One wintry afternoon not far from the end of the Second World War, the musical world lost one of its best-loved performers. But how did Glenn Miller die? Here's the full story of that fateful December night.
Who was Glenn Miller?
Glenn Miller (full name Alton Glen Miller, 1904 – disappeared 1944) was an American big band conductor, composer and trombone player. He was at the peak of his fame from 1938 until his tragic disappearance in 1944, while an officer in the US Army Air Forces during World War Two.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra were among the most successful bands of the 1930s/1940s 'big band' era. Small wonder that we named Miller in our list of best jazz band leaders of all time.
‘In The Mood’, ‘Moonlight Serenade’, ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’. The titles are familiar, the tunes indelible, and as the early rumblings of World War II emerged in Europe they catapulted Glenn Miller and his Orchestra to heady levels of celebrity in his native US.
The Orchestra’s euphonious brand of big-band swing music dominated the airwaves, and for its founder decades more of media celebrity seemed to beckon.
What did Glenn Miller do in World War Two?
Then Pearl Harbor happened. The Japanese bombing of an American naval base in Hawaii in December 1941 drew the US into the war, prompting the patriotic Miller to offer his services to the military effort.
Initially rejected by the Navy, by September 1942 Miller had persuaded the Army to offer him a commission. He would, he promised, ‘put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy in their hearts’.
This he proceeded to do, with the same irrepressible energy which had made the original Glenn Miller Orchestra so successful. Within months of enlisting with the Army Air Forces (AAF), Miller had formed a band which broadcast weekly concerts from New York.
The ensemble was subsequently sent to mainland Europe to play for the troops in person. ‘Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller,’ commented General James Doolittle, his commander, ‘your organization is the greatest morale builder in the European Theater of Operations.’
But a fateful turn to Miller’s life was looming on the horizon. In June 1944 he was sent to London, tasked with providing broadcast entertainment to the D-Day forces in their onward push to reclaim territory in Europe. Miller, as ever, approached his new assignment with gusto, and five months later received approval to billet his AAF musicians closer to the action in liberated Paris.
Anxious to smooth arrangements for the band’s arrival in the French capital, Miller was booked to fly by scheduled military transport to Paris on Thursday, 14 December. Bad weather intervened, however, and the flight was cancelled. Then Miller learned that a US Army colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell, was crossing the Channel on a much smaller aircraft a day later, and arranged to join him.
What happened to Glenn Miller's plane?
So exactly how did Glenn Miller die?
On 15 December, Miller boarded the Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman plane at Twinwood Farm, near Bedford, along with Baessell and pilot John Morgan. The flight took off at 1.55 p.m., but never reached its destination. Somewhere en route the Norseman plunged into the English Channel, and neither the aircraft nor its occupants were ever located. Because Miller had not informed the military authorities of his alternative travel arrangements, it was three full days before they even realised he was missing.
What caused the plane to crash?
What caused the crash? Miller’s celebrity status meant that conspiracy theories soon abounded. His plane was accidentally hit by bombs jettisoned from Allied aircraft, one suggested. He was on a secret diplomatic mission and had been assassinated, claimed another.
It was even rumoured that the great bandleader died while visiting a prostitute in Paris. The truth is that the UC-64A almost certainly crashed because its fuel lines iced up in freezing climactic conditions, causing the plane to plunge directly into the ocean.
A year and a day after the disappearance, the three occupants of the Norseman were officially declared dead. Just 40 when the crash happened, Miller was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal for his service with the AAF band.
‘Major Miller conspicuously blended the abilities of the outstanding musicians,’ the citation ran, ‘comprising the group into a harmonious orchestra whose noteworthy contribution to the morale of the armed forces has been little less than sensational.’