Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra: 1942–1946
At the peak of his civilian career in 1942, Miller decided to join the armed forces, which meant forsaking a weekly income of about US$20,000 (equivalent to $394,000 in 2025) from his civilian band, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra. On February 17, 1942, Miller registered for the draft from his home address of Byrne Lane, Tenafly, New Jersey.
At 38, married, and needing corrective eyeglasses, Miller was classified 3-A for the draft and unlikely to be called to service.
He first applied for a commission in the US Navy, but was turned down. At the time, the Navy was dealing with a scandal concerning celebrity commissions in exchange for draft avoidance. This had nothing to do with Miller, but it prevented the Navy from acting on his application.
Miller then applied to the US Army with whom he had privately explored the possibility of enlisting. During a March 1942 visit to Washington, DC, Miller had met with officials of the Army Bureau of Public Relations and Army Air Forces. On August 12, 1942, Miller sent a three-page letter to General Charles Young of the Army Service Forces, outlining his interest in "streamlining modern military music" and to express his "sincere desire to do a real job for the Army that is not actuated by any personal draft problem." General Young forwarded Miller's letter to Gen. Brehon Somervell, commander of Army Service Forces who approved Miller's application. The Army notified Miller of his commission on September 8, 1942. He received a one-month delay to settle his business affairs.
Miller made his final commercial broadcast for Chesterfield cigarettes on September 24, 1942. At the end of the program, he introduced competitor Harry James as his successor on the series, a gesture that a grateful James never forgot. On September 26, Miller made his final civilian broadcast on the Blue Network Coca Cola Victory parade of Spotlight Bands. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra gave their final performance at Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey on September 27, 1942.
On October 7, 1942, Miller reported to the Seventh Service Command at Omaha as a captain in the Army Specialist Corps. Following a one-month ASC training course at Fort Meade, Maryland, he transferred to the Army Air Forces (AAF) on November 25, 1942, by order of General Henry H. Arnold. Miller was initially assigned to the AAF Southeast Flying Training Command at Maxwell Field, Alabama, for orientation as assistant special service officer, traveling to different AAF training bases in the region to learn the mission of the training command. There, he appeared on the nationwide NBC Army Hour broadcast, originated from WSFA, Montgomery. He also appeared over WAPI radio Birmingham, performing with the Rhythmaires, a 15-piece base band.
Effective January 1, 1943, Miller was assigned to the headquarters of the AAF Technical Training Command (TTC) at Knollwood Field, Southern Pines, North Carolina. Reporting to General Walter Reed Weaver, Miller became director of bands for the AAF TTC. Miller's recommendation for an AAF TTC bands program was approved. Detached to the AAF Training Center at Atlantic City, New Jersey, Miller screened personnel for assignment to various AAF base bands across the nation and recruited many for an elite unit that he would direct himself. The AAF had established its First Radio Production Unit and Orchestra to broadcast from Hollywood, commanded by Major Eddie Dunstedter with musical director Master Sergeant Felix Slatkin. Miller would form and direct the Second AAF Radio Production Unit and Orchestra, broadcasting and recording from New York City. Miller's unit was authorized on March 20, 1943, and billeted at the AAF Training School at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Its personnel were a talented mix of jazz musicians from major big bands and musicians from leading symphony orchestras. Miller would successfully attempt to fuse jazz, popular music, and light classics, including strings, which was an evolutionary step beyond his civilian band.
Broadcasting and recording from New York City, the Miller unit broadcast I Sustain the Wings. This weekly series was first carried by CBS starting on June 5, 1943, and then by NBC from September 18, 1943, through June 10, 1944. Miller's unit was succeeded on the series by the AAF TTC orchestra directed by M/Sgt. Harry Bluestone, when the Miller band deployed overseas. After Miller died in December 1944, the Miller unit resumed the I Sustain the Wings series when they returned from the European Theater in August 1945. The Miller unit also recorded V-Discs at RCA Victor studios and recorded broadcasts for the Office of War Information and Armed Forces Radio Service, including “Music from America” and “Uncle Sam Presents."
In addition to the full concert orchestra, Miller's AAF Training Command organization included a marching band for base activities and a jazz band led by T/Sgt. Ray McKinley, the popular civilian bandleader and drummer. Initially designated the 418th AAF Band, Miller's unit was redesignated the Second AAF Radio Production Unit on December 6, 1943. At that time, base band duties transferred to the 708th AAF Band, a unit of standby musicians separate from the radio orchestra. Miller's marching band became famous by using jeeps with drums and string bass aboard for public performances. Miller also famously got into a musical argument with Army purists by performing marching arrangements of jazz, including "The Saint Louis Blues" and "Blues in the Night", as opposed to traditional Sousa military marches. The staff of the AAF endorsed Miller's modern approach.
