0:00:02 > 0:00:04APPLAUSE
0:00:04 > 0:00:06MUSIC: We'll Meet Again sung by Dame Vera Lynn
0:00:06 > 0:00:10One of Britain's greatest national treasures, Dame Vera Lynn,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13is 100 years old.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17She's the working-class girl from the East End of London
0:00:17 > 0:00:19who became the voice of a nation.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22# ..Some sunny day... #
0:00:22 > 0:00:28As we celebrate Dame Vera's life, we share a century of memories...
0:00:28 > 0:00:31We saw a few Japanese soldiers.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35Woke up one morning and found four of them outside my hut.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40..see the private wife and mother through her personal family films,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42and meet the veterans from the front line
0:00:42 > 0:00:44who talk of the hope she brought them.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47When we were out there, she was the whole world, really.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50We were all singing and crying at the same time,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53all putting our arms round one another.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55# ..I won't be long... #
0:00:55 > 0:00:58We discover how Dame Vera became a British legend
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and gave such joy to so many.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06When you listen to that voice, there's a kind of...tingle.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10She's like family, even though you may never have met her.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14You feel like you've got a contact, there's a bond with her.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I would put Vera Lynn very high on the list
0:01:17 > 0:01:22of unique contributors to our civilisation.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24She really is one of the
0:01:24 > 0:01:28great British popular music artists of all time.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31This is Dame Vera's story,
0:01:31 > 0:01:36and she's still singing and enjoying life in her 100th year.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39# ..I won't be long...
0:01:39 > 0:01:41# They'll be happy to know
0:01:41 > 0:01:44# That as you saw me so
0:01:44 > 0:01:48# I was singing this song. #
0:01:53 > 0:02:00# There'll be bluebirds over
0:02:00 > 0:02:03# The white cliffs of Dover... #
0:02:03 > 0:02:07What are you thinking when you watch yourself from years ago?
0:02:07 > 0:02:08Oh, God.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10SHE LAUGHS
0:02:10 > 0:02:12How slim I was.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18# ..The shepherd will tend his sheep
0:02:18 > 0:02:22# And the valley will bloom again... #
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It was here in London's East Ham that Vera Lynn was born.
0:02:27 > 0:02:28Now, for most of us,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31when we think of her, we think of the Second World War,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33but in fact she was born during the First World War,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35on March 20th 1917.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38By the time she was seven, she was already singing in public,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42a little working-class girl singing in working men's clubs.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46So how did someone with absolutely no formal musical training
0:02:46 > 0:02:48go on to have a stellar singing career
0:02:48 > 0:02:51that would span nearly a whole century?
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Born Vera Welch to dad Bertram, a plumber,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and mum Annie, a dressmaker, the Welch family loved music,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and quickly realised that Vera had a good voice,
0:03:05 > 0:03:10so good that she fast became the family's main breadwinner.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14# ..Just keep on wishing... #
0:03:14 > 0:03:17I didn't want my photograph taken.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- You can tell.- No.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22That's why I'm looking so gloomy.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26You took for your stage name Lynn, didn't you?
0:03:26 > 0:03:31Yeah, it was my grandmother's maiden name. It was Irish.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- Because Lynn sounded better than Welch.- Yes, yes.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38- It was easier for publicity.- Mm.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41- I thought it sounded nice.- Yeah.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45There's Mum,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and Dad, with a cigarette in his mouth.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Fancy sitting on the sand in clothes like that today.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55THEY LAUGH
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- There was no bikinis in those days. - No.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02She put me on the stage.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Were you sort of doing it more for your mum than for yourself?
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Singing, yes, for Mum, yeah.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12"Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington."
0:04:12 > 0:04:13VIRGINIA LAUGHS
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Welch.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18VIRGINIA LAUGHS
0:04:18 > 0:04:26# Yours till the stars lose their glory
0:04:27 > 0:04:34# Yours till the birds fail to sing
0:04:36 > 0:04:41# Yours to the end of... #
0:04:41 > 0:04:43The voice was so genuine.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48It was unfiltered, it wasn't a trained voice,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53and it never has sounded like a trained voice.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55She just opened her throat
0:04:55 > 0:04:59and out it came, this clear,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02vibrant, full of emotion,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05bell-like voice,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08and it stopped you in your tracks.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Even though she's technically brilliant, she gets the emotion.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14You get some singers who are technically superb,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17but you're not quite sure they really care what the song is,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19they're just showing off.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23With Vera, I always felt the key thing is that she understands
0:05:23 > 0:05:26exactly what the song has to get over,
0:05:26 > 0:05:27and she does it brilliantly.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29It's a very clear voice.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31And it's sincere.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34You know? You get the feeling that she's singing from the heart.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38- VIRGINIA:- Did you like singing when you were very young?
