[Dixielandjazz] Glenn Miller's Last Flight....The Final Word?

[DnBoy152 at aol.com]

The PBS documentary "Glenn Miller's Last Flight" was broadcast by our PBS  
station in June and I TV-O'D it and just viewed it last night.  It is a one  
hour broadcast, I couldn't catch a production date,  They do a good job of  
contrasting recent footage with old Miller band clips.  Trigger Alpert and  Jerry 
Jerome (and many others) are interviewed.
 
The main information comes from a British pilot named Fred Shaw who sez  he 
saw a small plane crash on Dec. 15, 1944 in the English Channel, that  must 
have been the plane that Miller was on.
 
That morning was foggy, delaying the take off of bombers and the small  plane 
that Miller was on.  The fog cleared allowing take off of all the  bombers 
and Miller's plane.  However, the fighter escorts, leaving from  another airport 
were not allowed to take off due to heavy fog in their  area.
 
So, with no escorts the bombers were called back and since they can't land  
with the load of bombs told to drop them in a zone in the channel that was used 
 for that purpose.  Mr. Shaw saw a small plane below them get hit by one of  
their bombs.
 
Further recent studies show that Miller's plane was the only plane downed  in 
the channel that day, and that the two flight paths would have been  close 
enough for this to happen, especially since the small plane was using a  
magnetic compass that could easily be off by 10 degrees or so.
 
So, the film producers are certain that this was Glenn Miller's plane and  
how he died.  They also mention the other rumors that have been on the list  in 
the last few days.  The video is available from PBS Home Video.
 
Also, about 3 weeks ago, Paul Harvey gave this same information on his  
syndicated radio show "The Rest of the Story" which I happened to hear.
 
So, that is the latest from South Bend on the Miller Story.
 
Don Boyer...