Vera Lynn

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Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn in 1962
Vera Lynn in 1962
Background information
Birth name Vera Margaret Welch
Born 20 March 1917(1917-03-20)
Died 18 June 2020 (aged 103)
Years active 1924–2020
Label(s) * Decca (London for export)
  • MGM
  • HMV
  • Columbia (EMI)
  • EMI
  • Pye

Dame Vera Margaret Lynn CH DBE OStJ (née Welch; March 20, 1917 – June 18, 2020) was an English singer, songwriter, and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during the Second World War. She was widely referred to as the "Forces' Sweetheart" and gave outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India, and Burma during the war. Her popular songs of yearning and hope, which moved the hearts not only of civilians but especially of servicemen, include "We'll Meet Again," "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover," "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," and "There'll Always Be an England."

She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the United Kingdom and the United States, and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart" and her UK number-one single "My Son, My Son." In her later years she became the oldest artist to have a number one album in the UK, and the first centenarian to have a top ten hit album. At the time of her death in 2020 she had been active in the music industry for 96 years.

Lynn also devoted much time and energy to charity work, particularly connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children, and breast cancer. Held in great affection by Second World War veterans and the public in general, Dame Vera Lynn was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the twentieth century.

Life

Vera Margaret Welch was born in East Ham, Essex, now part of the London Borough of Newham, on March 20, 1917.[1] She was the daughter of plumber Bertram Samuel Welch (1883–1955) and dressmaker Annie Martin (1889–1975), who had married in 1913.[2]

In 1919, when Vera was only two years old, she fell ill with diphtheritic croup and nearly died. She was sent to an isolation unit where she spent three months before being discharged.[3] As a result of her hospitalization, her mother was very protective of her and did not allow her to visit friends or play in the street for a long time afterwards. Lynn recalled her mother was not as strict with her elder brother Roger as she was with her.[4]

She began performing publicly at the age of seven and adopted her maternal grandmother Margaret's maiden name "Lynn" as her stage name when she was eleven.[5] From 1935 she began performing on the radio and recording her songs with dance bands. During this period she supported herself by working as an administrative assistant to the head of a shipping management company in London's East End.[6]

During World War II, Lynn lived with her parents in a house she had bought in 1938 at 24 Upney Lane, Barking. [7] In 1941, Lynn married Harry Lewis, a clarinetist, saxophonist, and fellow member of Ambrose's orchestra whom she had met two years earlier.[8] They rented another house in Upney Lane, near her parents' house.[7] Lewis became Lynn's manager prior to 1950, after leaving his own career behind.[6]

After the Second World War, Lynn and Lewis moved to Finchley, North London. The couple had one child in March 1946, Virginia Penelope Anne Lewis (now Lewis-Jones). Lynn said her reason for only having one child was so that she could carry on working, and would have been unable to do so had she had more children.[4] They lived in Ditchling, East Sussex, from the early 1960s onwards, living next door to their daughter. Lewis died in 1998.

Vera Lynn died on June 18, 2020 at her home in East Sussex aged 103.[6] She was given a military funeral on July 10, 2020 in East Sussex, which was widely attended by the public. The procession made its way from her home in Ditchling to the Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton; Ditchling was decorated with poppies, a symbol of military remembrance. Ahead of the funeral, the White Cliffs of Dover had images of Lynn projected onto them, as "We'll Meet Again" was being played across the English Channel. Her cortege was accompanied by members of the Royal Air Force, Royal Army, Royal Navy, and the Royal British Legion, as well as the Battle of Britain Spitfire flypast, which followed the cortege and passed over Ditchling three times (July 10, 2020 was the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain). Her coffin was draped in a Union Jack with a wreath. At the family service at the Woodvale Crematorium chapel, she was serenaded by a Royal Marine bugler.[9]

Career

Her first radio broadcast, with the Joe Loss Orchestra, was in 1935. At that time she also appeared on records released by dance bands including those of Loss and of Charlie Kunz.[1] In 1936, her first solo record was released on the Crown label (absorbed by Decca Records in 1938), "Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire."[5] After a short stint with Loss she stayed with Kunz for a few years during which she recorded several standard musical pieces.

