English Channel-Glenn Miller : MIA 60 years since 15 Dec 1944

[Richard]

Glenn Miller - Missing over the English Channel

Glenn Miller, U.S. Army Major and band leader
Missing: December 15, 1944 in a plane over the English Channel

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

Total Persons on Board:
Three (Flight Officer John Morgan, Major Glenn Miller and Lt. Col. Norman F. Baessell)

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.

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

Background:
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.

Link
http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Glenn_Miller_Flight.htm

[2sisters]

I'm glad you posted this Richard. Glenn Miller and others like him are the missing persons that we sometimes forget. The families of soldiers who are MIA hardly ever get the answers the are looking for. There is one case that has been in the news recently about Scott Speicher who went missing during desert storm. I don't know the exact details of the story, but I read somewhere that his remaims may have been found but pending DNA tests nobody will know for sure.

[Richard]

There are thousands of men and women still missing from World War II, and many still missing from other wars before and since. Most have since been classified as "Killed in Action - Body Not Recovered" or KIA-BNR. Some have been found over the years or have been returned by the North Koreans or North Vietnamese.
LCDR Scott Speicher, USN was Naval Aviator who was the first American to be listed as Missing in Action during Desert Storm. He was subsequently declared a Prisoner of War when evidence surfaced that he had ejected from his aircraft and was probably taken prisoner by the Iraqis.