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On This Date In History

Explore significant dates, missions, people, and events in the history of the 306th Bomb Group. New entries will be added as we continue to preserve and share the Group's history.

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14 July 2026

July 14, 1944 — Glenn Miller's First UK Concert

By Steve Snyder
Glenn Miller's First UK Concert

Today, we celebrate the 81th Anniversary of Glenn Miller’s first UK performance which happened to be at Thurleigh; home of the 306th Bomb Group.

Miller’s Army Air Forces Band mounted a makeshift stage in one of the four hangars and opened with :”Moonlight Serenade”.With 3,500 in attendance, the place was packed with people sitting on the floor, on the wings of B-17s, and on beams overhead.

Miller and his band arrived in the UK shortly after D-Day. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra already based in Bedford during the war and giving performances and live broadcasts from the Corn Exchange in St Paul' s Square. Miller and his band soon moved there too.

Over the next few months, the AAF Band practised in various venues and played at airfields all over the area, boosting the American and other allied troops' morale. He also gave a memorable public concert in the Corn Exchange on August 11, 1944.

Steve Snyder, President