In 1937, Lynn made her first hit recordings, "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot" and "Red Sails in the Sunset."[10]

Wartime career

Lynn singing at a munitions factory in wartime Britain, early 1941.

Lynn's wartime contribution began when she would sing to people who were using London's tube station platforms as air raid shelters. She would drive there in her Austin 7 car.[11] Between 1937 and 1940, she also toured with the aristocrat of British dance bands, Bert Ambrose[5] as part of the Ambrose Octet; the group appeared in broadcasts for the BBC and for Radio Luxembourg.

Lynn is best known for the popular song "We'll Meet Again", written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles.[12] She first recorded it in 1939 with Arthur Young on Novachord, and later again in 1953 accompanied by servicemen from the British Armed Forces.[13] The nostalgic lyrics ("We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day") were very popular during the war and made the song one of its emblematic hits.[14]

During the Phoney War (the eight-month period at the start of World War II), the Daily Express asked British servicemen to name their favorite musical performers: Vera Lynn came out on top and as a result became known as "the Forces' Sweetheart."[15] In July 1940, Lynn made her first appearance as a "fully fledged solo act" in Coventry.[10]

Her continuing popularity was ensured by the success of her radio program "Sincerely Yours," which began airing in 1941, with messages to British troops serving abroad.[1] However, in the aftermath of the fall of Singapore in February 1942 the program was taken off air for 18 months out of fear that the sentimental nature of her songs would undermine the "virile" nature of British soldiers. Instead, "more traditionally martial classical music" was promoted.[16]

Lynn and her quartet continued to perform songs most requested by the soldiers. Lynn also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas.[5] Her other great wartime hit was "The White Cliffs of Dover", words by Nat Burton, music by Walter Kent.[1] In 1943, she appeared in the films We'll Meet Again and Rhythm Serenade.[17]

During the war years, she joined the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and toured Egypt, India, and Burma giving outdoor concerts for British troops. [18]

Between 1942 and 1944, she appeared in three movies with wartime themes.[6]

In March 1944, she went to Shamshernagar airfield in Bengal to entertain the troops before the Battle of Kohima. Her host and lifelong friend Captain Bernard Holden recalled "her courage and her contribution to morale."[19] In 1985, she received the Burma Star for entertaining British guerrilla units in Japanese-occupied Burma.[20]

Postwar career

Lynn's "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart" in 1952 became the first record by a British performer to top the charts in the United States, remaining there for nine weeks.[21] She also appeared regularly for a time on Tallulah Bankhead's US radio program The Big Show.[5] "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart," along with "The Homing Waltz" and "Forget-Me-Not," gave Lynn three entries on the first UK Singles Chart.[22]

Her popularity continued in the 1950s, peaking with her number-one hit in 1954, "My Son, My Son," which she co-wrote with Gordon Melville Rees.

In 1955, Lynn began her first television series and she signed an exclusive contract with the BBC for two years of radio and television work.[23]

In 1960, she left Decca Records (after nearly 25 years) and joined EMI.[5] She recorded for EMI's Columbia, MGM, and HMV labels. She recorded Lionel Bart's song "The Day After Tomorrow" for the 1962 musical Blitz!; she did not appear onstage in the play, but the characters in the play hear the song on the radio while they shelter from the bombs.[24]

Vera Lynn in 1973

In 1967, she recorded "It Hurts To Say Goodbye", which hit the top 10 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.

Vera Lynn was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in October 1957 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, and in December 1978, for an episode which was broadcast on January 1, 1979, when Andrews surprised her at the Cafe Royal, London.[25]

She hosted her own variety series on BBC1 in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was a frequent guest on other variety shows such as the 1972 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show. In 1972, she was a key performer in the BBC anniversary program Fifty Years of Music. Lynn was interviewed about her role in entertaining the troops in the India-Burma Theatre, for The World at War series in 1974. In 1976, she hosted the BBC's A Jubilee of Music, celebrating the pop music hits of the period 1952–1976 to commemorate the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee year. For ITV she presented a 1977 TV special to launch her album Vera Lynn in Nashville, which included pop songs of the 1960s and country songs.

