The Heist Archives
Masterpiece Mysterys ran an occasional newsletter, filled with amazing mystery trivia and great stories and quotes. We no longer maintain Heist, but in these pages we have preserved the best for you.
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History Mystery
Glenn Miller - Missing In Action 1944
Sixty years ago Glenn Miller, the famous band leader, mysteriously disappeared. Conflicting stories and tales of cover-up have cloaked in mystery the last hours of the man who made famous such hits as In the Mood and Tuxedo Junction.
When Glenn Miller joined the army in 1942 he formed a band and introduced swing music into marches, to the amazement and consternation of his superiors. On being told that John Philip Sousa’s music had been good enough for World War I, he asked, “Are you still flying the same planes you flew in the last war, too?” The military accepted swing, and Miller entertained the troops with music they knew and loved.
In December of 1944 his 60-piece orchestra was booked in Paris to give a Christmas concert for Allied troops. At the last minute Miller asked for a change in orders so he could precede the band to France. This is where the confusion begins:
Which plane did he fly on? A single-engined Norseman aircraft departing from a Bedfordshire airfield, that vanished over the Channel - mechanical problems or unknowingly shot down by friendly fire? Or did he fly on a Dakota from Bovingdon, arrive safely in France, then die in a bar brawl in a Paris brothel? Did he survive the brawl but get secretly moved to die in a military hospital in Ohio? Was he a spy who had to be terminated? There are circumstantial and/or physical evidence or witnesses to support all these possibilities, and others.
Truth seekers have constantly been stonewalled. Information conflicted at every turn: the weather was good, the weather was bad; there was a search to find Miller and there was no search to find Miller. Whatever the truth surrounding his death, swing lovers have reason to hope Miller did not go down in the English Channel. When the band leader left England, he carried with him a case full of new music scores. If Glenn Miller disappeared in Paris, they may still be discovered.
Anecdotal Evidence
Eye Spy
Burton Gerber, a 39-year veteran of the CIA, was running spy operations in Berlin during the summer of 1958 when he and nearly all his comrades in espionage attended the wedding of a colleague. Gearing up for yet another Berlin crisis, the fatigued spies ate, drank and posed for pictures.
Afterwards, attendees asked the groom whether they could have some pictures
from the wedding. “We didn’t hire any photographer,”
the groom said. There was stunned silence all around.
We Recommend
Alistair MacLean's
Where Eagles Dare
starring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton - 1968
One of Clint’s lesser-known early classics, this action adventure World War II movie has Allied Forces sneaking into an occupied country to release their compatriots held in an alpine fortress. Double-crosses and hidden motives abound. This excellent show has enough twists and turns to satisfy the mystery connoisseur!
