Town gets in the mood for Glenn Miller memorial

Glenn Miller was billeted to Bedford during World War Two but also stayed at Milton Ernest Hall, where the US Air Force had its command headquarters

A weekend of historical events will be held in a town where the big band leader Glenn Miller performed and was billeted during World War Two.

The Glenn Miller Memorial Weekend, in Bedford, will mark the 80th anniversary of the day he boarded an aircraft at RAF Twinwood Airfield, in nearby Clapham, never to be seen again.

Organiser Sallie Phillips said it marked the "friendly invasion of the Americans" when they came to the area with "their music, chewing gum, peanut butter, stockings and chocolate".

On Sunday, an anniversary service will take place at the Twinwood Aviation Museum, at 13:55 GMT, the precise time Miller's flight departed.

Capt Glenn Miller and his band made their first British broadcast from Bedford Corn Exchange in July 1944 and last performed there in August 1944

Ms Phillips, who put the event together on behalf of Bedford Borough Council, said that when Miller was based in the town it "had never seen anything like it before".

"The weekend is a commemoration, but I do hope it will be a celebration of the music that that he bought, the arrival of the Americans, the friendly invasion, with their music, their chewing gum, their peanut butter, stockings and chocolate.

"Celebrating that musical culture, that lifts your spirits, that's really what Glenn Miller was all about.

"American GIs were encouraged to host and go to dances as music was really part of the effort to win the war.

"This is a good opportunity to bring some of that back and to remind people of just what it did for the town."

Sallie Phillips, who performs under the name May Blossom, the Vintage Songbird, now lives in Bedford

Activities will run in the town's Harpur Square and Harpur Suite on Saturday and Sunday.

It includes The Glenn Miller Memorial Dance, on Saturday evening, walking guided history tours, on both days, free dance classes and a tea dance, and historical exhibits.

A statue to Glenn Miller and a blue plaque can be seen at the Bedford Corn Exchange to mark his time in the town