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Erm, I was all right once I was on.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43In full swing, I was OK.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48Once they found I could sing, they used to take me all round
0:05:48 > 0:05:51all the working men's clubs in London.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53They were great audiences.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58The working men's clubs
0:05:58 > 0:06:00were an excellent training ground for Vera,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and out of them would develop the singing style
0:06:03 > 0:06:05we know and love today.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08So, even as a tiddler,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10she was all already being billed in the East End
0:06:10 > 0:06:12as the girl with the different voice.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- What was that?- I think it was mainly cos the girls of that age,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18you didn't expect them to be belters,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21- and she was an early belter. - And what is a belter?
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Well, to be heard, she would have to belt to the back of the hall,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27really going with the lyric,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30to get across the noise, people with drinks,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32because they wouldn't all sit politely.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35They were in working men's clubs in the East End.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38There were no microphones in those days.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Cos my voice was much louder,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44cos I sang in a higher key.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Mm.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48When you started using the microphone,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I had to lower my tone of my voice.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Ooh!
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Very heavily, I bring in the microphone.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Which, presumably, helped her no end.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Well, it was a great invention,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04but in some ways it was difficult for Vera, cos she was so used
0:07:04 > 0:07:07to projecting,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10and microphones don't like loud voices.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13In fact, it led us into the more intimate sound
0:07:13 > 0:07:15that we're so used to.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17We think we know her voice so well, but actually that was
0:07:17 > 0:07:20almost like the second chapter of Vera's voice, wasn't it?
0:07:20 > 0:07:22- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Did you never have singing lessons, apart from when you were older,
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- and that didn't last long, did it? - No, I didn't have singing lessons.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32I just went once.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35I thought I could extend my range,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38but when she heard me sing she says,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42POSH ACCENT: "No, I can't train that voice.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45"It's not a natural voice."
0:07:45 > 0:07:49So I said, "Well, thank you very much, madam," and left.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56I wonder if she ever heard me when I was on the radio after that?
0:07:56 > 0:08:03# If you love me, really love me...
0:08:03 > 0:08:06# Let it happen
0:08:06 > 0:08:09# I won't care... #
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Radio was to come calling for Vera.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15She was about to make the transition from East End to West End.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19One night, aged 15, singing here at Poplar Baths,
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Vera was spotted by local bandleader Howard Baker,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25who signed her up on the spot.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28She was going to be catapulted into the glamorous world
0:08:28 > 0:08:30of the big band scene.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39They all needed singers to perform a few songs for them,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and one of the greatest band leaders of the day was Joe Loss,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46with whom Vera had her first radio broadcast,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49and then this cinema short.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52# Love
0:08:52 > 0:08:55# Is like a cigarette
0:08:55 > 0:08:58# Love seemed to fade away
0:08:58 > 0:09:00# And leave behind
0:09:00 > 0:09:03# Ashes of regret
0:09:03 > 0:09:07# And with a flip of your fingertip
0:09:07 > 0:09:11# It was easy for you to forget
0:09:11 > 0:09:18# Love is like a cigarette... #
0:09:22 > 0:09:26There were a lot of female singers, many far more glamorous than Vera,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30but apart from her wonderful vocals, her calling card was,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and always has been, her authenticity.
0:09:33 > 0:09:39And the public warmed to her, both in the clubs and then on BBC radio,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43where she was making regular appearances.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Vera would spend hours leafing through sheet music
0:09:46 > 0:09:49in the publishing houses of London's Denmark Street,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51looking for a potential hit.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55And in 1936, aged 19,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57she had her first solo record,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59called Up The Wooden Hill To Bedfordshire.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05# Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire... #
0:10:05 > 0:10:09So, as Vera got bigger and bigger and better known,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11presumably once she was arriving in Denmark Street,
0:10:11 > 0:10:13everybody would get pretty excited.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Yeah. Oh, there was a real buzz,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19and writers would try and get their song to her.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21What I'm always fascinated though, about her,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23she could never read music, could she?
0:10:23 > 0:10:26No. I mean, a lot of singers who don't read music
0:10:26 > 0:10:30will follow the vocal line and think, oh, that looks nice,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32it's got a nice look to it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36First of all, I would look at the lyrics and if I liked the lyrics,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39then I would listen to the tune,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43cos I thought the lyrics were more important than the music.
0:10:43 > 0:10:44Mm. Mm.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46And, erm...
0:10:47 > 0:10:49I liked it, we set the keys and...
0:10:51 > 0:10:55..the arranger would come and hear me sing it,
0:10:55 > 0:11:00so that he would know where to put the emphasis on any backing.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04# One evening long ago A big ship was leaving... #
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Vera had a real talent for picking her own songs,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10trusting her instinct, knowing what she was good at,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13and that would prove to be the key to her enduring success.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17By the age of just 22, she'd sold over a million records,
0:11:17 > 0:11:18she bought her parents a house,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21she bought herself a little car, life was sweet.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23But then war broke out,
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and Vera worried that that could signal the end of her career.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Little did she know it would in fact become her
0:11:29 > 0:11:32and her country's finest hour.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35No such undertaking has been received,
0:11:35 > 0:11:40and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41AIR-RAID SIREN WAILS
0:11:41 > 0:11:44She was more than just a recording singer,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47she was the voice of an era
0:11:47 > 0:11:51when civilisation was actually under siege.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53When she first became famous,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55the lyrics really mattered,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57because England was...
