Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller was born on March 1st 1904, in Clarinda, Iowa,
USA.
As a youth he became interested in music and eventually dropped out
of university to concentrate on becoming a full time professional
musician. He joined his first big band in 1925 where he played
along side the great Benny Goodman.
In 1928 Glenn Miller married Helen in New York City and over the
next few years he played with several bands including the Legendary
Dorsey Brothers. Glenn formed his own band in 1936 but had to wait
until 1939 for the ‘big break’, which came with several lucrative
performances and the recording of ‘In The Mood’ and ‘Tuxedo
Junction’.
The Glenn Miller Band topped the polls in 1940 and 1941 and it
starred in the film ‘Sun Valley Serenade’.
Glenn dearly loved his country and although being over the call up
age he decided on 15th February 1942 at the age of 36 to join the
armed forces. He became a captain and was assigned to the
Army Air Core. The AAF Band was formed to publicise the role of the
USAAF and to encourage young Americans to join up and also the band
was involved in the War Bond drive. Before D-Day it was
decided to send the band to England to help boost the morals of the
many American servicemen stationed in the East Anglian
region. Early in July 1944 Glenn Miller and his orchestra
arrived in Bedford, which was already 'liberty town' to hundreds of
soldiers and military personnel from the many surrounding base
camps.
Bedford had become a centre for the nation’s entertainment with the
evacuation of the BBC to the town in 1942, and stars of radio and
stage became a regular sight around the town. No one
however could have imagined that Glenn Miller, one of the world’s
most popular entertainers, would be billeted in the town in
1944.Following him and his band’s arrival, there began a steady
stream of famous names, legends in their own right - David Niven,
Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and many others.
Despite his exhausting schedule of concerts and recording dates
Glenn and his band paid special tribute to his Bedfordian hosts
with several additional performances in and around the town.
It was after D-Day that Glenn was due to relocate to the European
Theatre of Operations beginning with a Christmas Eve performance in
the newly liberated Paris. He had planned to travel on ahead of the
band to ensure necessary preparations had been made for their
concert performance and although bad weather delayed his original
flight Major Glenn Miller took off from RAF Twinwood in a small
aircraft on Friday December 15th 1944 at 13.55 hrs. He was never
seen again.
It is the legacy of his music and the love of his country that
Glenn Miller left behind. He is remembered with affection by the
people of Bedfordshire, where he made his ‘home from home’ during
the last year of his life.
Glenn Miller
Leaflet.