In 1982, Lynn released the stand-alone single "I Love This Land," written by André Previn, to mark the end of the Falklands War.

The Royal Variety Performance included appearances by Vera Lynn on four occasions: 1960, 1975, 1986, and 1990.[5][26]

Lynn's last recordings before her retirement were issued in 1991 via the News of the World newspaper, with proceeds in aid of the Gulf Trust.[27]

Charity work

Vera Lynn, Hawkwind, and others at Crystal Palace Bowl, 24 August 1985

In 1953, Lynn formed the cerebral palsy charity SOS (The Stars Organisation for Spastics) and became its chairperson.[28] The Vera Lynn Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust was founded in 1976, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.[29]

In August 1985, Lynn appeared on stage at Crystal Palace Bowl, with Hawkwind, Doctor and the Medics, and several other rock bands, for the finale of a benefit concert for Pete Townshend's Double-O anti-heroin charity.[30]

In 2001, Lynn founded and became president of the cerebral palsy charity, The Dame Vera Lynn Children's Charity, and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.[31] In 2008, Lynn became patron of the charitable Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL.[32]

She became the patron of the Dover War Memorial Project in 2010;[33] the same year she became patron of the British charity Projects to Support Refugees from Burma, Help 4 Forgotten Allies.[34]

Later years

Lynn sang outside Buckingham Palace in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee of VE Day.[5]

The United Kingdom's VE Day ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in Trafalgar Square, London, in which Lynn made a surprise appearance. She made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice: "These boys gave their lives and some came home badly injured, and for some families life would never be the same. We should always remember, we should never forget, and we should teach the children to remember."[35] She also joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again," her final vocal performance at a VE Day anniversary event.[23]

Lynn encouraged the Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart."[5][36]

Dame Vera Lynn in 2009

In September 2008, Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website, "The Times of My Life," at the Cabinet War Rooms in London.[37]

In 2009, at the age of 92, she became the oldest living artist to top the UK Albums Chart with the compilation album We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn.[38] With this achievement, she surpassed Bob Dylan as the oldest artist to have a number one album in the UK.[39]

In 2014, she released the collection Vera Lynn: National Treasure. In March 2017, three days before her 100th birthday, she released Vera Lynn 100, a compilation album of hits to commemorate her centenary. The album, setting Lynn's original vocals to new re-orchestrated versions of her songs, also involves several duet partners including Alfie Boe, Alexander Armstrong, Aled Jones, and the RAF Squadronaires. It was a No. 3 hit, making her the first centenarian performer to have a Top 10 album in the charts.[40]

Also in March 2017, Parlophone, which owns Lynn's later recordings from the 1960s and 1970s, released a collection of her songs recorded at Abbey Road Studios entitled "Her Greatest from Abbey Road," including five previously unreleased original recordings.

On April 5, 2020, the song "We'll Meet Again" was echoed by Queen Elizabeth II in a television address she delivered addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.[41] For the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Lynn and Katherine Jenkins sang a virtual duet (Jenkins singing next to a hologram) at the Royal Albert Hall, which was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[42]

Legacy

On the death of Vera Lynn at age 103, tributes were led by the Royal Family, with Queen Elizabeth II sending private condolences to Lynn's family and Clarence House issuing tributes from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, also led with tributes in Parliament, while musical legends like Sir Paul McCartney and Katherine Jenkins and public figures like Captain Tom Moore discussed her profound impact.[43] On the day of her death, regular programming on the BBC was stopped in order to air tributes to the singer.[44] The Band of the Coldstream Guards convened the same day to play her song "We'll Meet Again."[45] After Lynn's death, Jenkins began campaigning to erect a statue of her by the White Cliffs of Dover, a location referenced in another of her famous songs.[46]

