The Glenn Miller Mystery.
by Howard Roth.
I was a B17 pilot with the 306th Bomb group at Thurleigh, a few
miles north-east of Bedford. On December 14th 1944, a buddy Doug
Schrack and myself checked in to the American Red Cross Officers
Club in Bedford. That night we were having a few drinks in the
dining room and sitting a few tables away was Glenn Miller and
his aide. I told my buddy I was going to ask him for his autograph.
He laughed and said "your nuts. A lieutenant asking a Major for
his autograph?". He talked me out of it.
Now over 50 years later I find ex-Lancaster pilot Ron
Brown's web page in which he mentioned an episode in Venice,
Florida at Christmas time. He was waiting in line at the post
office when at the front of the line an American [friend] called
out "this is the Englishman that killed Glenn Miller!".
Ron declared how much he would like to be rid of
this stigma.
THE BROADCASTS
The History Channel and public PBS channel have recently presented
videos supposedly describing the events leading to Glenn Millers
disappearence. Here are Fred Shaw's observations word for word from
both videos.
- History Channel
" I estimated his height at about 1500 ft. He was way below
us. I looked down at him, I recognized him as a 'sort' of norseman
because of his high wing configuration, his parallel wing chord
and a ludicrous small tail plate and also a parallel chord.
I watched him and he was going south towards our tail.
Anyway I watched the aircraft down below us and just before
he got to our leading edge of our wing he vanished from sight.
I saw him flip over to port he looked like he was going into
a spin, he dived in and splash, then he disappeared under the
wing."
- The Public PBS
" I saw a film of Glenn Millers story and I remember the
way the film ended, unfortunately I seem to know what happened
to Glenn Miller. I saw an aircraft and as I was watching I see
him do a stall turn to port and go straight into the drink there
was a white splash and that was it.
I joined the RAF in 1941 as a pilot or navigator, apparently
they thought I would make a better navigator than pilot so off
I went to be trained as a navigator No.1 Central Navigation
School in Manitoba Canada. On the 15th of Dec. we were briefed
to attack the town of Siegen in Germany. It was our first operational
flight. We got about as far as south of Brussels when we recieved
a message to the effect we were to return and jettison our bombs
in the English channel. I never seen bombs exploding from a
plane before. I put my head in a little observation blister
where I could look vertically down, there sure enough 4000lb
cookies were exploding and I could see the blast waves were
radiating outward. As I was watching the bomb aimer said "there
is a kite down there", and I looked down and saw a small tiny
high wing monoplane which I immediately recognized as a Noorduyn
Norseman which I recognized because I trained in Canada and
became familiar with the Noorduyn Norseman."
Derik Thurman reported no bomb explosions in his claim. He was
a flight engineer on the same crew.
Why did Shaw in the THC say the small plane was a "sort of a Norseman"
while in the PBA he immediately identified it as a Noorduyn Norseman?
Why were there no reports of bomb explosions in the 'The History
Channel' video?
Were there any explosions at all it would certainly have been against
regulations. A bomb would have detonated on water impact and a monstrous
bomb that size would have obliterated every thing.
I've subsequently read that a Mr Thurman (flight Engineer) sold
his log book for 880 dollars. It's seemed ludicrous that Fred Shaw
(Navigator), years later after seeing a Glen Miller movie remembers
bombs striking the plane. At the time it was broadcast all over
England. He was just as popular with the British as with Americans.
Think about it, with a combined speed of close to 300 mph, very
low visibility, small plane, he's seen it flip over? It would have
disintegrated. I think the idea of jettisoned bombs being responsible
is crazy. I read the Ministry Of Defence report and neither the
RAF nor Millers flight path was known.
A direct course to Paris would be over London and seems unlikely.
With V1 and 2s plus barrage balloons London was a dangerous course.
If I'd been the pilot I would headed for Dover and stayed well west
of Calais as it was still in German hands. It was the shortest distance
over water with flying conditions at that time. On one occasion
I got too close to Calais and drew flak.
TIMING
Roy Nesbit Brit air historian stated by calculating local time which
was daylight saving time, every thing would fit for Millers plane
to be in the area at the precise time of bomb jettison. Roy failed
to discover that we were on double daylight saving time. Check with
any USAAF Group navigators or with Roger Freeman renown Brit air
historian who authored several 8th USAAF documentaries. He missed
no details. He will verify. That hour will put everyone at least
250 to 300 miles apart because the 8TH AAF flew formation from grouping
to target and back to base we needed that extra hour of daylight.
Ron Brown was puzzled by the statement that he landed before the
Lancaster's took off. The correct statement was the Lancs landed
before the Norseman took off.
ROUTE
Roy mentioned that the safe route over the channel would be the
SHAEF shuttle. In the PBS Video a private pilot Sratton Richey demonstrated
that by flying that route with an inaccurate magnetic compass you
could drift over into to the drop zone. The fact of the matter was
that the Norseman had a very accurate gyro compass and almost as
many blind flying instruments as the B17. Julie Hicks grandaughter
of Robert Noorduyn designer and producer of the Noourduyn Norseman
got the information from her grandfather. I sent to Pete King Dec
15th mission report of 306 BG 423 Sqd to Kassel Germ. On that mission
several 17s had to land at other fields because of bad weather.
Tragically two B17s collided because of these conditions and 16
lives were lost.
BOMBING
Ron Brown contacted a former Armament Officer concerning jettison.
He stated the regulation was to drop armed on enemy territory and
safe on allied territory. Did someone break regulations? It would
be unforgiving not to report a plane going down. Knowing it was
a Canadian plane it would more than likely be RAF or RCAF crew,
regardless it would have provided closure for next of kin. Roy stated
it wasn't necessary to report the missing plane as it was over and
done with no hope for the crew, and yet as an historian he relies
on these very reports for historical conclusions.
CONCLUSIONS
It's most regrettable that now when Millers death is mentioned the
RAF get the blame, instead of their heroic service. So many of them
made the ultimate sacrifice.
There are so many intangibles to Millers flight being hit by jettisoned
bombs it boggles the mind to think you could draw any conclusions.
After being involved in the Miller controversy for a few years,
I can't help but be sceptical of some of these so called recorded
events.
The Glenn Miller saga will forever be a mystery.
Also
see the Mail Corresondence
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