Forces’ sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn praises Queen and backs The Sun’s Who Cares Wins Appeal
HER song We’ll Meet Again gave hope to wartime Britain during its darkest hour.
But on Sunday evening Dame Vera Lynn was shocked to hear the Queen reference the tune as she addressed the nation.
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And the singer, who turned 103 last month, hopes those poignant words will again bolster a beleaguered nation — as she backs The Sun’s Who Cares Wins campaign for our NHS heroes.
The Forces’ Sweetheart told The Sun: “We’ll Meet Again is such a hopeful song and it still applies today — especially during this crisis, when friends and family are apart.
“The spirit of the Blitz is very much here, as retired doctors and nurses return to work to help out, which is wonderful of them.”
And Dame Vera added her celebrated voice to The Sun’s campaign to raise £1million for NHS workers bravely putting their lives on the line for us.
She said: “I am honoured to be able to support your Who Cares Wins campaign.
“It is so important to look after all those wonderful NHS workers helping all the poor people with this virus and, of course, other illnesses. I wish you the best of luck.”
The spirit of the Blitz is very much here, as retired doctors and nurses return to work to help out.
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera was among the 24million Brits who watched the rare address by Her Majesty.
Speaking from her home in Ditchling, East Sussex, Dame Vera told The Sun: “I watched the speech, which was wonderful, but I didn’t know she was going to finish with the words, ‘We will meet again’.
“I have met the Queen on a number of occasions. You have to have something and someone we can look up to and rely on in times of trouble — and Her Majesty is that person.”
The Queen ended her moving address by saying: “We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return.
“We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again.”
The powerful words left many of those watching in tears — and the song from which her parting line comes has struck a chord with a new generation.
Dame Vera’s recording of We’ll Meet Again began to shoot up the charts, soaring 689 places to 22 with iTunes by Monday afternoon.
And bookies Coral offered odds of 2-1 that the weepy will go on to TOP the charts.
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Co-written in 1939 by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles, the recording by Dame Vera became one of the most-loved songs of World War Two — an anthem for Forces personnel going off to fight and for the families and sweethearts that were left behind in Blighty.
Its heartfelt lyrics include the lines: “We’ll meet again — don’t know where, don’t know when — but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”
Dame Vera went on to star in a 1943 musical film named after the song.
And in 2005 she performed it in the capital on the 60th anniversary of VE Day, May 8, to mark the Allies’ victory in Europe.
Some of her other popular songs include (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and There’ll Always Be an England.
The plumber’s daughter was born on March 20, 1917, in East Ham, East London, as the First World War raged.
Aged seven she was singing in working men’s clubs and she was talent-spotted at 15 by local band leader Howard Baker while singing at Poplar Baths.
In 1936, when she was 19, she had her first solo record, Up The Wooden Hill To Bedfordshire.
By 22 she had sold more than a million records and earned enough to buy her parents a house and herself a car.
But it was during World War Two that she secured her place in national legend, reaching iconic status with her inspirational performances.
Dame Vera said of We’ll Meet Again: “It’s a good song, as it goes with anyone, anywhere, saying goodbye to someone.”
She travelled the world playing morale-boosting concerts to troops as far afield as Myanmar (then Burma), India and Egypt.
That could mean roughing it — sometimes staying in grass huts with a bucket of water as a shower.
Dame Vera told The Sun: “I had many highlights in my career. Possibly one of them is my trip to Burma to entertain the troops in the jungle when no one else was going out there.”
'Wobble rooms' to laugh and cry
By Mike Ridley
HOSPITALS will use donations from The Sun’s Who Cares Wins Appeal to create “wobble rooms” where under-pressure staff can let off steam.
Spaces for medics to vent and voice their frustrations were revealed yesterday by nurse Kat Mayer.
Kat, named Best Nurse in our 2018 Who Cares Wins Awards, is backing our push to raise £1million to help the UK’s brave health workers.
Speaking on Chris Evans’ breakfast show on Virgin Radio, the ward sister at Lincoln County Hospital said: “It’s not uncommon for nurses to have a cry on a hard shift but we’re going to have a dedicated ‘wobble room’ where you can scream, shout, laugh and cry.
“As health professionals we need to be open and honest with each other. We’re not superheroes, as everyone is saying.
“We are human. The next few weeks will be challenging and staff need to allow themselves time to reflect on their shift.
“It might just be five minutes of peace and quiet. We often forget to look after ourselves, as we are too busy caring for others.”
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She married musician Harry Lewis in 1941 and in 1946 daughter Virginia, her only child, was born. Harry died in 1998.
Now Britain is again turning to Dame Vera for a boost, taking heart in the sentiments she conjured up decades ago.
So dig deep for our Who Cares Wins campaign to help NHS heroes. Thanks to their bravery, soon we will meet again.
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