Vera Lynn was not a trained singer, nor had she studied music, yet she captured the hearts of her nation and the world. She achieved the highest honors and is recognized as a natural talent, one worthy of emulation by today's artists:

Dame Vera was a working class girl, and her style of singing was considered to be less sophisticated than that of her classically trained peers. She has never had a voice lesson. She has never learned how to read music. She never warmed up before a show. She does not know that she used something now called a “belt voice.“ Despite this, and more importantly, because of this, she is worth our attention. Take a moment and listen to one of her many recordings. Unexpectedly and despite all odds, here is a real, finished, polished artist. Her phrasing and her text treatment are delicate, refined and thoughtful. Her instinctive use of her belt mechanism uses perfect technique and is a model for healthy singing. Her signature, her calling card, if you will, is something that cannot be learned: perfect and genuine sincerity of delivery. A natural and astute business woman and a singer with a firm handle on what repertoire suited her style and voice, Dame Vera is a model for young, contemporary singers today.[47]

Lynn devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children, and breast cancer, and was held in great affection particularly by Second World War veterans. Her long career, including her memorable contribution to the war when she sang songs of yearning and hope not only to civilians but especially to servicemen, earning her the title the "Forces' Sweetheart," endeared her to the British public and beyond. In 2000 she was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the twentieth century.[48]

In January 2020, a new painted portrait of Lynn was unveiled at the Royal Albert Hall in connection with the 75th anniversary of the peace in 1945.[49] The London Mint Office had commissioned acclaimed Norwegian artist Ross Kolby to paint the portrait of Dame Vera. The painting will be on permanent display at the venue where Lynn performed 52 times from 1937 to 2006.[50] The documentary film Dame Vera Lynn – The Voice of a Nation premiered at the unveiling ceremony at the Hall and tells the story of 'The Forces' Sweetheart' and Kolby's portrait.[51]

Lynn is notable for being the only artist to have a chart span on the British single and album charts reaching from the chart's inception to the twenty-first century – in 1952 having three singles in the first ever singles chart, compiled by New Musical Express, and later having a No. 1 album with We'll Meet Again – The Very Best of Vera Lynn. In 2018, Lynn received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Classic Brit Awards.[52]

Locomotive No. 3672 Dame Vera Lynn at North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

She received honorary degrees: Doctor of Letters from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1976 where she established the Lynn Musical Scholarship (1978), and Master of Music (M.Mus) in 1992 from the University of London. She also received the Freedom of the City of London in 1978.

A preserved example of the WD Austerity 2-10-0 class of steam locomotives at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is named Dame Vera Lynn.[53] One of two new boats for the Woolwich Ferry service, which were delivered via Tilbury in autumn 2018, was named Dame Vera Lynn in her honor.[54]

British honors

  • War Medal 1939–1945
  • Burma Star
  • Order of the British Empire
    • Officer, appointed "for services to the Royal Air Forces Association and other charities" (1969 New Year Honours).
    • Dame, appointed for charitable services (1975 Birthday Honours).
  • Officer of the Order of Saint John (1997)
  • Member of Order of the Companions of Honour (2016 Birthday Honours), appointed for services to entertainment and charity.

