Fitting Height of a Finite Group with a Metabelian Group of Automorphisms

Let M = FH be a finite group that is a product of a normal abelian subgroup F and an abelian subgroup H. Assume that all elements in M?F have prime order p, and F has at most one subgroup of order p. Examples of such groups are dihedral groups for p = 2 and the semidirect product of a cyclic group F by a group H of prime order p such that C _F (H) = 1 or |C _F (H)| =p and C _{F/C F (H)}(H) = 1. Suppose that M acts on a finite group G in such a manner that C _G (F) = 1. We prove that the Fitting height h(G) of G is at most h(C _G (H))+ 1. Moreover, the Fitting series of C _G (H) coincides with the intersection of C _G (H) with the Fitting series of G.