The Glenn Miller 'Mystery'.

[Airframes]

A recent comment I posted in one of the modelling threads sparked some interest in an account I mentioned, concerning the disappearance of Glenn Miller.
Having promised to provide the details, here they are, based on the original research and story by Roy Conyers Nesbit, published in 1988.

 

[Messy1]

Have to mark this thread and read it through when I have time. Looking forward it.

 

[Gnomey]

Going to have to do the same Messy. Looks a really interesting read in the quick glance I had at it.

 

[RabidAlien]

Way ahead of y'all....saved the PDF to my hard drive. Looks interesting at first skim, though!

 

[N4521U]

Wow. That does sound convincing. To my untrained ear, sounds very thorough in the investigation. Interesting story. Not a pleasant way to go. If going was to be pleasant.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Made a start, then got logged out, so have saved it to PDF. From what I've read, well put together Terry and thanks.

 

[T Bolt]

I printed it out and will be reading it.

 

[Florence]

Very interesting stuff. Well written and well researched. Thanks for posting.

 

[otftch]

Thank you. A very interesting read. I've always wondered about his death.
Ed

 

[Airframes]

You're welcome guys. There is of course more detail in the book, which is well worth reading, covering other 'stories', including that of Rudolf Hess and Amy Johnson, as well as the fate of service aircraft and their crews.

 

[timshatz]

What's the name of the book?

 

[mikewint]

Airframes, excellent work, it surprised me that apparently no SAR was attempted when the plane was overdue. I always thought Glenn was pretty well known at the time. seems like they just wrote him off. I also did not realize the timing so near the battle of the bulge

 

[Airframes]

Tim, the book details are shown in the PDF, but for convenience, here they are:-
"Failed to Return - Mysteries of the air, 1939 - 1945." by Roy Conyers Nesbit, published 1988 by Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough, England. ISBN 1-85260-194-9.
Mike, the full details published in the chapter in the book, cover the Search and Rescue element, or lack of it. Apart from the fact that no distress signal was received, the incident was not officially known about, due to the Bombing mission being aborted due to recall. As the Lancasters had not undertaken an 'Operation', the crews from the various squadrons did not attend a de-brief, being dismissed upon arrival at their home bases. Therefore any talk of the incident by those who might have witnessed an aircraft 'going in' (and at that time the aircraft was still unidentified as to the unit, and passengers), would have been just that - talk amongst tired aircrew, the effects of built-up tensions for a mission that never was having their effect, with no reports logged or recorded due to lack of de-brief.
As explained in the article, the procedure for non-arrival / missing aircraft was followed as normal, this being just 'any old sortie', as far as the 'authorities' were concerned, and bear in mind no flight plan was lodged, so even if a SAR mision had been launched, and even if there were survivors, which is extremely unlikely, they would have perished (from hypothermia or drowning, on average 15 to 30 minutes after entering these waters) long before any help could have arrived. This would have happened, if launched, one to two days later, bearing in mind the reporting procedure etc, and with absolutely no idea where the aircraft had gone missing, it is highly likely that such a SAR mission would not even have been contemplated after such a time lapse.
Sounds a bit callous, but, given the circumstances, and the procedures of the time, that's the way it was.

 

[timshatz]

Tim, the book details are shown in the PDF, but for convenience, here they are:-
"Failed to Return - Mysteries of the air, 1939 - 1945." by Roy Conyers Nesbit, published 1988 by Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough, England. ISBN 1-85260-194-9.
Mike, the full details published in the chapter in the book, cover the Search and Rescue element, or lack of it. Apart from the fact that no distress signal was received, the incident was not officially known about, due to the Bombing mission being aborted due to recall. As the Lancasters had not undertaken an 'Operation', the crews from the various squadrons did not attend a de-brief, being dismissed upon arrival at their home bases. Therefore any talk of the incident by those who might have witnessed an aircraft 'going in' (and at that time the aircraft was still unidentified as to the unit, and passengers), would have been just that - talk amongst tired aircrew, the effects of built-up tensions for a mission that never was having their effect, with no reports logged or recorded due to lack of de-brief.
As explained in the article, the procedure for non-arrival / missing aircraft was followed as normal, this being just 'any old sortie', as far as the 'authorities' were concerned, and bear in mind no flight plan was lodged, so even if a SAR mision had been launched, and even if there were survivors, which is extremely unlikely, they would have perished (from hypothermia or drowning, on average 15 to 30 minutes after entering these waters) long before any help could have arrived. This would have happened, if launched, one to two days later, bearing in mind the reporting procedure etc, and with absolutely no idea where the aircraft had gone missing, it is highly likely that such a SAR mission would not even have been contemplated after such a time lapse.
Sounds a bit callous, but, given the circumstances, and the procedures of the time, that's the way it was.

Good post Airframes. Thanks for the info.

 

[Airframes]

You're welcome.

 

[mikewint]

I guess I'm recalling the huge SAR that ensued over Earhart's disappearance. I guess I expected at least something to have been done. wonder if the army would have done anything if Stewart or Gable had gone missing

 

[timshatz]

I guess I'm recalling the huge SAR that ensued over Earhart's disappearance. I guess I expected at least something to have been done. wonder if the army would have done anything if Stewart or Gable had gone missing

They did do a SAR when Gable's wife, Carrol Lombard, went in somewhere in the Rockies. I think it was in 1942 and she was on a bond tour. After that, Gable went into the military.

I think the big difference was Miller's flight was unscheduled while Lombard's probably wasn't. Also, she went in over land, continental US. Miller went down over the Channel in the middle of a war zone.

 

[buffnut453]

Miller went down over the Channel in the middle of a war zone.

...in the middle of winter. The Channel in December is no place to be.