15 December 1944: Major Alton Glenn Miller, United States Army Air Forces, world famous as a leader of a “big band,” and on active military duty in England, was ordered to fly to France to prepare for moving his orchestra to Paris, where it would continue its radio entertainment broadcasts.
On December 13 and 14, weather forced the cancellation of two flights, but Miller was offered an unscheduled ride with Lieutenant Colonel Norman Francis Baesell of VIII Air Service Command.
Their airplane was a Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, serial number 44-70285 (manufacturer’s serial number 550), assigned to the 35th Air Depot Group, 2d Strategic Air Depot, at RAF Abbots Ripton (USAAF Station 547), Cambridgeshire, England. The pilot was Flight Officer John Robert Stuart Morgan.
At 13:55, the Norseman departed RAF Twinwood Farm (USAAF Station 506), 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) north of Bedford, England, en route across the English Channel to Villacoublay, France.
Neither the airplane, nor the three men on board, were ever seen again.
The Battle of the Bulge began on the morning of 16 December 1944. In the resulting chaos, the disappearance of the three men on an unscheduled flight was not noticed until 18 December. Searches were unsuccessful. All three men were listed as Missing.¹
A number of theories as to their disappearance have been put forward. The most obvious is that either poor visibility or mechanical problems over the English Channel caused the plane to go down. Another popular explanation is that Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster bombers returning from a mission jettisoned unused bombs into the Channel, and the Norseman was hit by one of these.
Following the United States’ entry into World War II, Alton Glenn Miller volunteered for military service. He received commission as a captain, Army Specialist Corps, Army of the United States, 8 September 1942, and was assigned to the Seventh Services Command at Offutt Field, Omaha, Nebraska, 7 October 1942. On the orders of General Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold, he was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces, 25 November 1942. He organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.
Captain Miller deployed to England 19 June 1944 at request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. Army, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. He was under the administrative command of Lieutenant-Colonel David Niven, British Army, Director of Troop Broadcasting Services, Allied Expeditionary Forces.
Captain Miller was promoted to the rank of major, 24 July 1944.
Major Miller was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, which was presented to Mrs. Miller by Colonel F. R. Kerr, Special Services Division, during ceremony, 23 March 1945. The citation reads:
Major Alton Glenn Miller (Army Serial No. 0505273), Air Corps, United States Army, for meritorious service in connection with military operations as Commander of the Army Air Force Band (Special), from 9 July 1944 to 15 December 1944. Major Miller, through excellent judgment and professional skill, conspicuously blended the abilities of the outstanding musicians, comprising the group, into a harmonious orchestra whose noteworthy contribution to the morale of the armed forces has been little less than sensational. Major Miller constantly sought to increase the services rendered by his organization, and it was through him that the band was ordered to Paris to give this excellent entertainment to as many troops as possible. His superior accomplishments are highly commendable and reflect the highest credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States.
UC-64A 44-70285 was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces at Newark, New Jersey, 5 July 1944. It was shipped to England on 14 July. On arrival, the Norseman was assigned to the 35th Air Depot Group, 2d Strategic Air Depot, at RAF Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, England (USAAF Station 547).
The Noorduyn Norseman was designed by Robert Bernard Cornelius Noorduyn, and manufactured by Noorduyn Aviation Ltd., Montréal, Quebec, Canada. The Norseman made its first flight 14 November 1935.² It is a large, single-engine, strut-braced high wing monoplane with fixed landing gear. It could be flown by a single pilot, or a pilot and copilot.
The UC-45A has bench seats for up to eight passengers, or four ambulance litters. A 38 gallon (144 liters) auxiliary fuel tank can be installed. There is a baggage compartment with a capacity of 10 cubic feet (0.28 cubic meter). The fuselage is constructed of welded chrome moly tubing. The wings are constructed of wood, covered in doped fabric. The leading edge, under the fabric, is covered with alclad to the first spar. The cockpit and engine are covered in removable aluminum sheet, while the aft fuselage is covered in doped fabric.
The fixed landing gear could easily be changed to skis or floats.
The UC-45A has a length of 32 feet, 4 inches (9.855 meters), wing span of 51 feet, 6 inches (15.697 meters) and overall height of 13 feet, 9 inches (4.191 meters). The wing uses a NACA 2412 airfoil and has an area of 325.0 square feet (30.194 square meters). The chord, both at the root and the tip, is 7 feet, 3 inches (2.2098 meters). The wing has a 3° angle of incidence, 2½° dihedral, and no sweep. The airplane has a maximum gross weight of 7,400 pounds (3,356 kilograms).
The UC-64A is powered by an air cooled, supercharged, 1,343.804 cubic inch displacement (22.021 liters) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 Wasp single-row nine cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.03:1. Burning 91-octane gasoline, this engine was rated at 550 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 600 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m. for takeoff. The direct drive engine turned a Hamilton Standard two-blade constant speed propeller 9’1″ (2.769 m.) or three-blade 9’7″ (2.921 m.) 42-15/16″ (1.0906 m.) long, 51-7/16 (1.3065 m.) Belly compartments plywood diameter (865 pounds 392 kg) mag /878 (398 kg) aluminum)
The UC-64A’s cruise speed is 148 miles per hour (238 kilometers per hour) and it’s maximum speed, 162 miles per hour (261 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 17,000 feet (5,182 meters).
The UC-64A has a fuel capacity of 222 gallons (840 liters) in two wing and two belly tanks. A 38 gallon (144 liters) auxiliary fuel tank could be installed in the rear of the cabin. Its maximum range was 574 nautical miles (661 statute miles/1,063 kilometers) at Sea Level, or 825 nautical miles (949 statute miles/1,528 kilometers) at 12,000 feet (3,658 meters).
The Noorduyn Norseman was in production from 1935 to 1959. 904 were built.
¹ Missing Aircrew Report (MACR) https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305258
² The very first Noorduyn Norseman, CF-AYO, Arcturus, was featured in the James Cagney motion picture, “Captains of the Clouds” (1942), with the registration CF-HGO.
© 2024, Bryan R. Swopes