0:11:58 > 0:12:00..a fortress.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04# Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye... #
0:12:04 > 0:12:07The Government quickly realised that entertainment on the home front
0:12:07 > 0:12:09was vital to boost morale
0:12:09 > 0:12:12and give the great British public some respite from
0:12:12 > 0:12:14the horrors of the bombings.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Sheet music, or programmes, or something here.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24Erm... This is the London Palladium, August 1941,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29which was in aid of the Widows & Orphans Fund.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Even though all the bombs were dropping during the war,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35my mother still did all the shows.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39One night, she had to stay over
0:12:39 > 0:12:42and they sat with their backs against one of the heavy walls,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45the big walls, because that was the safest place to be,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48and then eventually she got fed up and decided to drive home!
0:12:48 > 0:12:52But she and other performers continued throughout the war.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- Oh, look, your Austin. - Oh, look, my little Austin Ten.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59- I love the hat, don't you?- Yeah.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Snazzy hat. I went everywhere in that little car,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07all through the streets, with the raid on.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10You used not to like going down to the Underground, did you?
0:13:10 > 0:13:11You preferred to just drive home.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13No, it was so hot,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16so I used to get fed up after a while and go up the top
0:13:16 > 0:13:19and I thought, well, I'll take a chance.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22If there's anything up there for me, I'll get it,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24no matter where I am.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27# Close your eyes... #
0:13:27 > 0:13:31One night, whilst performing, Vera met the man she would marry,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33clarinet player Harry Lewis.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35You first met Daddy
0:13:35 > 0:13:38when he was playing in the orchestra, didn't you?
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Yes, in the Squadronaires.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It was a great band, that, Squadronaires.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46There was all the leading musicians
0:13:46 > 0:13:50- that were in the business. - Yeah.- All joined up together.- Yeah.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54And Harry and Vera married before he was sent away to fight.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58# Let's pretend that we're both... #
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Already huge on the variety circuit,
0:14:00 > 0:14:05Vera became an even bigger star when she was given her very own
0:14:05 > 0:14:09BBC radio show, called Sincerely Yours.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Sincerely yours, Vera Lynn.
0:14:12 > 0:14:18# My curtain of night will...#
0:14:18 > 0:14:21We lived in a council house.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23And in the living room,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26you'd have your couch and a couple of armchairs
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and a fireplace,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31and there would be the radio.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33It was your world.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38So you would hear Vera's songs on the radio all the time.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44We had really no idea how Vera Lynn looked.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49I imagine that she must have looked rather like my mother...
0:14:49 > 0:14:51on a good day.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55I imagined that she wore gloves and perhaps even a hat.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00Perhaps she had a little fascinator, a little veil.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02She was probably very nice, I thought.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05When I was little, Mummy and Daddy would park me by the radio
0:15:05 > 0:15:11to listen, and on would come this wonderful voice.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14# By the fireside... #
0:15:14 > 0:15:18And my mother was herself a singer, only amateur, of course,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21but she was in the finals of the
0:15:21 > 0:15:251936 Golden Voice competition of England.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30Erm, it was a bit like... the X Factor, only classier.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32And she would say,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35"Now, listen to this, Miriam,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38"because this is special."
0:15:40 > 0:15:42# A little kiss... #
0:15:42 > 0:15:45It seemed to me that the voice,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48that wonderful diction,
0:15:48 > 0:15:54that warm, intimate mezzo-soprano, Vera Lynn,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58was as much a part of the Second World War
0:15:58 > 0:16:01as the voice of Winston Churchill.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02'Dear boys,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06'this letter of mine is getting to be a sort of rendezvous,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'where husbands and wives...'
0:16:08 > 0:16:11It was a good way of trying to communicate
0:16:11 > 0:16:13with the boys that were away.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17# I'm yours sincerely...
0:16:17 > 0:16:20# I'm sincerely yours. #
0:16:20 > 0:16:22'I've been getting all kinds of letters
0:16:22 > 0:16:24'from people with worries,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27'asking me what I'd do in their situation.'
0:16:27 > 0:16:33The show was an instant success, a mixture of chat, song and letters.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36New-born baby announcements from the wives Vera visited,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and requests from soldiers abroad.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43'This time, I have a tune that sings of the peace and calm
0:16:43 > 0:16:48'of married life, of cosy evenings by the fireside.'
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Music had always been vital in raising an army's morale,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56but crucially, this was the first conflict in which rather than
0:16:56 > 0:16:58singing the songs themselves,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01the troops could now hear someone else singing them on the radio,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05and not just in Europe, but all over the world.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11I used to go round, visiting the soldiers' wives.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16She's got rather a sparkly garment on for being in bed.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Did you enjoy visiting, you know, the mothers in the hospitals?
