On June 1, 1943, a civilian aircraft flying from Portugal to England crashed into the ocean after a sudden attack by eight Nazi fighter planes. All 17 passengers on board BOAC Flight 777 perished, including one of the most famous Hollywood actors of the era.
The presence of this A-list movie star on a doomed flight sparked immediate questions. Was it a tragic case of mistaken identity, or was a covert assassination plot executed in the skies over the Atlantic?
From Bank Clerk to Hollywood Movie Star
Born Leslie Howard Steiner on April 3, 1893, the future actor began his working life as a bank clerk before serving as a soldier in World War I. Diagnosed with shell shock, his doctor recommended acting as a form of therapy. Howard started in London theater, moved to Broadway, and made his Hollywood film debut in 1930.
Throughout the decade, he secured two Academy Award nominations for his roles in Berkeley Square and Pygmalion. In 1939, he took on the role of Ashley Wilkes in the blockbuster film Gone With The Wind.
Producing Anti-Nazi Films for the War Effort
Shortly after filming Gone With The Wind, World War II started. Howard left Hollywood and returned to England to support the British war effort. He broadcasted weekly radio programs and shifted his film career to produce, direct, and star in anti-Nazi movies.
In 1941, he released “Pimpernel” Smith, playing a Cambridge archaeologist rescuing prisoners from concentration camps. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was reportedly outraged by his portrayal in the movie. In 1942, Howard released The First of the Few, highlighting the creator of the Royal Air Force Spitfire plane.
The Fatal Attack on BOAC Flight 777
On June 1, 1943, Howard boarded a Douglas DC-3 aircraft in Portugal. According to his wife, he expressed a “queer feeling” about the trip. As BOAC Flight 777 took off, eight German Junkers Ju-88 aircraft departed from Nazi-occupied France.
Just before 1 p.m., the British pilot transmitted a Morse code message stating he was being followed and attacked by enemy aircraft. The German planes shot the civilian aircraft down over the water. Following the crash, Goebbels’ newspaper published a headline reading, “Pimpernel Howard has made his last trip.”
An Assassination Plot or Mistaken Identity?
The exact motive for the attack is still debated. Some suspect Howard was a secret British agent operating in Lisbon to dissuade Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from joining the Axis powers. Others believe Winston Churchill was the actual target.
Howard’s manager, Alfred Chenhalls, was also on the flight, smoked cigars, and bore a strong physical resemblance to the British Prime Minister. The flight also carried Tyrell Shervington, a Shell Oil executive with British secret service connections, and Wilfrid Israel, who helped rescue thousands of Jewish children.