Foreign honors

  • Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau, The Netherlands (1977)[55]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
Sincerely Yours[56]
  • Released: 1949
  • Label: Decca
 —
Vera Lynn Concert[56]
  • Released: 1955
  • Label: Decca
 —
If I Am Dreaming[56]
  • Released: 1956
  • Label: Decca
 —
The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes[57]
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Decca
 —
Vera Lynn Sings...Songs of the Tuneful Twenties[56]
  • Released: 1959
  • Label: Decca
 —
Sing With Vera[56]
(With the Williams Singers and Geoff Love & His Orchestra)
  • Released: 1960
  • Label: MGM Records
 —
Yours[56]
(With the Williams Singers and Geoff Love & His Orchestra)
  • Released: 1960
  • Label: MGM Records
 —
As Time Goes By[56]
(With the Williams Singers and Geoff Love & His Orchestra)
  • Released: 1961
  • Label: MGM Records
 —
Hits of the Blitz[56]
(With Tony Osborne & His Orchestra)
  • Released: 1962
  • Label: His Master's Voice
 —
The Wonderful Vera Lynn[56]
(With Tony Osborne & His Orchestra)
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: His Master's Voice
 —
Among My Souvenirs[56]
(With Tony Osborne & His Orchestra)
  • Released: 1964
  • Label: His Master's Voice
 —
More Hits of the Blitz[56]
(With the Sam Fonteyn Orchestra)
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: His Master's Voice
 —
Hits of the 60's – My Way[56]
(With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra)
  • Released: 1970
  • Label: Columbia
 —
Unforgettable Songs by Vera Lynn[56]
(With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra)
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Columbia
 —
Favourite Sacred Songs[56]
(With the Mike Sammes Singers)
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Columbia
 —
Vera Lynn Remembers – The World at War[56]
(With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra)
  • Released: 1974
  • Label: EMI
 —
Christmas with Vera Lynn[56]
(With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra)
  • Released: 1976
  • Label: EMI
 —
Vera Lynn in Nashville[56]
  • Released: 1977
  • Label: EMI
 —
Thank You For the Music (I Sing The Songs)[56]
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Pye
 —
Singing To the World[58]
  • Released: 1981
  • Label: Pye
 —
20 Family Favourites[40]
  • Released: 21 November 1981
  • Label:
 25
Vera Lynn Remembers[60]
  • Released: 1984
  • Label: Nelson
 —
We'll Meet Again[40]
  • Released: 9 September 1989
  • Label:
 44
Unforgettable[40]
  • Released: 30 May 2010
  • Label:
 61

Compilation albums

Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK IRE EU DUT NOR NZ DEN BEL AUS
Hits of the War Years
  • Released: August 1985
  • Label: Hammard
  • Format: LP, Cassette
 — — — — — — — — 32[61]
We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn[62]
  • Released: August 2009
  • Label: Decca Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 1 48 8 83 18 8 28 10 21
National Treasure – Ultimate Collection[63]
  • Released: June 2014
  • Label:
 13 — — — — — — — —
Her Greatest from Abbey Road[40]
  • Released: March 2017
  • Label: Parlophone
 45 — — — — — — — —
Vera Lynn 100[40]
  • Released: March 2017
  • Label: Decca Records
 3 — — — — — — — —

Charted singles

Year Title Peak chart positions
UK US US
A/C 		US
Cashbox
1948 "You Can't Be True, Dear"[64] — 9 — —
1949 "Again"[64] — 23 — —
1952 "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart"[40] 10 1 — 1
"Forget-Me-Not"[40] 5 — — —
"The Homing Waltz"[40] 9 — — —
"Yours (Quiéreme Mucho)"[64] — 7 — 10
1953 "The Windsor Waltz"[40] 11 — — —
1954 "We'll Meet Again"[64] 55 29 — —
"If You Love Me (Really Love Me)"[65] — 21 — 5
"My Son, My Son"[40] 1 28 — 22
1956 "Who Are We"[40] 30 — — —
"Such a Day"[66] — 96 — 45
"A House with Love in It"[40] 17 — — —
1957 "The Faithful Hussar (Don't Cry My Love)"[40] 29 55 — 40
"Travellin' Home"[40] 20 — — —
1967 "It Hurts to Say Goodbye"[67] — — 7 —
2014 "We'll Meet Again" (Duet with Katherine Jenkins)[40] 72 — — —

Filmography

Film[68] Year Role Notes
We'll Meet Again 1942 Peggy Brown
Rhythm Serenade 1943 Ann Martin
One Exciting Night 1944 Vera Baker also known as You Can't Do Without Love
Venus fra Vestø 1962
A Gift for Love 1963 music performance

Publications

  • Lynn, Vera. Vocal Refrain. London: W. H. Allen, 1975.
  • Lynn, Vera. and Cross, Robin. We'll Meet Again. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1989.
  • Lynn, Vera. Some Sunny Day. London: HarperCollin, 2009. ISBN 978-0007318155

