Glenn Miller, the famous American trombonist, composer, author of the world famous Moonlight Serenade, leader of a popular orchestra, disappeared without a trace at the end of 1944 during a flight across the English Channel. Although 66 years have passed since the disappearance, completely unexpected versions of the death of the musician still appear.
Fatal flight
When the United States entered World War II, Glenn Miller was already at the zenith of his fame. He could have continued his successful career, but, as a patriot, he offered his services to the military department. In 1942, Miller was promoted to the rank of captain in the US Army. In a matter of months, he created an army and air force orchestra, with which he began performing in front of the military going to the front.
In June 1944, Glenn, already in the rank of major, received permission to give concerts to troops based in England. In just five and a half months, Miller's Orchestra plays 71 concerts.
Miller did not like to fly, as if he had a presentiment that his life would end during one of the flights. But on December 15, 1944, he needed to fly to Paris to prepare for a Christmas concert in the liberated capital of France.
A small plane "Norsman" took off, but did not reach Paris. There was a war, so neither the search for the plane, nor the investigation of the crash was carried out. It was decided that the Norsman had fallen into the English Channel due to engine failure or icing. Only on December 24 was it officially announced that the leader of the famous orchestra was missing.
As in the tragic events with other stars, the death of Glenn Miller was soon overgrown with incredible rumors. Some said that his plane was shot down by the Germans, and then the musician himself was shot. Others whispered that Miller turned out to be a German spy, and in order to avoid a scandal, he was eliminated by the Allied command. Basically, the gossip was absolutely absurd, and only many years later versions appeared that more intelligibly explain the disappearance of the idol.
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Version one. Death in a hospital bed
In 1983, everyone was literally struck by the statement of Herb Miller - the musician's younger brother. Coat of arms told reporters that there was no plane crash over the English Channel, and Glenn, a heavy smoker, died in a hospital bed from lung cancer. The plane did take off for Paris and landed safely, but due to his health condition, Glenn immediately went to the hospital, where he died the next day. As evidence, Herb cited a letter from his brother, where he wrote: “I am completely exhausted, although I eat enough. I find it hard to breathe. I think I'm very sick."
Glenn Miller was actually very thin, irritable and tired in the last months of his life. This was also confirmed by Don Haynes, Miller's assistant and administrator of his orchestra. According to Haynes, the custom-made uniform for Glenn “was not at all his size. She just hung on it."
According to Herb Miller, he invented the version with the plane crash. The fact is that his brother wanted to die like a hero, not "in a nasty hospital bed."
Second version. The victim of the "extra" bomb
A year later, in 1984, new evidence emerged that very plausibly explained the disappearance of the plane on which Miller was flying.
In 1955, the film The Story of Glenn Miller was shot. Fred Shaw, a former RAF navigator, also saw him. A picture immediately appeared in the memory of the pilot, which he observed over the English Channel during his return from one of the combat missions. And Shaw understood!.. He had his own version of Miller's death, which the veteran outlined in the publication of the South African Society of Orchestral Music Lovers. From there it was reprinted by the Glenn Miller Society of London.
It turns out that on the same day that the plane with Miller flew to France, a squadron of Lancaster bombers took off from the British airfield in Metwold (Norfolk County), one of which was flying Fred Shaw. They were to bomb a German railway junction at Siegen, east of Cologne.
The squadron headed for Germany, but the pilots could not complete the combat mission: due to bad weather, the cover fighters did not take off, and the bombers were ordered to return. Before landing, aircraft that did not fire would usually get rid of their bombs.
And "Lancaster" dropped them in a special area of the English Channel, which was called the "Bomb Release Zone". When the first shells began to explode, a small airplane suddenly appeared among the explosions. Shaw recalled: “The bomber shouted, 'Look, the cornman! I saw a plane. It was a small, over-wing monoplane. I immediately recognized him as "Norsman". He flew south. in the direction of France, and was at an altitude of about 500 meters. It seemed that he would manage to get away, when suddenly he was thrown and turned over. His left wing fell off and he crashed into the water. The shooter shouted: "Corn" dived - have you seen? " I replied: "I saw."
Shaw said the incident was not reported to command. The next day, the Germans launched an offensive on the Western Front, the squadron made sorties almost around the clock, there was simply no time to remember the incident in the strait.
Shaw's story interested many. Historian Alan Ross, a former military pilot, decided to investigate. First of all, he checked the identity of F. Shaw himself. That he was the navigator of the Lancaster was confirmed, so the testimony immediately gained weight.
Ross further discovered in the military archives that on the fateful day one of the sorties of the British bombers was indeed interrupted due to bad weather. Then the historian tracked down a relative of one of Shaw's comrades in arms. Maurice Fellowes also recalled that his brother, after watching a film about Glenn Miller, talked about the plane that fell into the English Channel.
We also managed to find the commander of the "Lancaster" Victor Gregory. He said that although he himself had not seen the plane crash, his navigator Shaw and the gunner had told him about it.
Third version. Glenn Miller … killed
This sensational version has appeared relatively recently. Based on declassified materials, it was put forward by British writer Martin Bowman. He believes that the musician was killed by American intelligence officers.
According to Bowman, Miller was bisexual, which is why he became aware of the fact that the leaders of American intelligence in Britain, almost without exception, "gay", seduced subordinates, often using their official position. Miller decided to make this blatant fact public, which threatened a huge scandal, so they decided to remove the musician.
The Northman actually fell into the English Channel, but neither Glenn nor pilot James Norwood was on board. The catastrophe was specially set up to cover their tracks. Bowman allegedly even managed to meet with Norwood, who was taken to America at the end of the war, given a new name and, under threat of death, was ordered to remain silent about everything.
Miller was dealt with in a bar in one of the Parisian brothels on the night of December 15-16. Bowman learned about this from the owner of that brothel, and she, in turn, was told about the details of the murder by the captain of the military police,
Version four. Smuggling is to blame
Glenn Miller's death was caused by … smuggling. This is claimed by Mark Montoya, 81, from California. He decided that at his age it was no longer worth keeping a secret, which still worries many.
During the war, Montoya served in the military police exactly at the base from which the Norsman plane took off before its disappearance. It turns out that he was not going to Paris, but to Normandy, and did not fall into the English Channel, but crashed into the ground on the way back to England. Its wreckage was buried on a beach near Dunkirk, and the bodies of the victims - pilot Norwood, Colonel Bessel and Glenn Miller - were secretly transported to the United States. Miller's widow secretly buried her husband in the family cemetery.
No one shot down the plane, just on the way back the wings of the "Norsman" froze and the overloaded plane, when approaching the English Channel, could no longer stay in the air. Before the fall, the pilot managed to send several calls for help.
On board the plane was contraband from France (perfume, champagne, luxury goods), on which the US military earned a lot of money.
Colonel Bessel, a friend of Miller's, flew a couple of times a week to a base in Northern France, where he loaded the plane with goods, which were then ferried to the United States on ships. There is no doubt that very large military ranks were involved in this "business". The Americans feared a big scandal, which could not only cost many military ranks, but also harm the prestige of the United States. Therefore, Miller's death had to be hidden at all costs.
Was Miller himself involved in the smuggling? Most likely no. Perhaps, on this fatal flight, he went with his friend Bessel just, so to speak, for the company.
And these are not all versions of those tragic events at the end of the war. It is possible that there will still be living witnesses to the death of Glenn Miller, or new documents will be found in the archives that shed light on his mysterious disappearance. Only then will it finally become clear which of the above versions is the true truth.
Andrey Sidorenko. Magazine "Secrets of the XX century" № 26 2011