We’ll Meet Again: Vera Lynn
Britain's wartime sweetheart, Vera Lynn, died this week, aged 103
Forces' Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn died aged 103, as Britons paid tribute to the much- loved singer who will forever be remembered for her ' magical voice', morale-boosting songs and risking her own life to visit troops around the globe during the Second World War.
Dame Vera became a symbol of freedom for the men often thousands of miles from home and songs such as 'We'll Meet Again' and 'The White Cliffs of Dover' gave them hope in their darkest hours that they would one day return to their loved-ones in Britain.
Hits such as 'There'll Always Be An England' gave millions belief better days lay ahead as the Luftwaffe lay siege to UK cities during the Blitz and threatened invasion from France before the Allies swept Hitler's forces aside.
While her music was a beacon of hope between 1939 and 1945, her words in 'We'll Meet Again' resonated again in the current coronavirus pandemic with the Queen using them to inspire modern Britain to evoke the spirit of its wartime generation and battle through the coronavirus crisis.
Three-quarters of a century on from the end of the Second World War 'We'll Meet Again' was quoted by the Queen in a rare TV address to give steel to Britain's 66million people separated from their family and friends during the coronavirus pandemic.
The song then became a lockdown anthem as it again entered the singles charts with profits going to the NHS and poignantly she last performed the song just six weeks ago. The veteran singer was beamed as a hologram to stand next to Katherine Jenkins at an empty Royal Albert Hall to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Decades later her name is as enduring as that of Sir Winston Churchill as a figure who played a huge role in keeping up the spirits of a civilian population suffering under the Blitz and the troops training at home and fighting overseas.
Dame Vera Lynn's extraordinary career stretched 96 years, beginning when she was seven and continuing until just six weeks ago when she sang ' We'll Meet Again' with Katherine Jenkins to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Soldiers said her songs gave them determination and hope to defeat Hitler's war machine so they could return to the homes and families while millions in Britain were also uplifted with her BBC radio show Sincerely Yours comforted soldiers and families with songs such as White Cliffs of Dover and We'll Meet Again.
Dame Vera said on May 8: ' I'll never forget how We'll Meet Again meant so much to all those soldiers going off to war. 75 years since the end of the war in Europe, the virus has given those lyrics a whole new meaning. I have found the nation's renewed love for the song very moving. I hope this special duet lifts the spirits of our VE Day veterans and all those separated from loved ones at this time.'
It is often forgotten that during those momentous days she was still a young woman in her early 20s, yet she travelled thousands of miles, often at great personal risk, to entertain the troops and to comfort them with words of hope.
Describing the experience later, she said it was 'the trip of a lifetime' and the smell that haunted her most was the gangrene pervading the field hospitals where she spent hours talking with soldiers.
In all, she flew 25,000 miles during that time and through her songs and talking to the men about home she persuaded them they were not forgotten.
Dame Vera eschewed glamour and the pampered life. She was as much a humanitarian as an entertainer.
Last month Dame Vera also became the oldest artist to reach the top 40 in the UK album charts. A collection of her greatest hits reached number 30 in the Official Charts Company rankings following the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of VE Day.