Vera Lynn | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byAllan Warren,c. 1973 | |
| Born | Vera Margaret Welch (1917-03-20)20 March 1917 East Ham, Essex, England |
| Died | 18 June 2020(2020-06-18) (aged 103) Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England[1] |
| Years active | 1924–2020 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
| Military career | |
| Service | Entertainments National Service Association |
| Years of service | 1939–1945 |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Kohima |
Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (née Welch; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular duringWorld War II. She ishonorifically known as the "Forces' Sweetheart", having given outdoor concerts for the troops inEgypt,India, andBurma during the war as part of theEntertainments National Service Association (ENSA). The songs most associated with her 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". Her last single, "I Love This Land", was released to mark the end of theFalklands War. In 2009, at the age of 92, she became the oldest living artist to top theUK Albums Chart with the compilation albumWe'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn.[2] In 2014, she released the collectionVera Lynn: National Treasure and in 2017, she releasedVera Lynn 100, a compilation album of hits to commemorate her centenary—it was a No. 3 hit, making her the first centenarian performer to have a Top 10 album in the charts.[3] By the time of her death in 2020, she had been active in the music industry for 96 years.
Lynn devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children, andbreast cancer. She 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.[4]
Vera Margaret Welch was born inEast Ham, Essex, now part of theLondon Borough of Newham, on 20 March 1917.[5] She was the daughter of a plumber[6][7], Bertram Samuel Welch, (1883–1955) and his wife anddressmaker, Anne "Annie" Martin (1889–1975), who had married in 1913.[8] In 1919, when Lynn was two years old, she fell ill withdiphtheritic croup and nearly died. She was sent to an isolation unit and was discharged after three months there.[9] As a result of her hospitalisation, 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 that her mother was not as strict with her elder brother Roger as she was with her.[10]
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.[11] Aged 11, she joined a juvenile troupe called Madame Harris's Kracker Kabaret Kids. Early in 1933 she was spotted by Howard Baker, who invited her to join his band. In turn, she was taken on byBilly Cotton and briefly toured with his band in 1934 before returning to Baker.[12]
It was with Baker that she made her first record on 17 February 1935, with a song called "It's Home".[13] Her first radio broadcast, with theJoe Loss Orchestra, was made on 21 August 1935.[14] At this point she appeared on records released by dance bands including those of Loss and ofCharlie Kunz.[15] In 1936, her first solo record was released on the Crown label, "Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire".[16] This label was absorbed byDecca Records in 1938.[17] She supported herself by working as an administrative assistant to the head of a shipping management company in London's East End.[18] After a short stint with Loss she stayed with Kunz for a year or so during which she recorded several standard musical pieces. She joined theAmbrose band in 1937[19] and remained with him until 1940, when she went solo.
Lynn's wartime contribution began when she would sing to people who were usingLondon's tube station platforms as air raid shelters. She would drive there in herAustin 10 car.[20] Between 1937 and 1940, she also toured with the aristocrat of British dance bands,Bert Ambrose[21] as part of the Ambrose Octet; the group appeared in broadcasts for theBBC and forRadio Luxembourg. She left Ambrose in 1940.[22]
During thePhoney War, theDaily Express asked British servicemen to name their favourite musical performers: Vera Lynn came out on top and as a result became known as "the Forces' Sweetheart". On 1 July 1940, Lynn made her first appearance as a "fully fledged solo act" at the New Hippodrome inCoventry.[23]
Vera Lynn appeared in the revueApplesauce! withMax Miller, which commenced on 22 August 1940 at theHolborn Empire and ran until 9 September 1940. Its run was curtailed due to a bomb destroying the theatre. The revue continued at theLondon Palladium from 5 March 1941 and ended on 29 November that year.[24] Lynn had to leave the show for a while in July 1941 to have her appendix removed.[25]
Lynn is best known for the popular song "We'll Meet Again", written byRoss Parker andHughie Charles.[26] She first recorded it in 1939 with Arthur Young onNovachord, and later again in 1953 accompanied by servicemen from theBritish Armed Forces.[27] 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.[28] Amongst her other well-known wartime hits was "The White Cliffs of Dover", with words by Nat Burton, music byWalter Kent.[29]
