Hi!
The disappearance of Glenn Miller has always been an interesting one - not just to the "general" people, but more so to all the avid Glenn Miller fans around the world!
I think strongly that one of two things happened to Glenn Miller:
What I can confirm, is that Glenn Miller certainly wanted to fly from Bedfordshire in England to Paris on Friday 15th December 1944. I went to the control tower where he took off in Bedfordshire, and while at the control tower (it was a special open day), met one of the women who was actually one of the last people to see Glenn Miller before he vanished.
I'm not going to give names, but she was explaining to me that Glenn Miller was a very anxious man. NO OTHER AEROPLANES WERE FLYING on the day that he was adamant that he wanted to get to Paris to make final plans for the band before the Christmas broadcast that he was going to do. There were three men - a guy called Baessel, Johnny Morgan (who was the pilot) and Glenn Miller himself.
Morgan had had orders to fly Glenn to Paris, but the weather conditions were terrible - thick fog all around in England and as I said earlier - no other aircraft were flying that day...or so it seemed!
The lady I spoke to can remember Glenn anxiously waiting to go, and had to hang around until the fog had lifted. This "lady" can remember it clearly, as Morgan was chatting up one of the control girls and said that when he got back he would take her out. It has been said that they went for a tea-break, and when the girls returned, Glenn and the others had gone - they had taken off.
Research has taken place on the flight of that day, and it has been proved that the plane that Glenn was travelling in was made of canvas and the gauges in the aircraft weren't as accurate as they are today.
In the English Channel is a "jettison zone" where planes could drop their bombs that weren't used on a mission before landing. It was researched that the instruments in the aircraft were so innacurate, that it was very possible for the aircraft to have "drifted" into this zone. It has also come to light that returning from an aborted raid in Germany was a group of Lancaster bombers...if Glenn's flight went into the jettison zone, then it is quite possible that the plane was bombed.
If you care to dispute this, then you have to understand that the plane he was flying in was a UC64 Nordeyan Norseman. It was made of CANVAS and it is quite possible for the wings to have frozen over due to the terrible weather.
On a documentary on Glenn Miller, recently they DID find an engine that meets the specifications of the plane Glenn was flying in. Unless they had the equipment (and money!) back in 1944 that they had today, then they would have had to have dived down very soon after it happened to have had the chances of finding any bodies. It is estimated that within 3 weeks of the plane going down, the canvas would have rotted completely away. Over 62 years later, the only thing left would be the engine!!
Again, taking the argument that Glenn simply wanted to disappear - what about the other two men with him...? ?? I personally think you can disregard that fact, as Glenn worked so hard to have his own band - why give it up?? Also, the famous English band leader Ted Heath met Glenn just before he went missing, and Glenn encouraged Ted to start his own band. Glenn also told Ted Heath of all his plans after the war had finished.
I've worked with Glenn Miller's nephew a number of times, and on approaching him with the subject he said: "Glenn would say: don't ever find out what happened to me - mysteries are ALWAYS good for business". How right he is!!!
I'd be happy to hear from you about any of this...
Best wishes and keep swingin'!
Dave Pearce
www.davepearceorchestra.co.uk
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hisgrandmogulhighness
16 years ago
see the following book:
Titler, Dale. Wings of Mystery: True Stories of Aviation History, [Revised Edition], New York: Dodd Meade, 1981. See especially chapter 14, "Do You Want to Live Forever?", p. 259---in which the author describes the disappearance of the great bandleader. The claim is that the plane he took off in later landed elsewhere in England, took off again, and then it crashed! I do think something is very odd about his mysterious disappearance. On top of all that, Miller looked awful---look at pictures of him when he was at the height of his civilian career, and look at pictures of him from late '44---he looks ill, deathly ill . . . something very strange going on . . . the author emphasizes that the official release of information never said he went down in the English channel (actually, I'm not sure who started all that). . . we may never know the full truth . . .
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peterjerome8
16 years ago
He is possibly buried in the family burial site beside Helen Miller!
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hisgrandmogulhighness
16 years ago
. . . I do believe it . . . Miller looked like walking death in some of those last photos of him---he looked awful! Maybe the military arranged something, to help make him a hero . . . maybe one day, we'll know, perhaps . . .
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donofthedial
16 years ago
Friends-
It was war time and the stress on everyone was killer. Not only did he have himself and his own family to worry about, but he had the lives and families of all those men in the orchestra to consider. If he says 'go there' and guys get killed - big consideration.
And the band was working a break-neck schedule.
Ya - he looks really haggard in those late photos.
Stress will kill you.
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