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Oh, yes. It was nice... taking messages.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Vera chose one of her favourite songs, We'll Meet Again,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31as her radio signing-off tune each week.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34'And that's all my news and music.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37'You'll hear from me again next week.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38'Goodnight, boys.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41'Sincerely yours, Vera Lynn.'
0:17:41 > 0:17:46# We'll meet again...
0:17:46 > 0:17:48# Don't know where... #
0:17:48 > 0:17:51We'll Meet Again, how did you find that?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54- I sang it before the war.- Yeah.
0:17:54 > 0:18:00It was just a song that was sent to me, and I rather liked the lyric.
0:18:00 > 0:18:01I thought, that's a good song,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04you know, cos it goes with anyone, anywhere,
0:18:04 > 0:18:09- saying goodbye to someone, or parting, you know.- Hmm.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11We'll meet again.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16# ..Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds
0:18:16 > 0:18:19# Far away... #
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- Let's talk about the great We'll Meet Again.- Mm.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27What is it about this song that gets us all, even now, every time?
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I think the structure of this song is really wonderful
0:18:30 > 0:18:33in that it's very simple. It goes...
0:18:33 > 0:18:36HE PLAYS THE TUNE ON PIANO
0:18:38 > 0:18:41So we've had that. And then exactly the same thing happens,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43but in a slightly higher place.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46TUNE PLAYED IN HIGHER KEY
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Is it just that it's easy for us to remember
0:18:51 > 0:18:54and therefore it becomes familiar more easily?
0:18:54 > 0:18:57I think so. Yes, exactly, because we can...
0:18:57 > 0:19:00That first idea goes into our head
0:19:00 > 0:19:02and then when we get it again,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05we sort of know where it's going to go.
0:19:05 > 0:19:06So we feel comfortable with it?
0:19:06 > 0:19:08We feel comfortable with it and the lyric,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11"I know we'll meet again some sunny day,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15"keep smiling through, just like you always do,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18"till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away."
0:19:18 > 0:19:20It's stirring stuff, you know?
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Perhaps her two biggest hits,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25um, in the war,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28the ones that we remember best now,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32were White Cliffs Of Dover and We'll Meet Again.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36And the lyric in both those songs
0:19:36 > 0:19:40has the same message, told in different ways.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42And it's just a message of optimism.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Times are pretty grim,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46but we know they will change.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Vera Lynn told us something.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53And of course, it was a message the allied world needed.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57She sang songs of optimism,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59hope,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01redemption, reunion.
0:20:01 > 0:20:08It was at a time when it was very unlikely that we would win the war.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11If I was one of these guys who was away, fighting a war,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16how amazing would it be to hear Vera's beautiful voice
0:20:16 > 0:20:18singing about home?
0:20:18 > 0:20:22People could identify with her. They felt this is, in one sense,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25an ordinary person singing what we feel.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27It was the fact that she was
0:20:27 > 0:20:30like somebody you might know in your street.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32She's part of your household.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34She's one of those people that...
0:20:34 > 0:20:39She's like family, even though you may never have met her.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43You feel like you've got a contact, there's a bond with her.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Vera's popularity, both home and abroad,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51was such that she won the British Expeditionary Force's
0:20:51 > 0:20:52favourite singer poll,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56beating the likes of Bing Crosby and Judy Garland.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59The Forces' sweetheart was officially born.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03# ..Stars twinkle... #
0:21:03 > 0:21:06What happened next was quite extraordinary,
0:21:06 > 0:21:09because, of course, the troops all adored Vera.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11But there were some military advisers and some MPs
0:21:11 > 0:21:14who feared that her sentimental songs
0:21:14 > 0:21:17were turning the soldiers a bit soft.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19And I've got a couple of internal memos here
0:21:19 > 0:21:22that would've been written and circulated here at the BBC in 1942.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24And one of them refers to them
0:21:24 > 0:21:26trying to find more virile and less slushy material.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28There's also a line, though,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32which jumps out at me, which says that it's rather difficult to find
0:21:32 > 0:21:36cheerful songs that Vera Lynn is willing to sing.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And this does remind us that she knew her fan base really well,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41she knew what they wanted,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44and also, she was not prepared to be pushed around.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47However, for a while, despite Sincerely Yours
0:21:47 > 0:21:49being one of the BBC's most popular programmes ever,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51it was taken off the air.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54The songs Vera sung were always...
0:21:54 > 0:21:57They were always strong, they were good, they made sense.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59They didn't talk down, but at the same time,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02they were simple and straightforward.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04And people got them.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07I find it hard to believe that anybody at the BBC at the time
0:22:07 > 0:22:10thought that they were over-sentimental.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13I mean, what did they want? Did they want rap?
0:22:13 > 0:22:15They said it was too sentimental.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Make the boys homesick. VIRGINIA LAUGHS
0:22:18 > 0:22:21But it didn't.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23# Faraway places... #
0:22:23 > 0:22:27I did hear it said that the BBC has banned you from radio,
0:22:27 > 0:22:28and your sentimental way of singing
0:22:28 > 0:22:31was bad for the morale of the troops.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34My morale was boosted 200% last night.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37I can hardly tell you how grateful all the mothers, sisters,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40sweethearts and wives of these men are to you for bringing
0:22:40 > 0:22:43so much pleasure into the lives of their menfolk,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45which must be pretty grim in...