Her continuing popularity was ensured by the success of her weekly 30-minute radio programmeSincerely Yours, which began airing at 9:30 p.m. on 9 November 1941, with messages to British troops serving abroad.[22][15] Described as "to the men of the forces – a letter in words and Music", she was accompanied by Fred Hartley and his music.[30] Lynn and her quartet performed songs most requested by the soldiers. Lynn also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas.[31] However, in the aftermath of thefall of Singapore in February 1942 the programme was taken off air after the broadcast on 22 March 1942[32] 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.[33] Lynn returned with a regular show called "It's Time for Vera Lynn" on the BBC's Forces programme on 31 October 1943, when she was accompanied by Peter Yorke and His Orchestra. The show was broadcast at 8 p.m. on Sunday nights and ran for twenty minutes.[34]
During the war years, she joined theEntertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and touredEgypt,India andBurma,[35] giving outdoor concerts for British troops. In March 1944, she went toShamshernagar airfield inBengal to entertain the troops before theBattle of Kohima. Her host and lifelong friend CaptainBernard Holden recalled "her courage and her contribution to morale".[36] In 1985, she received theBurma Star for entertaining British guerrilla units inJapanese-occupied Burma.[37]
Between 1942 and 1944, she appeared in three movies with wartime themes.[22] Firstly, she starred in a film calledWe'll Meet Again, in 1943 which was based on her own life story, that of a dancer who becomes a radio star. She went on to make two more films during the war,Rhythm Serenade (1943)[38] andOne Exciting Night (1944).[1] InRhythm Serenade she played a school teacher. After her school is closed, she tries to join up. However, she is persuaded to organise a nursery for a munitions factory.One Exciting Night (also known asYou Can't Do Without Love) was a dramatic musical comedy in which she helps thwart a gang of art thieves.
Lynn's daughter and her only child, Virginia Penelope Ann Lewis, was born on 10 March 1946.[1] After the war, Lynn had wanted to concentrate on being a mother and wife. However, her unfulfilled contract with Decca Records and financial pressures meant that she was lured back into showbusiness in 1947. She started a new radio show calledVera Lynn Sings on the BBC'sLight Programme on 16 February 1947.[39] This was broadcast on Sunday evenings from 9:30-10:00 p.m. withRobert Farnon leading the musical accompaniment. Her husband became her manager. Her record label, Decca, astutely promoted her records in the U.S. during the musicians' strike of 1948 and she had a U.S. Top Ten hit with "You Can't Be True, Dear". In 1949, the BBC dropped her radio show because it claimed that there was no demand for her "sob stuff"; they wanted her to sing in a more lively style, so she made shows for Radio Luxembourg instead.[40]
Lynn kept touring and recording, and in 1952 Lynn's British recording of a German song, "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart", became her best selling record. It became the first record by a British performer to top the charts in the United States,[41] remaining there for nine weeks. In Britain, the song was the best-selling record of the year.[42] She also appeared regularly for a time onTallulah Bankhead's US radio programmeThe Big Show.[43] "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart", along with "The Homing Waltz" and "Forget-Me-Not", gave Lynn three entries on the firstUK Singles Chart in November 1952.[44]
Vera Lynn was in theLondon Laughs revue at theAdelphi Theatre, London from 12 April 1952 to 6 February 1954 withTony Hancock andJimmy Edwards.[45] Her popularity continued in that decade, peaking with "My Son, My Son", a number-one hit in 1954[46] written by Gordon Melville Rees, Bob Howard andEddie Calvert. It also reached No. 28 onBillboard magazine'ssingles charts in the USA.[47]
In 1956, Lynn began her first television series forAssociated-Rediffusion. During the same year, she signed an exclusive contract with the BBC for two years of radio and television work.[22]
In 1960, she left Decca Records (after nearly 25 years) and joinedEMI.[48] She recorded for EMI'sColumbia,MGM andHis Master's Voice labels. She also recordedLionel Bart's song "The Day After Tomorrow" for the 1962 musicalBlitz!; 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.[49] In 1967, she recorded "It Hurts To Say Goodbye",[50] a song which hit the top 10 on theBillboard Easy Listening chart.[51]
She hosted her own variety series onBBC1 in the late 1960s and early 1970s[52] and was a frequent guest on other variety shows such as the 1972Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show. In 1972, she was a key performer in theBBC anniversary programmeFifty Years of Music. In 1976, she hosted the BBC'sA Jubilee of Music, celebrating the pop music hits of the period 1952–1976 to commemorate the start ofQueen Elizabeth II'sSilver Jubilee year. ForITV, she presented a 1977 TV special to launch her albumVera Lynn in Nashville, which included pop songs of the 1960s and country songs.[53]