On May 24, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a cable to Washington, DC, requesting transfer of the Miller AAF unit for the purposes of radio broadcasting and morale. With the impending D-Day invasion of northwest Europe, the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was establishing a combined allied radio broadcasting service. Eisenhower cited the Miller organization as the "only organization capable of performing the mission required." The Army Air Forces approved the deployment under the condition that the unit remain under AAF control. Miller and radio producer Sergeant Paul Dudley flew to London on June 19, and the band followed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth, which was serving as a troop ship.
As band members recounted, by this time, the name of Miller's unit included his rank, the Captain Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra. The name of the unit would reflect his new rank when he was promoted in England. Upon arrival in London, the unit was initially billeted at Sloane Court, Chelsea. This was a temporary assignment because Miller had previously arranged for permanent quarters in Bedford. Because of the V-1 flying bomb assault that was underway, SHAEF determined it better to house the band where the BBC had moved operations during the Blitz of 1940–41. In Bedford, the Miller unit would use facilities developed for Sir Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony. Prior to the band's arrival, Miller met with SHAEF and BBC officials to coordinate broadcasting plans, including the BBC Director of the new Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme (AEFP), Maurice Gorham, SHAEF Director of Broadcasting, American Col. Edward Kirby, and deputy director of SHAEF Broadcasting, British Lt. Col. David Niven (the famous actor). They became Miller's chain of command.
His distinguished orchestra was attached to SHAEF in London and was quartered at Milton Ernest near Bedford, England. When the band arrived in London, they were quartered in a BBC Radio office at 25 Sloane Court. Unfortunately, this was in the middle of "Buzz Bomb Alley", an area of sleepless nights because of the constant barrage of German flying V-1 bombs. Miller arranged for new quarters and transportation to move to Bedford on July 2, 1944. The next morning, a buzz bomb landed in front of their old quarters, destroyed the building, and killed more than 100 people, which included WACs among the 75 American personnel lost. None was a Miller band member. Miller told Lieutenant Don Haynes, "As long as [the Miller Luck] stays with us, we have nothing to worry about."
On July 9, 1944, Miller's 51-piece orchestra and production personnel started broadcasting a series of musical programs over the AEFP under BBC technical supervision. The programs included: "The American Band of the AEF" (full orchestra), "Swing Shift" (T/Sgt. Ray McKinley dance orchestra), "Uptown Hall" (Sgt. Mel Powell jazz quartet), "Strings with Wings" (Sgt. George Ockner, concertmaster and the string section), "Song by Sgt. Johnny Desmond" (vocalist with orchestra directed by M/Sgt. Norman Leyden) and "Piano Parade" (piano solos by Pvt. Jack Rusin and Sgt. Mel Powell). The orchestra also appeared for the Office of War Information's Voice of America European outlet. The American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) broadcast daily to occupied Europe and Germany. One of its German language programs was "Music for the Wehrmacht", in which Miller made announcements in phonetic German scripts with a German-speaking announcer named "Ilse", who was actually ABSIE announcer Gloria Wagner. Sgt. Johnny Desmond sang vocals in German on this series.
In England, the band kept an extensive schedule of personal appearances at primarily American air bases. Visiting American celebrities Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore appeared on their radio programs. Shore joined Miller for a recording session at Abbey Road Studios, where the orchestra recorded their ABSIE German-language programs.
Military service personnel of all ranks enjoyed the band. Their concert at Eighth Air Force headquarters at Wycombe Abbey, England, was filmed by American Forces Network on July 29, 1944. General James H. Doolittle, commanding general of the Eighth Air Force, showed his appreciation as he famously announced, "Captain Miller, next to a letter from home, your band is the greatest morale booster in the European Theater." This film is now in the care of the National Archives. (RG 342-USAF-49520 (film), NARA; Eighth Air Force, 520.071, A5835, AFHRA).
On Tuesday, October 3, 1944, Miller played his last Hangar Concert for American Servicemen at RAF Kings Cliffe. This airfield was home to the 20th Fighter Group, whose pilots had flown a mission that morning just making it back in time to take in Miller's performance in the afternoon. A memorial to this event is still on the hangar base close to the actual location where Miller would have stood during the performance.
During November 1944, Miller and Niven sought and received approval to move the unit from England to France. By this time, SHAEF had relocated to Versailles. Reliable radio broadcasting was determined to be accomplished from Paris and that the Miller orchestra could be seen in person at Paris-area hospitals and by ground troops on leave from the front lines. The move was set for mid-December. As a precaution, the Miller organization had to prerecord 80 hours of broadcasts prior to moving, in addition to their normal schedule. Meanwhile, preparations in France were behind schedule. On December 11, 1944, Niven ordered Miller to replace his executive officer, Lieutenant Donald Haynes, to fly ahead and complete arrangements before the entire group came across.
