If You Go (Si tu partais) from "Night without Stars" (Emer ; Parsons) Vera Lynn with Accompaniment.

Directed by Roland Shaw. London label record # 1156 (DR.16461) Date 1952

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 during World War II. She 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 (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".

Dame

Vera Lynn

CH DBE OStJ



Portrait by Allan Warren, c. 1973

Born

Vera Margaret Welch


20 March 1917

East Ham, Essex, England

Died18 June 2020 (aged 103)

Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England

Years active1924–2020Spouse

Harry Lewis

​

​

(m. 1941; died 1998)​

Children1Musical careerGenres

Popular

traditional pop

Labels

Decca 

London for export

MGM

His Master's Voice

Columbia (EMI)

EMI

Pye

Military careerBranchEntertainments National Service AssociationYears of service1939–1945Battles / warsBattle of Kohima

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 the Falklands War. In 2009, at the age of 92, she became the oldest living artist to top the UK Albums Chart with the compilation album We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn. In 2014, she released the collection Vera Lynn: National Treasure and in 2017, she released Vera 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. 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, and breast 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