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Something about your voice, Vera, that I can't explain.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50It holds us all spellbound when you sing,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53as though you're putting every bit of your heart and soul into it.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56We, who have been out here for so long,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59know what it is to hear the loving tenderness of a woman's voice.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03I wonder if you would sing a song for me some time.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Vera continued to work tirelessly on the home front,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12but no longer able to sing to the troops on her radio show,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15she decided it was time to go and sing to them in person.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17And so she joined up -
0:23:17 > 0:23:20to the Entertainments National Service Association,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22ENSA for short.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Vera could easily have decided to entertain the troops in Europe.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33But instead, she opted to visit the soldiers
0:23:33 > 0:23:35in the forgotten war in Burma,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38as they were trying to repel the brutal Japanese army
0:23:38 > 0:23:42from marching west into British-controlled India.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Vera arrived there in April 1944,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48at the start of a major enemy offensive.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- Yes, Burma, the hats.- Yeah.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59What really decided you to go to Burma?
0:24:00 > 0:24:05Well, I just wanted to go somewhere that nobody had been before.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08- Yeah.- Any artists.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12So they said, "Well, nobody's gone to Burma yet."
0:24:12 > 0:24:16So I said, "Right, that's where I'll go."
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Cos it was very hot and humid out there, wasn't it?
0:24:20 > 0:24:21- Very hot.- Mm.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25- Couldn't wear make-up, only a lipstick.- Mm.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30That was the first mistake I made, putting make-up on.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32And the other one was...
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Having a perm, wasn't it?
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Oh, yes, I shouldn't have had a perm.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39I had terrible trouble.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44It would've been easier to control with my hair straight.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45THEY LAUGH
0:24:45 > 0:24:47It went all fizzy.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52I think four of us went down to see her.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56How we found it, I don't know, really!
0:24:56 > 0:25:00I know we travelled for two hours through the jungle to get there.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02It was packed out with servicemen.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05We were all pushing to get as close as we could, really,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07to where she was.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10# It's a lovely day... #
0:25:10 > 0:25:13I can't remember whether she had musicians with her,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17or anybody else at all. No, it was just Vera for us.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19HE LAUGHS
0:25:19 > 0:25:23We were all singing and crying at the same time,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26all putting our arms around one another.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30It was just great to see her, really.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34To think what we were going through there,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37it was a good bottle of medicine, it really was.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41# We'll meet again...
0:25:41 > 0:25:43# Don't know where... #
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Mm. Not easy.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51She felt, I think,
0:25:51 > 0:25:57a real commitment to those lads out there fighting.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01She felt that it was somehow a duty,
0:26:01 > 0:26:06not an onerous duty, but one that she wanted to fulfil.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08To entertain them,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11to give them something to take their mind off the horrors
0:26:11 > 0:26:14of what they were going through.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- VIRGINIA:- There's Len on the left.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20- Mm.- You just had Len Edwards on piano, didn't you?
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Yes, we used to carry that around with us.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Not literally.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27- No!- In a little...
0:26:27 > 0:26:28In a little truck.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31It didn't suffer
0:26:31 > 0:26:35an awful lot, when you're considering the state of the roads.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39But we did have a trouble at one time,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42when we just started the concert
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and the sides fell off of the piano.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49And the boys had to rush up and hold the sides on
0:26:49 > 0:26:53before we could continue the programme.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55VERA LAUGHS
0:26:55 > 0:26:58A lot of flies around out there, weren't there?
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Oh, yes, they use to settle on my bowl of soup,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04and I used to have to skim them off with my spoon.
0:27:04 > 0:27:10And try and duck underneath the flies so I could get some soup.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I am a real fan of Vera because she
0:27:17 > 0:27:22did so much to cheer us up when things looked grim.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25She was the Forces' sweetheart very quickly.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27She was one of us, singing to us.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30And she came all the way out there
0:27:30 > 0:27:35at a certain risk to entertain us and cheer us up.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42I went to Burma in January 1944.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45It was a bad year for monsoon.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48- We suffered. - It rained practically every day.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And very, very heavy.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56One evening, somebody came into the area and shouted,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Vera Lynn's going to be singing at so-and-so.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01# Show me the way... #
0:28:01 > 0:28:05It was on the end of some paddy fields.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09She was singing underneath a light in the darkness.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12And she was singing away, reached a high note,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16and one of our many flying bugs hit her in the face.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17And she went, "Oh,"
0:28:17 > 0:28:20put her hand up to whack it away,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and looked and she said, "I think I'd better start again."