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Steven Seidenberg, Maurice Sellar, and Lou Jones, You Must Remember This: Songs at the Heart of the War (Pan Macmillan, 1995, ISBN 978-0752210650).
  2. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn, the Forces' Sweetheart, turns 100 BBC, March 20, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ Tom Eames, Vera Lynn facts: Iconic singer's age, songs, daughter, husband and more revealed Smooth Radio, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Angela Wintle, Vera Lynn: 'Mum was determined to put me on stage. I didn't complain' The Guardian, December 22, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Vera Lynn, Some Sunny Day (Harper Collins, 2010, ISBN 978-0007318919).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Ben Beaumont-Thomas, Vera Lynn, singer and 'forces sweetheart', dies aged 103 The Guardian, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jon King, Former Barking resident Dame Vera Lynn is 100-years-old today Barking and Dagenham Post, March 20, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. ↑ Harry Lewis The Herald (Glasgow), June 1, 1998. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  9. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn: Spitfire flypast marks funeral BBC, July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Kate Guthrie, Vera Lynn on Screen: Popular Music and the 'People's War' Twentieth-Century Music 14(2) (2017): 245–270. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  11. ↑ Michael Freedland, She's turning 100, and there's still never been a dame quite like Vera Lynn The Guardian, March 11, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ Christina L. Baade, Victory Through Harmony: The BBC and Popular Music in World War II (Oxford University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0195372014).
  13. ↑ Vera Lynn – We'll Meet Again / I'm Praying To St. Christopher Discogs. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ Obituary: Dame Vera Lynn, a symbol of resilience and hope BBC, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  15. ↑ Jane Warren, Sweetheart we love you! Daily Express, September 16, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  16. ↑ Daniel Todman, Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947 (Oxford University Press, 2020, ISBN 978-0190658489).
  17. ↑ John Mundy, The British Musical Film (Manchester University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0719063206).
  18. ↑ Bill Pertwee, Stars in Battledress (Atlantic Publishing, 2005, ISBN 978-0954526757).
  19. ↑ Technology Obituaries: Bernard Holden The Daily Telegraph, October 4, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  20. ↑ Vera Lynn, Keep Smiling Through: My Wartime Story (Arrow, 2018, ISBN 978-1787460119).
  21. ↑ C.N. Trueman, Vera Lynn History Learning Site. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  22. ↑ Paul Sexton, Dame Vera Lynn, Britain's Beloved "Forces' Sweetheart," Dies At 103 UDiscoverMusic, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Dave Laing, Dame Vera Lynn obituary The Guardian, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  24. ↑ Alex Wood, Dame Vera Lynn dies aged 103 Whats On Stage, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  25. ↑ Dame Vera LYNN DBE (1917-2020) Big Red Book: Celebrating Television's "This Is Your Life". Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  26. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn performs at 1990 Royal Variety Performance YouTube. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  27. ↑ Vera Lynn With The 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards – Specially Recorded By Dame Vera Lynn For The News Of The World 45Cat. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  28. ↑ Vera Lynn, Vocal Refrain: An Autobiography (W.H. Allen, 1975, ISBN 978-0491017954).
  29. ↑ Breast Cancer Research Trust. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  30. ↑ Adam White, Dame Vera Lynn once performed with Hawkwind, Lemmy and topless dancers at anti-heroin concert The Independent, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  31. ↑ Our history Dame Vera Lynn Children's Charity. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  32. ↑ Our Patron FLOW (Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide). Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  33. ↑ The Dover War Memorial Project. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  34. ↑ About us Help 4 Forgotten Allies (H4FA). Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  35. ↑ Thousands mark VE Day across UK BBC, May 8, 2005. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  36. ↑ Jenkins sings for Dame Vera at 90 BBC, March 20, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  37. ↑ Blessed are The Times of My Life Response Source, September 17, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  38. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn, the new queen of the album charts at 92 Official UK Charts, June 8, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  39. ↑ Ben Leach, Dame Vera Lynn becomes oldest living artist to have number one album The Telegraph, September 13, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  40. ↑ 40.00 40.01 40.02 40.03 40.04 40.05 40.06 40.07 40.08 40.09 40.10 40.11 40.12 40.13 40.14 40.15 Vera Lynn: full Official Chart History Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  41. ↑ The Queen's coronavirus address: 'We will meet again' BBC News, April 5, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  42. ↑ Caroline Davies, Katherine Jenkins to perform VE Day concert at empty Royal Albert Hall The Guardian, May 4, 2020. July 25, 2020.
