Public DomainLeslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind.

On June 1, 1943, 17 people lost their lives when eight Nazi planes shot down a civilian aircraft flying from Portugal to England. Among these individuals was British film star Leslie Howard.

Howard, known for productions like Gone With The Wind, Berkeley Square, and Pygmalion, was a respected actor and writer. However, after his death, some suggested that he might have played another role - that of a British secret agent.

Was Howard the target of a Nazi assassination? Or was his death a case of mistaken identity? Here is what we know about Leslie Howard: from his career to his shocking death in 1943.

Leslie Howard, Hollywood Movie Star

Born Leslie Howard Steiner on April 3, 1893, the future movie star began his working life as a bank clerk before serving in World War I. After the war, Howard was diagnosed with shock and was directed by his doctor to pursue acting as a form of therapy.

In no time, the stage lights began to follow him. After starting his career on the London theater scene, Howard quickly moved to Broadway in New York. In 1930, he made his Hollywood debut in the film Outward Bound.

Over the next decade, he took on many film roles. In 1933, he starred in Berkeley Square and was nominated for an Academy Award for this film. In 1936, he co-starred with Bette Davis in The Petrified Forest, and in 1938, he received his second Oscar nomination for Pygmalion. In 1939, he played the lead role in Gone With The Wind, one of the most iconic films of the 20th century.

Selznick International PicturesBefore World War II broke out, Leslie Howard starred alongside Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind.

However, shortly after playing Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind, Leslie Howard left Hollywood. World War II had begun, and the actor wanted to support the war efforts in England.

Leslie Howard's Support for the War Efforts

During World War II, Leslie Howard provided support for the British in many ways. He made weekly radio broadcasts and produced several anti-Nazi films.

Public DomainLeslie Howard in the anti-Nazi film The First Of The Few, which he produced, directed, and starred in.

In 1941, he starred in the film 49th Parallel, which was made to persuade the United States to join the war. That same year, he took on production, direction, and lead roles in the anti-Nazi thriller “Pimpernel” Smith. In this film, Howard played a Cambridge archaeologist who goes behind enemy lines to rescue Nazi prisoners. The film inspired Raoul Wallenberg to save thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary.

The following year, Howard produced, directed, and starred in the biographical film The First of the Few, about the creator of the Spitfire aircraft. British audiences flocked to see the aircraft, a symbol of the Royal Air Force, defeat the Luftwaffe on screen.

However, it seemed that the only people watching Howard's film were not just them.

Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was reportedly furious that Howard made a mockery of himself in “Pimpernel” Smith. Some believe he began plotting revenge.

Leslie Howard's Death at the Hands of the Nazis

On June 1, 1943, Leslie Howard boarded BOAC Flight 777, flying from Portugal to England. He had a bad feeling about the journey; according to the Irish Times, he told his wife he had a "strange feeling" about the trip and then said, "after all, I am a fatalist."

Public DomainLeslie Howard died after his plane was shot down by the Nazis on June 1, 1943.

This feeling was not entirely unfounded. Howard may not have known that the Douglas DC-3 aircraft had previously been attacked by Nazi planes. However, civilian aircraft were usually left alone, and BOAC Flight 777 was expected to land safely in Bristol.

But shortly after takeoff, eight German Junkers Ju-88 crews also took off from Nazi-occupied France. Shortly before 1 PM, the Nazi planes began to follow BOAC Flight 777, and the pilot sent a message over the radio: "I am being followed by unidentified aircraft... I am being attacked by enemy planes."

The eight Nazi planes opened fire on BOAC Flight 777, causing it to crash into the ocean. All 17 people on board, including Leslie Howard, lost their lives, and the German pilots took photos of the wreckage to prove their success.

Afterward, Joseph Goebbels's newspaper boasted, "Pimpernel Howard has made his last journey." It was reported that Goebbels wrote this headline himself.

Why Was BOAC Flight 777 Shot Down by the Nazis?

After the war, some German pilots who shot down BOAC Flight 777 stated that they did not know it was a civilian aircraft.

One pilot later said, according to a 2011 report in The Times, "We were shooting down everything that crossed our eyes."

However, this account is suspicious as they may be trying to avoid war crime charges. So, why was the plane shot down?

Lmbuga/Wikimedia CommonsA monument in Cedeira, Spain, for Leslie Howard and others.

One possibility is that Leslie Howard was targeted - not just for his public works but also because he was a secret British agent. Indeed, rumors circulated that Howard was in Lisbon trying to persuade Spanish dictator Francisco Franco not to join the war on the Nazi side. His former lover and co-star Conchita Montenegro had connections with the upper echelons of the Spanish government and may have planned a secret meeting between Howard and Franco.

This is one possibility. Another possibility is that Howard's propaganda roles may have disturbed the wrong Nazi - Goebbels.

Or perhaps Howard was never a target at all. Another theory suggests that the Nazis thought Winston Churchill was on Howard's plane. Their suspicions were allegedly confirmed when they saw Howard's manager Alfred Chenhalls boarding the plane; Chenhalls bore a striking resemblance to Churchill and even had the habit of smoking cigars. Churchill noted in his memoirs that "the Germans' ruthlessness could only match the stupidity of their agents."

There were also other potential targets on the plane. Passenger Tyrell Shervington was managing the Shell Oil Company in Lisbon and also had connections with British intelligence; passenger Wilfrid Israel had helped save thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis.

Today, many questions remain about Leslie Howard. Was he operating as a secret agent during the war? Did the Nazis target BOAC Flight 777 because of him?

Sadly, the truth may have died with Howard.