John Fitch - quite a guy........

Yacht racer, racing driver, inventor and WWII fighter pilot John Fitch has passed away in the USA at the grand age of 95.

Born into a wealthy industrialist family, Fitch flew P-51s with the 4th FG in WWII and is credited with shooting down an Me262 before being shot down himself while strafing a train.

After the war, he took up motorsport and competed at the highest levels of sportscar racing in the 'heroic era' of the 1950s ; memorably co-driving the ill-fated Mercedes 300SLR which killed Pierre Leveagh and 80 spectators at Le Mans in 1955. He also co-drove Stirling Moss to a win in the Tourist Trophy in the same year.

I read an interview with him in Motor Sport when he was 90 and he obviously still a very sharp guy....

Legendary sportscar racer John Fitch dies aged 95 - Le Mans news - AUTOSPORT.com

 

Martin

do you know the date of the Me 262 shoot down ?

RIP John

 

I wondered that, too Erich - none of the obituaries gave any details at all ( which is why I was really careful to say 'credited with' rather than 'shot down' ). Maybe I'll have a look through some of my books...

( Obituaries, like most journalism, can be very sloppy. A number of them for John Fitch repeat the canard that 'he survived the 1955 Le Mans crash' not realising that co-drivers take turns to drive so he wasn't actually in the car when it crashed - he was resting behind the pits so survival wasn't such a big deal....)

 

Ah - I found it, through a combination of Google and Foreman's '262 Combat Diary'. It was the action over Leipheim airfield on 18th November, 1944 when a number of 262s were claimed, having been 'bounced' by US fighters while taking off/landing.

Captain Fitch ( who was in fact flying a P-47, not a P-51 ) claimed a 'O.5' kill with his comrade, 2nd Lt. John F. Creamer, who caught an unidentified 262 at low-level just short of the airfield.

OK, so half-a-kill - but John Fitch was up there, flying and fighting for his Country.

A salute to his memory !

 

Martin, I will soon be 73 and followered John Fitch in the earliest issues of our Road & Track magazine, I still subscribe. He was quite a sportsman, importing early MG's , 120's. Allards and a great variety of other cars such as Cunninghams and then on to Europe. Quite a full life. Your Rob Walker use to write a column on Formular ! for R&T. I believe I remember Fitch few bombers first and then fighters, it sounds like him!

Gaines

 

You're quite right, Gaines - John Fitch flew A-20 Havocs.....

 

R.I.P.John!

 

There is an excellent article on Mr. Fitch in the Dec. 2012 R&T (Road and Track), a sum up of his racing career and his no nonsense approach to race car driving and design. Not much on the WW2 pilot time, but a list of his great accomplishments in the field. Pick it up if you can, or read a friend's copy.

 

As usual, when this thread was current I couldn't find the book I needed !

But today I've been shifting some books around and yes - William N Hess' 'German Jets Versus The US Army Air Force' came to hand....

pp51-52 goes into considerable detail of the action on 18th November 1944. Over 400 US fighters were in the air that day, tasked with strafing sweeps on German airfields. The 4th and 353rd Fighter Groups attacked Leipheim. While other 4th FG aircraft attacked targets on the ground, Lt John M Creamer spotted an Me262 at 4500ft on a Southerly heading. The jet had throttled back to 230mph so Creamer and his wingman, Captain Fitch, closed on it easily. Using his K-14 Gyro sight, Creamer opened fire at 800yds. The 262 plot opened the throttles, but couldn't prevent a shallow dive developing. As the 262 started to turn, Fitch turned inside it and opened fire at 300yds, hitting the fuselage, wing roots and engines. Fitch broke off at point-blank range whereupon the 262 crashed and exploded.