  43. ↑ Royalty and McCartney lead Dame Vera tributes BBC News, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  44. ↑ BBC drops tonight's Garden Rescue to air tribute to Dame Vera Lynn Radio Times, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  45. ↑ Coldstream Guards Perform Dame Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' In Full Forces TV, YouTube. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  46. ↑ Katherine Jenkins campaigns for statue of Vera Lynn RTÉ, July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  47. ↑ Erin Hackel, Dame Vera Lynn: Voice of a Generation The Kapralova Society Journal 11(2) (Fall 2013): 1–6. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  48. ↑ Obituary: Dame Vera Lynn, a symbol of resilience and hope BBC, June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  49. ↑ Tom Horton, Dame Vera Lynn portrait goes on display at the Royal Albert Hall The Belfast Telegraph, January 13, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  50. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn portrait to hang on display at Royal Albert Hall Sussex Express, January 14, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  51. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn – The Voice of a Nation Vimeo. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  52. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn to receive Lifetime Achievement Award Classic Brits, March 26, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  53. ↑ Steam Locomotives NYMR. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  54. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn – IMO 9822023 Ship Spotting. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  55. ↑ Branch History RAF Association Amsterdam Branch. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  56. ↑ 56.00 56.01 56.02 56.03 56.04 56.05 56.06 56.07 56.08 56.09 56.10 56.11 56.12 56.13 56.14 56.15 56.16 56.17 Vera Lynn LP Discography. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  57. ↑ The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes – Vera Lynn, Kenneth McKellar AllMusic. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  58. ↑ Vera Lynn – Singing To The World Discogs. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 BRIT Certified British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  60. ↑ Vera Lynn – Remembers Discogs. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  61. ↑ David Kent, Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book, 1993).
  62. ↑ Vera Lynn – We'll Meet Again – The Very Best Of A Charts. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  63. ↑ Hannah Furness, Dame Vera Lynn breaks chart record aged 97 with album of wartime hits The Daily Telegraph, June 8, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 64.2 64.3 Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Records 1940–1955 (Record Research, 1973).
  65. ↑ Vera Lynn ‎– C'est La Vie / If You Love Me (Really Love Me) Discogs. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  66. ↑ Such a Day (song by Vera Lynn) Music VF. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  67. ↑ Original versions of It Hurts to Say Goodbye by Vera Lynn Second Hand Songs. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  68. ↑ Vera Lynn British Film Institute. Retrieved July 23, 2020.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Baade, Christina L. Victory Through Harmony: The BBC and Popular Music in World War II. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0195372014
  • Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book, 1993. OCLC 38338297
  • Larkin, Colin (ed.). The Encyclopedia Of Popular Music, Concise edition. Omnibus Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1846098567
  • Lynn, Vera. Vocal Refrain: An Autobiography. W.H. Allen, 1975. ISBN 978-0491017954
  • Lynn, Vera. Some Sunny Day. Harper Collins, 2010. ISBN 978-0007318919
  • Lynn, Vera. Keep Smiling Through: My Wartime Story. Arrow, 2018. ISBN 978-1787460119
  • Seidenberg, Steven, Maurice Sellar, and Lou Jones. You Must Remember This: Songs at the Heart of the War. Pan Macmillan, 1995. ISBN 978-0752210650
  • Todman, Daniel. Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947. Oxford University Press, 2020. ISBN 978-0190658489
  • Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Records 1940–1955. Record Research, 1973.

External links

All links retrieved July 25, 2020.

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