Dame Vera Lynn was the girl-next-door who kept Britain smiling through WW2 – we’ll never meet such an inspiration again

SHE was the girl-next-door from East Ham who kept Britain “smiling through” the Second World War.

As the nation faced its darkest hour, it wasn’t just the bulldog spirit of Winston Churchill that provided comfort and courage but the dulcet tones and film-star looks of Forces’ Sweetheart Vera Lynn.

So when the devastating coronavirus pandemic ushered in the biggest peacetime crisis since the war, the Queen turned to the words of Dame Vera’s best-loved song.

“We will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again . . .  we will meet again,” Her Majesty said in a televised address to everyone separated from their loved ones by lockdown.

It’s a sentiment that holds firm and true, as relevant today as when 22-year-old Vera, a pin-up with flowing brown locks, first sang We’ll Meet Again to our armed services soon after the outbreak of hostilities in 1939.

Her death on Thursday aged 103, surrounded by close family, should not be seen as the passing of a singer from a bygone era, more the celebration of the life of an enduring inspiration.

Fighting spirit

I was fortunate enough to secure the only interview with Dame Vera when she reached her century milestone, and no doubt received a special message from the Queen.

She remembered being blissfully unaware of the impact We’ll Meet Again would have on her wartime listeners and of the special place she was about to secure in their hearts.

“I just wanted to do my bit,” she said. “I never really considered my actions as brave or courageous.

“Everyone was trying to help the war effort and I was honoured to play a role. We’ll Meet Again has always been a personal favourite. I can’t speak for everyone, but I would say that the words are what make it so resonant and poignant.

“They spoke to the mood of the entire nation during a dark time, but they also expressed a feeling that transcends time and place — the feeling of being separated from loved ones, and the importance of hope during adversity.”

She maintained that being called Forces’ Sweetheart was “one of her greatest achievements. I feel very honoured that people regard me in this way.”

As you can tell, Dame Vera was gracious and humble in all her answers and I also discovered she hadn’t lost the common touch or fighting spirit.

“I try not to worry too much about anything any more, and enjoy every day as it comes,” she said of her life in Ditchling, East Sussex, with her beloved daughter Virginia.

“There is always something we can be concerned about. The secret is to rise above it and do whatever we can to make the world a better place.”

It was also clear that a very special place remained in her heart for those men and women of Britain who gave up everything for future generations.

She added: “The war was a dark and difficult time but it was quite easy to keep faith when I saw for myself the sacrifices being made by the boys on the front line and everyone on the Home Front.

“The community spirit and collective sense of patriotism saw us all through.”

Dame Vera discussed her second best-remembered song, (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover, written in the wake of the Battle of Britain in 1941.

She said: “When I think about the song’s lyrics, I imagine our boys. The white cliffs were the last thing they saw before they left for war and, for those fortunate enough to return, the first thing they saw to tell them they were home.” She recalled the days when Spitfires, Hurricanes and Messerschmitts dominated the skies over the White Cliffs, with not a bluebird in sight.

“I didn’t see much of the Battle of Britain, but I heard it. I was driving around in my Austin 10 at the time — it had a canvas roof — and going between theatres and camps.

“We were told to stay in but I decided to carry on anyway. I thought if there’s one up there for me, I’d get it wherever I was!”

Special memories

As the war progressed through six gruelling years, Dame Vera conducted her own battle through music on several fronts . . .  at home and abroad.

She starred in a radio show, Sincerely Yours, which she says “offered a unique opportunity to reunite the boys on the front line with their families back home.

“It was incredibly special to be able to bring some joy and hope to people during those dark days.” As Dame Vera’s popularity grew, she visited troops in Egypt, Burma and India.

She said: “Those trips gave me some of my most special memories. The thing I remember most was the incredible gratitude from the boys.

“They were just so pleased I had gone there to sing to them and cheer them up.”

Though she was later awarded the Burma Star for her courage, she added: “I was never in immediate danger. I had all the boys around to protect me and I never came close to the battles themselves.

“The main issue was being in the jungle — there were many exotic insects and animals, no electricity and no running water. I remember we had to hook up my microphone to the military floodlights. Burma is without doubt one of the most treasured memories of my life.”

And what an incredible, long life it was, beginning on March 20, 1917, more than 18 months before the end of the First World War.

Encouraged by her parents, plumber Bertram and dressmaker Annie Welch, Vera loved singing as a child, soon taking her maternal grandmother’s maiden name Lynn for the stage.

She said: “Before I performed publicly I had already been singing at family events, Christmas, birthdays and other special occasions. Needless to say, I didn’t expect to enjoy the success that has come to me over the years!

“My parents and family were always incredibly supportive. Without my husband Harry (who died in 1998), it would have been much harder to balance life with the profession, and my daughter Virginia has always been a great help to me and is to this day.”

She talked of peacetime, which came in 1945, being a period of adjustment.