Who: 

Glenn Miller, U.S. Army Major and band leader

Total Persons on Board:

Three - Miller, are two others:

• Flight Officer John Morgan
• Lt. Col. Norman F. Baessell)

When:

December 15, 1944

Weather:

Reported as "terrible weather conditions which existed between London and Paris."

Flight Route:

Disappeared on flight between London and Paris.

Area Believed Crashed:

English Channel

Reason for flight:

Transportation to Paris where he was to join his band (they had preceded him) to perform at the opening of SHAEF Headquarters at Versailles, which was being moved from London to Paris.

Type Plane:

Norseman UC-64, a single engine aircraft. USAAF Tail Number 44-70285

Search efforts: 

At the time, there was a war going on. No real search effort reported. 

Controversy: 

In October 1942, Miller disbanded his orchestra and joined the US Army Air Force with the rank of captain and assembled a quality dance band to perform for the troops. When the troops moved to England, Miller's band followed. On December 14, 1944, Miller got on a plane to Paris. The plane never arrived. It crashed somewhere over the English Channel. Miller's death was mourned by music lovers all over the world, and he was heralded as a hero worldwide. The movie The Glenn Miller Story, starring Jimmy Stewart, was filmed in 1953 as a tribute to Miller.  In fact, the Glenn Miller Orchestra still plays today.

Over the years there have been much speculation as to what happened.

• One of the most widely held beliefs is that the aircraft Miller was flying in was victim to friendly fire of a sorts. At the time B-17s returning from the front, dropped unused bombs over the English Channel before returning to their home base. In a freak accident, a load of these bombs may have hit the lower flying UC-64 in the dark.  For more regarding this particular theory, click here.
• Another account had him in Paris dying in the arms of a prostitute.
• Still another had him captured by the Germans and dying during the war in a prison camp.
• Then there is the account of Fred W. Atksinson, Jr. According to Atkinson, who was  a member of the 320th Air Transport Squadron based at Le Borge' Airport at Paris, France, one of there aircraft was used to transport Miller to Paris. - "Several days after our plane left London, we were notified that an aircraft that might be ours had crashed on the coast of France and that the occupants were dead. We dispatched a plane to that location and the aircraft and the bodies of our pilots were identified. Our crew also said that the other body definitely was that of Glenn Miller. They said there were identification papers and dog tags that were on his body. Our second crew that was in London at the time verified they had witnessed Glenn Miller and our two pilots board the aircraft and depart." - Click here for more info.

Click here to visit the airfield Glenn Miller last departed, Twinwood Airfield... 

 

Description	SKU #	Price	S&H
Missing Air Crew Report for Miller's plane, UC-64 44-70285	MACR-15121944	$8	$7	OR Check-Six.com Order Form

 

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