TheRoyal Variety Performance included appearances by Vera Lynn on seven occasions: 1951,[54] 1952,[55] 1957,[56] 1960, 1975, 1986 and 1990.[57][58] Lynn was also interviewed about her role in entertaining the troops in the India-Burma Theatre, forThe World at War series in 1974. Lynn is also 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 21st century – in 1952 having three singles in the first ever singles chart, compiled byNew Musical Express,[59] and later having aNo. 1 album withWe'll Meet Again – The Very Best of Vera Lynn.[60]
Vera Lynn made her solo recording debut with the song "The General's Fast Asleep" on 3 October 1935, accompanied by the Rhythm Rascals (a pseudonym forJay Wilbur's orchestra). The 9"78 rpm single was issued on the Crown Records label,[61] which went on to release a total of 8 singles recorded by Vera Lynn and Charles Smart on organ. Early recordings include "I'm in the Mood for Love"[62] and "Red Sails in the Sunset".[63]
In 1938, the Decca label took over control of the British Crown label and the UK-based Rex label; they had also issued early singles from Lynn in 1937, including "Harbour Lights". 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.[26]
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s theDecca label issued all of Lynn's records, including several recorded withMantovani and His Orchestra in 1942, and withRobert Farnon from the late 1940s. These were only available as 78 rpm singles, which contained only two songs as an A and aB-side. In the mid-1950s, Decca issued severalEP singles, which comprised between two and four recordings per side, such asVera Lynn's Party Sing Song from 1954. Lynn was the first British artist to have a number one in U.S. charts, achieved with "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", which stayed at the top for nine weeks in 1952. Singles were now issued on two formats: the known 78 rpm 10" shellac discs, and the recently introduced 45 rpm 7" vinyl single. In the late 1950s, Lynn recorded four albums at Decca, the first;Vera Lynn Concert remains her only live recording ever issued on vinyl.[64][65][66][67][68]
In 1960, after more than 20 years at Decca Records, Lynn signed to the US basedMGM Records.[1] In the UK, her recordings were distributed by theHis Master's Voice label, laterEMI Records. Several albums and stand-alone singles were recorded withGeoff Love and His Orchestra.Norman Newell also took over as Lynn's producer in this period and remained with her until her 1976 albumChristmas with Vera Lynn. Recording at EMI Records up until 1977, Lynn released thirteen albums with material as diverse as traditionalhymns, pop andcountry songs, as well as re-recording many of her known songs from the 1940s for the albumsHits of the Blitz (1962),More Hits of the Blitz andVera Lynn Remembers – The World at War (1974). In the 1980s, two albums of contemporary pop songs were recorded at thePye Records label, both including covers of songs previously recorded by artists such asABBA andBarry Manilow.[69][68][70][71][72]
In 1982, Lynn released the stand-alone single "I Love This Land", written byAndré Previn, to mark the end of theFalklands War. Lynn's last recordings before her retirement were issued in 1991 via theNews of the World newspaper, with proceeds in aid of the Gulf Trust.[73]
Lynn sang outsideBuckingham Palace in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee ofVE Day.[74]
The United Kingdom'sVE Day ceremonies in 2005 included a concert inTrafalgar 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, and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again". This would be Lynn's final vocal performance at a VE Day anniversary event.[22]
Following that year'sRoyal British LegionFestival of Remembrance Lynn encouraged the Welsh singerKatherine Jenkins to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart".[74][75][76] In her speech Lynn said: "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".[77]
In September 2008, Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website, "The Times of My Life", at theCabinet War Rooms in London.[78] Lynn published her autobiography,Some Sunny Day, in 2009. She had written two previous memoirs:Vocal Refrain (1975) andWe'll Meet Again (1989).[79]
In February 2009, it was reported that Lynn was suing theBritish National Party (BNP) for using "The White Cliffs of Dover" on an anti-immigration album without her permission. Her lawyer claimed the album seemed to link Lynn, who did not align with any political party, to the party's views by association.[80]
