races as the Gran Premio de Eva Duarte Perón – Sport, 1953 12 Hours of Sebring, 1955 Mille Miglia (production car class), and the 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy, as well as numerous SCCA National Sports Car Championship races. He also involved in Briggs Cunningham’s ambitious Le Mans projects in the early 1950s, and was later a member of the Mercedes-Benz sport car team. He also competed in two World Championship Grands Prix. Car designer [5 x designs] and inventor of the Fitch barrier system, employed to this day on US highways, saving thousands of lives.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: The Phoenix
- Unit: 4th Fighter Group 335th Fighter Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Indianapolis, IN, USA | 4 August 1917 | Son of Robert V Fitch. |
Enlisted |
New York, NY, USA | 25 April 1941 | New York City, New York |
Other Crashed |
Vicenzo AF, Italy | 30 October 1943 | Crashed Belly Landing BTC [APO 525] Cat 3 damage John C Fitch, 30-Oct-43. Me110E - 1BTS 12AF |
Other E/A Destroyed 1/2 |
Germany | 18 November 1944 | Credited with shared destroyed Me262 air to air. 18-Nov-44. |
Other Shot down |
Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany | 20 February 1945 | Whilst carrying out a third strafing pass on a train, shot down 4 miles SW Neumarkt, Germany in P-51D 44-15351 and taken Prisoner of War (POW). 20-Feb-45. MACR 12546. |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Barth, Germany | 20 February 1945 | Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I. |
Died |
Lime Rock, Salisbury, CT 06039, USA | 31 October 2012 | |
Born |
Riverdale, New York, USA | ||
Other Assigned |
Vicenzo AF, Italy | Assigned to 15BS, 12AF USAAF. | |
Other Transferred |
Debden, Saffron Walden CB11, UK | 20 February 1945 | Transferred to 335FS, 4FG, 8AF USAAF. |
Buried |
Lime Rock CemeterySalisbury, Litchfield County, CT | Lime Rock Cemetery Salisbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut |
Revisions
Merged with duplicate entries to include details from:
- Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list;
https://www.fold3.com/page/83505407_john_c%20fitch/details/
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Fitch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fitch_(racing_driver)
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbapi.asp?Pilot=Fitch%2C+John+C
http://www.sportscardigest.com/john-fitch-a-pictorial-remembrance/
https://www.fold3.com/page/83505407_john_c%20fitch/details/
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Fitch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fitch_(racing_driver)
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbapi.asp?Pilot=Fitch%2C+John+C
http://www.sportscardigest.com/john-fitch-a-pictorial-remembrance/
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 12546 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list / self/ MACR 12546