USAAF pilot defected, flew his P-38 to Milan & joined the SS
Martin James Monti (October 24, 1921 – September 11, 2000) was a United States Army Air Force pilot who defected to the Axis powers in October 1944 and worked as a propaganda broadcaster and writer.
After the end of World War II, he was tried and sentenced to a long prison term for desertion, then pardoned, then tried for treason and sentenced to another long term.
Born in St. Louis, Monti was one of seven children of prosperous parents.
His father was an investment broker who had immigrated to the United States from the Italian Graubünden, the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland.
His mother was from Germany.
Four of his brothers served in the Navy during World War II.
During the 1930s, Monti was an anti-Communist and an enthusiastic admirer of Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest who made weekly radio broadcasts.
Coughlin was known for his anti-Communism, his antisemitism and his admiration of the Fascist governments of Germany and Italy.
His broadcasts attracted audiences of millions before being stopped in 1939 on the outbreak of World War II.
In October 1942,
Monti traveled to Detroit to meet Father Coughlin.
In November, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet. During 1943 and early 1944, he completed flying training and was
commissioned as a flight officer.
He qualified in the P-39 Airacobra and the P-38 Lightning, and was promoted to second lieutenant.
In
August 1944, he was sent to Karachi, India (now in Pakistan).
While attached to the 126th Replacement Depot as a first lieutenant, he hitched a ride aboard a C-46 tranport aircraft to Cairo, Egypt, and from there he traveled to Italy, via Tripoli, Libya.
At
Foggia, he visited the 82nd Fighter Group, (My Uncle Jim, KIA 1/27/44) was stationed at Foggia. 49th Fighter group) and then made his way to Pomigliano Airfield, north of Naples, where the 354th Air Service Squadron prepared aircraft for assignment to line squadrons.
He noticed that an aircraft, a reconnaissance version of the P-38, needed work and required a test flight after repairs.
He stole the aircraft and flew to Milan.
There, he landed and surrendered the plane to German forces. Monti was
initially treated as a normal prisoner of war by the Germans until he was able to convince them he had defected out of genuine conviction.
His aircraft was handed over to Zirkus Rosarius, the Luftwaffe unit that tested Allied aircraft that were captured in flying condition..."
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