In September 2009, at the age of 92, Lynn became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 in the British album chart.[81] Her compilation albumWe'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn entered the chart at number 20 on 30 August, and then climbed to No. 2 the following week before reaching the top position, outselling both theArctic Monkeys andthe Beatles.[82][83] With this achievement, she surpassedBob Dylan as the oldest artist to have a number one album in the UK.[83]
In August 2014, Lynn was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter toThe Guardian opposingScottish independence in the run-up to September'sreferendum on that issue.[84] In May 2015, she was unable to attendVE Day 70: A Party to Remember, in London but was interviewed at home by theDaily Mirror.[85]
Three days before her 100th birthday on 17 March 2017, a new LP entitledVera Lynn 100 was released throughDecca Records.[86] The album, setting Lynn's original vocals to new re-orchestrated versions of her songs, also involves several duet partners includingAlfie Boe,Alexander Armstrong,Aled Jones andthe RAF Squadronaires.[87]Parlophone, which owns Lynn's later recordings from the 1960s and 1970s, released a collection of her songs recorded atAbbey Road Studios entitledHer Greatest from Abbey Road on 10 March 2017, including five previously unreleased original recordings.[88] By October 2017, she was the best-selling female artist of the year in the UK, having sold more albums than contemporary artists likeDua Lipa andLana Del Rey.[89]
Lynn received two nominations at the 2018Classic Brit Awards for Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year and was also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.[90]
In January 2020, a new painted portrait of Lynn was given as a gift from London Mint Office to theRoyal Albert Hall in connection with the 75th anniversary of the peace in 1945.[91] The portrait is painted byRoss Kolby and was unveiled by Lynn's daughter Virginia Lewis-Jones andBritain's Got Talent winnerColin Thackery.[92][93]
On 5 April 2020 the song "We'll Meet Again" was echoed by Queen Elizabeth II in a television address she delivered addressing theCOVID-19 pandemic.[94] For the 75th anniversary ofVE Day, Lynn and Katherine Jenkins duetted virtually (Jenkins singing next to ahologram) at theRoyal Albert Hall, which was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[95]
In June 2021, a wildflower meadow on theWhite Cliffs of Dover was named in honour of Lynn.[96]
In 1976, Lynn received anhonoraryDoctorate of Laws from theMemorial University of Newfoundland.[97] She received theHonorary Freedom of the City of London in 1978.[98] In 2000, she received a "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award in a nationwide poll in which she won 21% of the vote.[99] A street named in her honour, Vera Lynn Close, is situated inForest Gate, London.[100] She was awarded the honorary degree ofMaster of Music (M.Mus.) in 1992 by theUniversity of London.[101]
She was the subject ofThis Is Your Life on two occasions, in October 1957 when she was surprised byEamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre,[citation needed] and again in December 1978, for an episode which was broadcast on 1 January 1979, when Andrews surprised her at theCafé Royal, London.[citation needed]
In 2018, Lynn received theOutstanding Contribution to Music award at theClassic Brit Awards.[102] In January 2019, it was reported that The London Mint Office had commissioned acclaimed Norwegian artistRoss Kolby to paint a portrait of Dame Vera. The painting was unveiled on 13 January 2020 and hangs in theRoyal Albert Hall in London where Dame Vera performed on 52 occasions.[103]
Lynn's visit to theBurma front during the Second World War was included in the British television documentary seriesThe World at War in 1974 and narrated byLaurence Olivier. A short interview made for the documentary is included in Episode 14, "It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow: Burma 1942–1944".[104]
On their 1979 albumThe Wall,Pink Floyd released a song titled "Vera", referencing Vera Lynn and the song "We'll Meet Again" with the lyrics "Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? / Remember how she said that / We would meet again / Some sunny day?".[105] "We'll Meet Again" was also used as an intro to the live performances ofThe Wall in 1980 and 1981 (as can be heard onIs There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81). The 1982 filmPink Floyd – The Wall opens with "The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" performed by Lynn.[106]
OnGary Numan's 1982 albumI, Assassin, the song "War Songs" has the chorus: "Old men love war songs / Love Vera Lynn / Old men love war songs / Now I'm Vera Lynn".
The ending ofStanley Kubrick's black comedy film about the triggering ofWorld War III (and the nuclear annihilation of civilisation),Dr. Strangelove, shows several minutes of nuclear explosions, with a musical accompaniment of the 1953 version ofWe'll Meet Again with Vera Lynn and an armed services chorus.
