The mystery of the disappearance of the legendary musician Glenn Miller: a downed plane or a love affair

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

We hum the melodies of his works, when the soul is light and sunny, when you want to move forward dancing, not looking back at the failures and autumn blues. Glenn Miller knew how to give listeners not just music - but also inspiration and joy from each new day. The creative path of this composer and arranger turned out to be much longer than his life, one might say, it continues to this day. How do you continue to search for an answer to the question - what did happen on December 15, 1944 over the English Channel?

Glenn Miller's career - trombonist, arranger, composer

Alton Glenn Miller was born on March 1, 1904 in the town of Clarinda, Iowa, in the family of Matty Lou and Lewis Elmer Miller. The family was not rich, moved several times - to Missouri, then to Colorado. Glenn grew up as an athletic boy, played American football and at the age of sixteen earned the title of the best left rear in Northern Colorado. Another, much stronger passion of the young Miller was music.

At the age of fourteen, while working on a farm, he managed to save up for a trombone, with which he later performed in the university dance orchestra, and even earlier, Miller learned to play the clarinet and mandolin. He performed at concerts in his city, and in 1925 decided to leave the university and go to Los Angeles to try his luck with the Max Fischer big band.

Those years were a period of incredible popularity of jazz and swing, they were performed by large musical groups. Glenn Miller performed as a trombonist and, in addition, improved in the art of arrangement - the transposition of musical works into a different kind of performance. He was lucky enough to get into the Ben Pollock Orchestra, where Miller, in addition to his experience of performing in large bands, acquired extensive connections - they would later be useful to him when creating his own orchestra. Noble, who arranged for Broadway musicals.

Miller's colleagues noted his extremely demanding approach to the work of musicians, endless rehearsals, striving for impeccable performance, due to which, according to a number of critics, the work lost its emotional component. Glenn Miller created his own orchestra in 1938 - and soon it was already one of the most popular in the United States - the works he performed were so memorable and unique, in addition, famous musicians - saxophonists Hal McIntyre and Tex Beneke were invited to the group. The vocalists were Marion Hutton and Ray Eberly.

Even against the background of the stars of the thirties and forties, Glenn Miller was a success, his talent was recognized by other American musicians. Released in 1941, the film "Serenade of the Sun Valley", in which the orchestra of Glenn Miller appeared, was greeted by the audience very warmly, it was recognized as the best work among musical films. Moreover, the Second World War was going on - and the light, cheerful film fell in love with viewers around the world - it was especially well received in the USSR.

Miller's musical career during the war

The entry of the United States into the war seriously affected the career of Glenn Miller, he decided to donate the proceeds from concerts and enroll in the army - as a volunteer, since at 38 he was no longer subject to conscription. However, he was refused. But Miller did not want to stay away from the military events, and therefore sent a letter to the Ministry of Defense with a request to allow him to create an army band in order to "breathe energy and joy" into the soldiers. Permission was granted.

Glenn Miller gave his last "civil" concert on September 27, 1942, after which he disbanded the band. The musician was awarded the rank of captain, and he spent the first months of service in the rear, in the training center. In June 1943, the Glenn Miller Army Band was finally formed. Famous vocalists were invited - Johnny Desmond, Tony Martin, Dina Shore, many stringed musical instruments were included in the composition. The following month, a transfer took place to England, to London, where the headquarters of the American Air Force was located.

The very first speeches showed that the idea was successful. Glenn Miller had to defend his right to play somewhat more modern music than was previously accepted before the military leadership - and the jazz variations provided the best support for the military listeners. The concerts of the Miller Orchestra were believed to inspire soldiers as much as letters from home. For five months of performances, the big band gave 71 concerts in England, and in addition, took part in the recording of dozens of radio programs on the BBC radio.

London had to live under the constant threat of bombing. On one occasion, the orchestra left its Sloane Street location due to the high risk of air raids on this part of the city. The next day, the house where the musicians lived was destroyed. It would seem that Miller is the favorite of fortune, but, unfortunately, his luck soon exhausted itself.

Disappearing

In December 1944, the group planned to fly to the continent, where a performance was to take place on the occasion of the celebration of Christmas. Glenn Miller, by that time already in the rank of major, decided to go to Paris with an opportunity a little earlier - on December 15. The three of them flew in a small single-engine Norsman S-64 aircraft - Miller himself, pilot James Norwood and the second passenger, Colonel Bezell.

The weather that day was bad - in addition to the low temperature, thick fog prevented the flight. Neither that day nor later did the plane with Glenn Miller on board land in France. The fate of the three people on board remains unknown to this day. Glenn Miller's disappearance was announced a week and a half later. The main version of what happened was an engine failure due to icing. As such, searches in the waters of the English Channel, over which the ill-fated "Norsman" flew, was not carried out - in the conditions of war it was difficult to implement.

Miller's widow, Helen Berger, received the "Bronze Star", which the musician was awarded posthumously. The orchestra surprisingly continued to exist, despite the disappearance of the leader - the big band still exists, gives concerts all over the world. As for versions of what happened over the English Channel, there are more than a dozen of them, and to give preference to either one is not so easy. Naturally, the thought suggested that Miller's plane was shot down by the Nazis - but according to reports, on that day, Luftwaffe aviation did not go out into the skies over the strait. Miller was said to have died of a heart attack while visiting a woman. A few years after the disappearance of the musician, his brother Herb reported that Glenn died of lung cancer in a Paris hospital, but before his death he wished that the circumstances of his illness remained secret. Despite such testimony from a close relative, this suggestion has not met with much support, unlike another coming from former pilot Fred Shaw.

Several decades after the disappearance of the band leader, he released information that suggested that the plane "Norsman" with Miller on board could become an accidental target for British shells. On December 15, 1944, a squadron of bombers returned from a combat mission without completing it - according to the rules, before returning to the airfield, it was required to free the planes from bombs by dropping them over a specially designated area of the sea. During this maneuver, navigator Shaw spotted a small maize below, which, in all likelihood, had lost its course due to fog. The plane, according to the British, was destroyed by an accidentally hitting shell and fell into the sea. The incident somehow escaped the attention of most of the crew, but Shaw's story was indirectly confirmed by another pilot who was in the squadron that day.

There are other options for the development of events - including the indispensable "seizure by American special services", and falling from overload as a result of smuggling, and even flight to the USSR - versions that are more intended for entertainment than for establishing the truth. The search for information about the fate of Glenn Miller is still ongoing, in 2019 the TIGHAR organization announced an investigation into the circumstances of the loss of the aircraft, whose purpose, in addition to solving this riddle, is to locate the wreckage of the aircraft. Amelia Earhart.