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Which she did with no problem,
0:28:26 > 0:28:28and just carried on and did the rest of the programme.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31As soon as she finished,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34I'm sure the Japanese are just cheering and clapping.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37It was absolutely marvellous
0:28:37 > 0:28:39that she should come there
0:28:39 > 0:28:44when so many of our entertainers didn't.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47I had a wife and daughter waiting for me at home.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49She brought them closer.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51# Faraway places... #
0:28:51 > 0:28:53There is no object to this letter,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57it's just that I felt I must show my appreciation of you
0:28:57 > 0:29:00travelling over 6,000 miles to sing for the boys...
0:29:00 > 0:29:03I've just received a letter from my eldest son in hospital in Burma,
0:29:03 > 0:29:07who tells me how you paid him a visit and how you entertained them.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10In the jungle, where radios aren't up to standard,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14and there's not so many anyhow, we've been inspired and comforted,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17so we wish to proclaim you our 1st Battalion sweetheart.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Somebody ought to get cracking now with, I suggest,
0:29:20 > 0:29:21Sweetheart of the Jungle.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24You're the first English girl I have seen and heard
0:29:24 > 0:29:25in this part of the world.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41There's a bag here we've found, with all Mummy's Burma stuff.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Erm... Oh, those are the terribly fetching trousers
0:29:45 > 0:29:47which she wore.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51And here are the terribly fetching shorts.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Mummy was terribly tiny.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57Lots of photographs of her, you know, with a tiny, tiny waist.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00And the hat.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03I can pop the hat on if you want.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09There are probably quite a few hats knocking around
0:30:09 > 0:30:10with her signature on them,
0:30:10 > 0:30:12because that's what they used to get her to sign,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14as they didn't have anything else.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16And the boys obviously signed Mummy's hat
0:30:16 > 0:30:18as a sort of remembrance thing.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22Mansell, Vernon and Prowse.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31Yeah, I wonder what happened to all those hats.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34I bet the troops were glad to see you, were they, when you went out?
0:30:34 > 0:30:40Oh, yes. Always went around with me to make sure I was OK.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42We saw a few Japanese soldiers.
0:30:42 > 0:30:48Woke up one morning and found four of them outside my hut.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50Just sitting there on the ground.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56They came in the camp during the night and were captured.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03I was in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. I was in Burma in '43.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06It came along the grapevine that Vera Lynn was in the area.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08And she put on a concert,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11believe it or not, right in the front line,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14at the bottom of Garrison Hill in Kohima itself,
0:31:14 > 0:31:18where the major battle took place eventually.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20We thought that she's come too far,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23but I understand she insisted on coming up to the front line.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26To me, that was bravery.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29I was on patrol at the time
0:31:29 > 0:31:32and I could hear cheering and singing in the distance.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34One of my mates said, "Do you know what?
0:31:34 > 0:31:37"I hear Vera Lynn's in the area somewhere."
0:31:37 > 0:31:39I said, "Yeah, she's not too far away,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41"probably a couple of hundred yards away."
0:31:41 > 0:31:43I said, "We'll have to try and make our way down there
0:31:43 > 0:31:45"and see if we can see her."
0:31:45 > 0:31:49And a Japanese chap suddenly come from out of the bushes...
0:31:50 > 0:31:53I shot at him, his helmet came off.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Fell to the floor.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59And I noticed there was something inside and folded up neatly,
0:31:59 > 0:32:00as neatly as you like.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04It was the Japanese flag. So I took that out,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08put it in my pocket, and went down to see if we could find Vera.
0:32:08 > 0:32:15# When they sound the last all clear... #
0:32:15 > 0:32:19When I got there, she was right bang in front of me.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21I said, "Hello, Vera," I said, "Would you like this?"
0:32:21 > 0:32:26"Oh, yes," she said. And she picked it up and she said,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30"They've got better silk in these flags than I've got in my knickers."
0:32:30 > 0:32:32HE LAUGHS
0:32:32 > 0:32:36Vera coming down in a situation like that, she was a very brave lady.
0:32:36 > 0:32:37Very brave lady.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Were you ever frightened?
0:32:41 > 0:32:44No, I knew I was being taken good care of.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47The boys never left my side.
0:32:47 > 0:32:52I don't think that the troops wanted to go to bed with her, particularly.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55They wanted to sit down and have a cup of tea
0:32:55 > 0:33:00and share what they had been through with her.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03She was more of a sister figure.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07She wasn't un-sexy, but it just was irrelevant.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09It didn't matter.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Vera Lynn didn't sing sexy songs.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17But she made patriotism sexy.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22# There'll always be an England... #
0:33:22 > 0:33:25With the tide turning in favour of the Allies,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Vera returned to England and, despite earlier doubts,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31was invited back to host another series of her radio show,
0:33:31 > 0:33:36which once again broadcast both at home and abroad.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40# ..On our way... #
0:33:43 > 0:33:46We spent three-and-three-quarter years
0:33:46 > 0:33:50as slave workers of the Japanese. We had no contact
0:33:50 > 0:33:52with the world at all.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55We could have been on the back of the moon.