A preserved example of theWD Austerity 2-10-0 class ofsteam locomotives at theNorth Yorkshire Moors Railway is namedDame Vera Lynn.[107] One of two new boats for theWoolwich Ferry service, which were delivered via Tilbury in autumn 2018, was namedDame Vera Lynn in her honour.[108][109]
On his 2018 albumWould You Still Be in Love,Anthony Green released a song titled "Vera Lynn" that referenced her songs "We'll Meet Again" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".[110]
War Medal 1939–1945
Burma Star_Ribbon.png)
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Officer of theMost Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (1997)[113]
Member of theOrder of the Companions of Honour (2016 Birthday Honours), appointed for services to entertainment and charity.[114][115]
Commander of theOrder of Orange-Nassau, The Netherlands (1977)[116]
In 1953, Lynn formed thecerebral palsy charity SOS (The Stars Organisation for Spastics) and became its chairperson.[117][118] The Vera Lynn Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust was founded in 1976, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.[119]
In August 1985, she appeared on stage atCrystal Palace Bowl, withHawkwind,Doctor and the Medics and several other rock bands, for the finale of a benefit concert forPete Townshend'sDouble-O anti-heroin charity.[120]
In 2002, Lynn became president of the cerebral palsy charity The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy, and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf atQueen Elizabeth Hall in London.[121] In 2008, Lynn became patron of the charitable Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL.[122]
She became the patron of the Dover War Memorial Project in 2010;[123] the same year she became patron of the British charity Projects to Support Refugees from Burma/Help 4 Forgotten Allies.[124] In 2013 she joined aPETA campaign againstpigeon racing, stating that the sport is "utterly cruel".[125] When PETA bought three ofthe King's racing pigeons at auction in 2024, they renamed one 'Vera' in recognition of Lynn's campaigning work.[126]
During the Second World War, Lynn lived with her parents in a house she had bought in 1938 at 24 Upney Lane,Barking.[127] In 1941, Lynn marriedHarry Lewis, a clarinetist, saxophonist and fellow member ofAmbrose's orchestra[128] whom she had met two years earlier. They rented another house in Upney Lane, near her parents' house.[127] Lewis became Lynn's manager prior to 1950, after leaving his own career behind.[22]
After the Second World War, Lynn and Lewis moved toFinchley, north London. The couple lived inDitchling, East Sussex, from the early 1960s onwards, living next door to their daughter.[129]
The couple had one child in March 1946, Virginia Lewis (now Lewis-Jones). Harry Lewis died in 1998.[130]
Lynn died from pneumonia atPrincess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath on 18 June 2020, aged 103.[1][131][132] Tributes to Lynn were led by the Royal Family, with QueenElizabeth II sending private condolences to Lynn's family andClarence House issuing tributes from the thenPrince Charles and theDuchess of Cornwall. The then Prime Minister,Boris Johnson, andLeader of the Opposition, SirKeir Starmer, also led with tributes in Parliament, while musicians like SirPaul McCartney andKatherine Jenkins and public figures likeCaptain Tom Moore discussed her profound impact.[133] TheBand of the Coldstream Guards convened the same day to play her song "We'll Meet Again".[134]
Lynn was given a military funeral, which was held on 10 July 2020 in East Sussex. The procession made its way from her home in Ditchling to theWoodvale Crematorium inBrighton;[135] it was widely attended by the public. Ditchling was decorated withpoppies, 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 theEnglish Channel. Hercortege was accompanied by members of theRoyal Air Force, theBritish Army, theRoyal Navy, andthe Royal British Legion, as well as theBattle of BritainSpitfireflypast, which followed the cortege and passed over Ditchling three times (10 July 2020 was the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain). Her coffin was draped in aUnion Flag with a wreath. At the family service at the Woodvale Crematorium chapel, she wasserenaded by aRoyal Marine bugler. Her family have said a public memorial service will be organised for some time in the future.[135][136] On 21 March 2022, athanksgiving service for Lynn was held atWestminster Abbey.[137]
