Glenn Miller – famed big band leader and jazz musician – was recorded as missing in action in December 1944 when his plane disappeared into the English fog, never to arrive in Paris.
Now over 70 years later, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) think that they may have found the remains of Glenn Miller’s plane, just 30 miles south of Portland Bill.
A local fisherman contacted the organisation about a wreck he discovered in the Channel over 30 years ago, stating that he was “utterly convinced” it had been Miller’s UC-64 Norseman plane.
But Glenn Miller’s nephew has dismissed the claim as someone’s cry for “15 minutes of fame.” John Miller has stated that the search for his uncle’s grave is “a wild goose chase”.
The now retired big band leader said: “There’s enough people since Glenn died that have made a buck on his passing. My father Herb looked for Glenn for a long, long time. There was a patient in the veteran’s hospital in Oakland and his name was Alton Glenn Miller. My father even visited but of course, it wasn’t Glenn.”
Since his disappearance in 1944, multiple theories to explain the missing Norseman and Glenn Miller have surfaced. Some state that Miller arrived in Paris and died in the arms of prostitutes, whilst others say that British friendly fire was responsible for the loss of the aircraft and its passengers.
With TIGHAR planning to launch their search of the Channel this summer, these theories could soon be answered.
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