60 Facts About Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Margaret Lynn was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II.

Vera Lynn is honorifically known as the "Forces' Sweetheart", having given outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India, and Burma during the war as part of the Entertainments National Service Association.

Vera Lynn 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".

Vera Lynn was held in great affection by Second World War veterans and in 2000 was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the 20th century.

Vera Lynn Margaret Welch was born in East Ham, Essex, now part of the London Borough of Newham, on 20 March 1917.

Vera Lynn was the daughter of a plumber, Bertram Samuel Welch, and his wife and dressmaker, Anne "Annie" Martin, who had married in 1913.

In 1919, when Vera Lynn was two years old, she fell ill with diphtheritic croup and nearly died.

Vera Lynn was sent to an isolation unit and was discharged after three months there.

Vera Lynn recalled that her mother was not as strict with her elder brother Roger as she was with her.

Vera Lynn 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.

Vera Lynn supported herself by working as an administrative assistant to the head of a shipping management company in London's East End.

Vera Lynn joined the Ambrose band in 1937 and remained with him until 1940, when she went solo.

On 1 July 1940, Vera Lynn made her first appearance as a "fully fledged solo act" at the New Hippodrome in Coventry.

Vera Lynn had to leave the show for a while in July 1941 to have her appendix removed.

Vera Lynn is best known for the popular song "We'll Meet Again", written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles.

Vera Lynn first recorded it in 1939 with Arthur Young on Novachord, and later again in 1953 accompanied by servicemen from the British Armed Forces.

Vera Lynn visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas.

Vera Lynn went on to make two more films during the war, Rhythm Serenade and One Exciting Night.

Vera Lynn's daughter and her only child, Virginia Penelope Ann Lewis, was born on 10 March 1946.

Vera Lynn started a new radio show called Vera Lynn Sings on the BBC's Light Programme on 16 February 1947.

Vera Lynn kept touring and recording, and in 1952 Vera Lynn's British recording of a German song, "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart", became her best selling record.

Vera Lynn appeared regularly for a time on Tallulah Bankhead's US radio programme The Big Show.

Vera Lynn was in the London Laughs revue at the Adelphi Theatre, London from 12 April 1952 to 6 February 1954 with Tony Hancock and Jimmy Edwards.

Vera Lynn's popularity continued in that decade, peaking with "My Son, My Son", a number-one hit in 1954 written by Gordon Melville Rees, Bob Howard and Eddie Calvert.

In 1956, Vera Lynn began her first television series for Associated-Rediffusion.

Vera Lynn recorded for EMI's Columbia, MGM and His Master's Voice labels.

Vera Lynn was interviewed about her role in entertaining the troops in the India-Burma Theatre, for The World at War series in 1974.

Vera Lynn made her solo recording debut with the song "The General's Fast Asleep" on 3 October 1935, accompanied by the Rhythm Rascals.

In late September 1939, Vera Lynn first recorded a song that continues to be associated with her: "We'll Meet Again" was originally recorded with Arthur Young on the Novachord.

Vera Lynn was the first British artist to have a number one in US charts, achieved with "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", which stayed at the top for nine weeks in 1952.

In 1960, after more than 20 years at Decca Records, Vera Lynn signed to the US based MGM Records.

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

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

The United Kingdom's VE Day ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in Trafalgar Square, London, in which Vera Lynn made a surprise appearance.

Vera Lynn made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice, and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again".

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

Vera Lynn had written two previous memoirs: Vocal Refrain and We'll Meet Again.

In February 2009, it was reported that Vera Lynn was suing the British National Party for using "The White Cliffs of Dover" on an anti-immigration album without her permission.

Vera Lynn's lawyer claimed the album seemed to link Lynn, who did not align with any political party, to the party's views by association.

In September 2009, at the age of 92, Vera Lynn became the oldest living artist to make it to No 1 in the British album chart.

Three days before her 100th birthday on 17 March 2017, a new LP entitled Vera Lynn 100 was released through Decca Records.

Vera Lynn received two nominations at the 2018 Classic Brit Awards for Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year and was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In January 2020, a new painted portrait of Vera Lynn was given as a gift from London Mint Office to the Royal Albert Hall in connection with the 75th anniversary of the peace in 1945.

In 1976, Vera Lynn received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Vera Lynn received the Honorary Freedom of the City of London in 1978.

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 again in December 1978, for an episode which was broadcast on 1 January 1979, when Andrews surprised her at the Cafe Royal, London.

In 2018, Vera Lynn received the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the Classic Brit Awards.

The painting was unveiled on 13 January 2020 and hangs in the Royal Albert Hall in London where Dame Vera Lynn performed on 52 occasions.

Vera Lynn's visit to the Burma front during the Second World War was included in the British television documentary series The World at War in 1974 and narrated by Laurence Olivier.

In 1953, Vera Lynn formed the cerebral palsy charity SOS and became its chairperson.

In 2008, Vera Lynn became patron of the charitable Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL.

In 1941, Vera Lynn married Harry Lewis, a clarinetist, saxophonist and fellow member of Ambrose's orchestra whom she had met two years earlier.

Vera Lynn died from pneumonia at Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath on 18 June 2020, aged 103.

Tributes to Vera Lynn were led by the Royal Family, with Queen Elizabeth II sending private condolences to Vera Lynn's family and Clarence House issuing tributes from the then Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Vera Lynn was given a military funeral, which was held on 10 July 2020 in East Sussex.

Ahead of the funeral, the White Cliffs of Dover had images of Vera Lynn projected onto them, as "We'll Meet Again" was being played across the English Channel.

Vera Lynn's cortege was accompanied by members of the Royal Air Force, the British Army, the 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.

Vera Lynn's family have said a public memorial service will be organised for some time in the future.

On 21 March 2022, a thanksgiving service for Vera Lynn was held at Westminster Abbey.

In July 2022, the Dover District Council announced that Vera Lynn's family had decided to place the memorial elsewhere, as they found the location offered "'insufficient' to honour [Vera Lynn's] legacy".