BANDLEADER GLENN MILLER’S AIRPLANE MISSING

glenn-miller-article.jpg“Former Orchestra Leader Had Been Conducting Bands
of the Army Air Forces Since Enlistment–Won Many Honors”

The New York Times
December 25, 1944

This historic Times newspaper publishes the shocking news that Major Glenn Miller, who conducted one of the most successful dance bands in the Swing Era, was missing on a flight from England to Paris where he was heading to join his Army Air Force Orchestra.  The page four headline sadly reads: “Major Glenn Miller Is Missing On Flight From England to Paris.”  The story reads, in part, “His Air Force Band had been playing in Paris. No members of the band were with him on the plane.  He last led his band in a broadcast Dec. 12. His band, scheduled to broadcast over BBC tomorrow at 7 P.M. in the ‘AEF Christmas Show,’ will be conducted by Sgt. Jerry Gray, deputy leader.”The article also contains a wonderful photograph of the beloved bandleader in his military uniform.

Miller, who had such enduring hits as “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “In The Mood,” “Tuxedo Junction,” and his theme, “Moonlight Serenade,” was a fine trombonist, arranger and bandleader who sold millions of records in the late 1930s and early 1940s. His orchestra also starred in two major motion pictures, and his music continues to live on in both older people who and today’s youth who have learned to swing dance.

This is the complete and original rag paper edition in virtually mint condition as printed on Christmas Day in 1944.  See the scan for the huge Times triple-tiered WWII headlines on the Battle of the Bulge at the time the weather cleared enough for a huge Allied air counterattack on the surprise Nazi drive in the Ardennes Forrest in eastern Belgium and Luxembourg.  Great war photos, too!  I had a devil of a time finding this paper as I am a jazz saxophonist myself and grew up listening to Glenn Miller’s records of my parents.  A fantastic opportunity!

$450

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