Following Lynn's death, Jenkins began campaigning to erect a statue of her by theWhite Cliffs of Dover, a reference to one of her signature songs "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover".[138] Jenkins and Lynn's death established the Dame Vera Lynn Memorial Trust and selected sculptorPaul Day to design the memorial. In July 2022, theDover District Council announced that Lynn's family had decided to place the memorial elsewhere, as they found the location offered "'insufficient' to honour [Lynn's] legacy".[139] The memorial subsequently evolved intoThe Forces' Sweetheart And Wartime Entertainers' Memorial, honouring Lynn and "all those unsung heroes who entertain in times of conflict".[140] The memorial is planned for theNational Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| Sincerely Yours[72] |
| — | |
| Vera Lynn Concert[72] |
| — | |
| If I Am Dreaming[141] |
| — | |
| The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes[142] |
| — | |
| Vera Lynn Sings...Songs of the Tuneful Twenties[72] |
| — | |
| Sing With Vera[72] (With the Williams Singers andGeoff Love & His Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Yours[72] (With the Williams Singers andGeoff Love & His Orchestra) |
| — | |
| As Time Goes By[72] (With the Williams Singers andGeoff Love & His Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Hits of the Blitz[143] (With Tony Osborne & His Orchestra) |
| — | |
| The Wonderful Vera Lynn[72] (With Tony Osborne & His Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Among My Souvenirs[72] (With Tony Osborne & His Orchestra) |
| — | |
| More Hits of the Blitz[143] (With the Sam Fonteyn Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Hits of the 60's – My Way[72] (With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Unforgettable Songs by Vera Lynn[72] (With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Favourite Sacred Songs[72] (With the Mike Sammes Singers) |
| — | |
| Vera Lynn Remembers – The World at War[144] (With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Christmas with Vera Lynn[72] (With Alyn Ainsworth and Orchestra) |
| — | |
| Vera Lynn in Nashville[72] |
| — | |
| Thank You For the Music (I Sing The Songs)[72] |
| — | |
| Singing To the World[145] |
| — | |
| 20 Family Favourites[3] |
| 25 |
|
| Vera Lynn Remembers[147] |
| — | |
| We'll Meet Again[3] |
| 44 | |
| Unforgettable[3] |
| 61 |
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | EU | DUT | NOR | NZ | DEN | BEL | AUS | |||
| Hits of the War Years |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 32[148] | |
| We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn[149][150] |
| 1 | 48 | 8 | 83 | 18 | 8 | 28 | 10 | 21 |
|
| National Treasure – Ultimate Collection[151] |
| 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Her Greatest from Abbey Road[3] |
| 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Vera Lynn 100[3] |
| 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | US A/C | US Cashbox | ||
| 1948 | "You Can't Be True, Dear"[152] | — | 9 | — | — |
| 1949 | "Again"[152] | — | 23 | — | — |
| 1952 | "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart"[3] | 10 | 1 | — | 1 |
| "Forget-Me-Not"[3] | 5 | — | — | — | |
| "The Homing Waltz"[3] | 9 | — | — | — | |
| "Yours (Quiéreme Mucho)"[152] | — | 7 | — | 10 | |
| 1953 | "The Windsor Waltz"[3] | 11 | — | — | — |
| 1954 | "We'll Meet Again"[3] | 55 | 29 | — | — |
| "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)"[153] | — | 21 | — | 5 | |
| "My Son, My Son"[3] | 1 | 28 | — | 22 | |
| 1956 | "Who Are We"[3] | 30 | — | — | — |
| "Such a Day"[154][155] | — | 96 | — | 45 | |
| "A House with Love in It"[3] | 17 | — | — | — | |
| 1957 | "The Faithful Hussar (Don't Cry My Love)"[3] | 29 | 55 | — | 40 |
| "Travellin' Home"[3] | 20 | — | — | — | |
| 1967 | "It Hurts to Say Goodbye"[156][157] | — | — | 7 | — |
| 2014 | "We'll Meet Again" (duet withKatherine Jenkins)[158][3] | 72 | — | — | — |
| 2020 | "Land of Hope and Glory"[3] | 17 | — | — | — |
| Film[159] | Year | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We'll Meet Again | 1942 | Peggy Brown | [160] | |
| Rhythm Serenade | 1943 | Ann Martin | [161] | |
| One Exciting Night | 1944 | Vera Baker | also known asYou Can't Do Without Love | [162] |
| Venus fra Vestø | 1962 | [163] | ||
| A Gift for Love | 1963 | music performance | [164] |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