0:33:55 > 0:34:01And we had been freed, and I think the RAF had dropped us a radio.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05We were sitting in the jungle in the middle of the night.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07Suddenly, there's this voice,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10suddenly that's England I'm listening to.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Here is our song together tonight.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16# Night and day... #
0:34:16 > 0:34:19That is actually Vera Lynn's voice.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23# ..Only you beneath the moonlight... #
0:34:23 > 0:34:29It was such a shock to be sitting in a POW camp
0:34:29 > 0:34:33and hearing this voice coming from England.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35# It don't matter, darling Where you are... #
0:34:35 > 0:34:36The impact was tremendous.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41And we just sat there and no-one said a word, we just listened.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46We knew her before the war as an ordinary entertainer.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49But when we were out there, she was more than that.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51She was the whole world, really.
0:34:51 > 0:34:58# There'll be bluebirds over
0:34:58 > 0:35:02# The white cliffs of Dover... #
0:35:02 > 0:35:04To hear her say there will be
0:35:04 > 0:35:08bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11I could see those cliffs,
0:35:11 > 0:35:13and I thought, "We are going home."
0:35:13 > 0:35:17# ..There'll be love and laughter
0:35:17 > 0:35:23# And peace ever after
0:35:23 > 0:35:29# Tomorrow, when the world is free... #
0:35:29 > 0:35:33What made you choose the White Cliffs Of Dover?
0:35:33 > 0:35:39Because it was the last thing the boys saw when they went away,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43and the first thing they saw on the way back.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Optimistic song - there will be bluebirds -
0:35:46 > 0:35:48although we didn't have any bluebirds.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50No, that was American, wasn't it?
0:35:50 > 0:35:54But it was just a symbol of happiness, a bluebird.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57# There'll be bluebirds over... #
0:35:57 > 0:36:03As a kid under the age of ten, I could sing that song,
0:36:03 > 0:36:08as I was frequently asked to do to entertain the aunties.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13And without knowing what the white cliffs of Dover were,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16or what kind of birds were bluebirds.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20This was a song that was recorded by Glenn Miller, who was a huge star,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22and yet we never, ever listen to his version.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25- We listen to Vera Lynn's version. - We do.- Why was that?
0:36:25 > 0:36:27It's because of her sense of communication.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30It is crucial, isn't it, with her success, that people could join in.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33It was something that wasn't out of their reach. I mean, none of us
0:36:33 > 0:36:36- would have sounded as good as Vera, but we could sing along.- Exactly.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38It was all very much, you know,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42if you hear people sing, as we all do, Happy Birthday,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44people use a very limited range.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Hymns, very often, are set in a very high key.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50You often find, in church,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52that people have a job getting to the high notes,
0:36:52 > 0:36:58um, but these songs were all set very much so...you know, in the pub,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02wherever there was a crowd, they could join in and feel comfortable.
0:37:02 > 0:37:10# There'll be bluebirds over
0:37:12 > 0:37:16# The white cliffs of Dover
0:37:18 > 0:37:21# Tomorrow
0:37:21 > 0:37:28# Just you wait and see
0:37:30 > 0:37:37HE SIGNS ALONG # There'll be love and laughter
0:37:37 > 0:37:40# And peace ever after
0:37:40 > 0:37:44# ..ever after
0:37:44 > 0:37:47# Tomorrow, just you wait and see. #
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Oh, dear! Oh, dear!
0:37:51 > 0:37:55I didn't think I was going to sing this morning!
0:37:55 > 0:38:00It must have been so reassuring to the servicemen and women, um,
0:38:00 > 0:38:07to have somebody like her sing so strongly about home
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and about how things were going to be all right.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15You felt we might win the war when we heard songs like that.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18You just got the message of optimism.
0:38:18 > 0:38:26# ..There'll be bluebirds over
0:38:26 > 0:38:29# The white cliffs of Dover... #
0:38:29 > 0:38:33You're on your way home and you see them white cliffs in the distance,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36uh... You can't help it.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38You just can't help it.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41As far as it's possible for me to feel emotional,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44I feel emotional listening to that.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49No words.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52It's in the song.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55CHEERING
0:38:55 > 0:38:59We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing...
