THE STRANGE TALE OF THE ONLY USAAF PILOT TO DESERT TO THE GERMANS

Most human beings are conflicted creatures and, to paraphrase George Orwell, some are more conflicted than others. This could certainly be said of one Lt. Martin J. Monti of the USAAF.

During September 1944, Monti was with the 126th Replacement Depot in India. The lieutenant was waiting assignment to a P-38 unit but, while waiting, he apparently had a lot of thoughts about his assignment with the USAAF. A hard-core Catholic, Monti also harbored an extreme dislike for anything that smacked of communism. He was also a follower of Father Coughlin, a rabid right-wing priest who had a very popular radio show during the 1930s on which he exposed a support for Europe's rising fascism since he viewed the Nazis as being the front-line against the encroachment of communism. Coughlin, during his radio rants, stated that communism was the true enemy of Christianity.

With too much time on his hands in India, Monti formulated a twisted plan. Wearing his uniform, he hitchhiked on various USAAF aircraft until he arrived in Italy. The pilot presented himself to Col. Edwinson, commander of the 82nd Fighter Group, and asked the colonel to assign him to a combat squadron. Edwinson refused.

Smarting from his rejection, Monti went to an airfield at Pommigliano. Monti checked out the many aircraft at the base which was home to the 354th Air Services Squadron. This unit received new aircraft, made sure they were functioning as advertised, and then flew them to various combat squadrons.

Monti took note of F-5E s/n 44-23725 which had a red stripe on its 1A Form, meaning that the aircraft needed work and required a test flight after repairs. On 13 October 1944, Monti went over the paperwork with the crew chief and presented himself as the test pilot. Starting up the Allisons, he launched from the field and headed towards the front lines, hoping to find a German airfield.

However, the pilot became lost. He spotted a strip near Milan and made a safe landing. This was German-held territory and does not say much for the enemy's airfield defense. The Germans , however, were astonished at the arrival of a nearly-new Lightning.

Monti was immediately held in sus-pect by the Germans and he was handed over to Hanns Scharff- the Luftwaffe's master interrogator. Monti was adamant that he wanted to join the Luftwaffe and fight the Russians on the Eastern Front. He also would not divulge any USAAF information nor would he speak ill of his home country. Puzzled, Scharff consulted with his commanders and came to the conclusion that Monti could possibly be an American spy. This rather strange conclusion was not supported by any facts and one has to wonder what mission the Germans thought Monti would be undertaking.

With this decision, Monti was hustled off to a prisoner of war camp for the duration.

The Lightning, however, was another matter. Given its excellent condition, the Germans realized it would make a fine training tool for Luftwaffe pilots and, accordingly, the machine was assigned to the Verschuchsverband which was the trials and research unit of the Luftwaffe high command. Stripped of American markings, the craft received German national insignia and the undersides were sprayed yellow for identification. Assigned the code T9 + MK, the Lightning then went to Wanderzirkus Rosarius which flew captured Allied aircraft to German bases so that they could be studied by pilots.

Somewhat amazingly, the Lightning survived until the end of the war and it was discovered by advancing American troops parked on a field at Schoengau, Austria, in May 1945. The plane was probably destroyed a bit later on.

And what of Monti? he survived the POW camp and was repatriated. He was then court-martialled for stealing the F-5. Oddly, Hanns Scharff was now a "guest of the Americans" and he was brought in to give testimony. Scharff s records showing that Monti would not give information or denounce his country led to the leveling of a light sentence. Of note, Monti claimed through the proceedings that he had bailed out of the Lightning and had not delivered it to the Germans. In another strange twist, Monti remained in the new USAF and was released in 1948 with the rank of sergeant. Upon his separation from the service, he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for treason and put on trial. The FBI claimed they had found newly-surfaced information that Monti was aiding the Nazis with radio propaganda broadcasts. He was sentenced to the overly-harsh term of 28 years in a federal prison (one must remember that many Nazi war criminals received much lighter sentences, especially if they could be of service to the government). Monti was released in 1977.


Bibliography for: "DESERTER"

Wainright, Marshall "DESERTER". Air Classics. FindArticles.com. 20 Mar, 2009. http://findarticle...200409/ai_n9454071


P-38 Lightning the armed version of the F-5

Posted by Bustedknuckle Scharff s records showing that Monti would not give information or denounce his country led to the leveling of a light sentence. Of note, Monti claimed through the proceedings that he had bailed out of the Lightning and had not delivered it to the Germans. In another strange twist, Monti remained in the new USAF and was released in 1948 with the rank of sergeant. Upon his separation from the service, he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for treason and put on trial. The FBI claimed they had found newly-surfaced information that Monti was aiding the Nazis with radio propaganda broadcasts. He was sentenced to the overly-harsh term of 28 years in a federal prison (one must remember that many Nazi war criminals received much lighter sentences, especially if they could be of service to the government). Monti was released in 1977.

This paragraph leads me to believe that Monti knew something. What that was, I have no idea, but someone wanted to keep him quiet.