0:38:59 > 0:39:03# When you hear Big Ben
0:39:03 > 0:39:08# You're home again
0:39:08 > 0:39:15# Come, dear, where you belong
0:39:16 > 0:39:21# Though you're far away
0:39:21 > 0:39:25# Each night and day... #
0:39:25 > 0:39:29As loved ones were reunited all over the country, the war was over.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32But Vera's career was most definitely not.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34Over the next few decades,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36she would have hits on both sides of the Atlantic,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40she would tour the world, she would have prime-time TV shows,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43and even in her '90s have a number one album.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47She wasn't just the Forces' sweetheart.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51But before any of that happened, she became a mother to baby Virginia.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54I'm Miss Lewis, and mummy, of course, is Mrs Lewis,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57but you'll know her better as Sincerely Yours, Vera Lynn.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Oh, look.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05That's you. I love the quiff.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Yes. I've still got it, unfortunately,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09unless I brush it out.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13After a break from performing to look after Virginia,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Vera returned to the BBC,
0:40:15 > 0:40:19but they were once again questioning her choice of songs.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23She had clear ideas about what she wanted to sing
0:40:23 > 0:40:25and how she wanted to sing it,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28and when the BBC representatives would try to tell her
0:40:28 > 0:40:31that they thought she should change her repertory, she would refuse.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34So Vera Lynn instead turns to Radio Luxembourg,
0:40:34 > 0:40:36which is quite happy to have her.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39She also has her recording career, which continues.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43Decca regards her as one of its most bankable artists,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46not only in the United Kingdom, but also the United States.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50# Auf Wiederseh'n... #
0:40:50 > 0:40:54Vera yet again had an ear for a potential hit,
0:40:54 > 0:40:55and whilst holidaying in Switzerland,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58she heard a song called Auf Wiederseh'n,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02which would prove to be one of her most successful records ever.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08- Auf Wiederseh'n, my dear.- That's the one that you heard in Switzerland
0:41:08 > 0:41:09when you were on holiday?
0:41:09 > 0:41:13Yes, everyone was in the beer garden singing.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15And I thought, "Well, that's a good song.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17"I wonder who publishes it."
0:41:17 > 0:41:20And I thought, "Right..."
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Vera translated the lyrics from German,
0:41:25 > 0:41:27but kept the words "auf Wiederseh'n",
0:41:27 > 0:41:29and her record company released it in America.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34# ..Don't let the tears... #
0:41:34 > 0:41:36I've got a commercial cable here
0:41:36 > 0:41:40congratulating my mother on her single, Auf Wiederseh'n...
0:41:40 > 0:41:42in America.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44She was the first British person ever
0:41:44 > 0:41:46to have a number one in America,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49and it was number one for 13 weeks.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52"Congratulations to you and Vera Lynn. Stop.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56"Our reports show Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58"number one in retail sales
0:41:58 > 0:42:02"and number two in jukeboxes in the United States. Stop."
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Getting a number one hit in the United States is very challenging.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08This is happening well before the British invasion,
0:42:08 > 0:42:10and so, in many ways,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14we like to talk about the British invasion happening in the 1960s,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16but there's this sort of initial sortie
0:42:16 > 0:42:18that happens from Vera Lynn in 1952.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Vera Lynn is singing with a group of Forces singers,
0:42:24 > 0:42:29and we actually hear those soldiers singing first,
0:42:29 > 0:42:31and then her voice comes soaring in over the top.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35# ..This lovely day... #
0:42:35 > 0:42:39Vera Lynn really represents that sense of Britishness that is so
0:42:39 > 0:42:41intriguing to Americans.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45What did you feel like when you were number one in America?
0:42:45 > 0:42:47Surprised.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49I think that's the best expression,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53because I didn't know they really knew me, you see.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58Funny how Auf Wiederseh'n was so popular.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00- Yes.- I wonder why.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07On the first British chart ever in England, in November 1952,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10she had three records on it.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Vera was ahead of the game.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17For Vera, the 1950s were her favourite decade,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20on both a professional and personal level,
0:43:20 > 0:43:24with chart successes and an idyllic family life.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34This is the camera that my father used to use.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36Look at that.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40Amazing. And it weighs a tonne.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Daddy used to take all the family photographs and things on that.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56Anything that he thought was fun he would do.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06You used to do a lot of gardening, didn't you?
0:44:06 > 0:44:10I did, yes. I used to love digging,
0:44:10 > 0:44:16and planting pots up with tulips and things like that.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27- Aww, my lupins. Lovely lupins. - Beautiful, weren't they?
0:44:27 > 0:44:29- Lovely colouring.- Hmm.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32The orange and yellow, they were beautiful.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34There's Daddy, doing a silly thing again.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36THEY LAUGH
0:44:36 > 0:44:40# So many thoughts of you
0:44:40 > 0:44:43# That simply will not die... #
0:44:43 > 0:44:46My mother was not the same off stage as she was on.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49She felt that she had to be somewhat...
0:44:49 > 0:44:51not straight-laced by any means,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54but a little bit more reticent.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57But obviously, at home, if we were larking about or doing anything,
0:44:57 > 0:45:01then obviously it was a slightly different ball game.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07# ..You seem to come and go
0:45:07 > 0:45:10# The happiness you bring... #
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Daddy took some photographs of her with her lawnmower.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15I have no idea what started that.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17It was just terribly silly, the whole thing,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20as she was whizzing down the garden.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Mummy was absolutely super.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28She always made sure that she was home for holidays
0:45:28 > 0:45:31and birthdays and Christmas, etc,
0:45:31 > 0:45:36and tried to put her work around my schedule, which is not always easy,
0:45:36 > 0:45:40but she tried her best to do that.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47It's unbelievable that Vera is 100.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49I mean, we can't believe it, can we?
0:45:49 > 0:45:52But, you see, she lived on after the war.
0:45:52 > 0:45:58The war was the most thrilling and important episode, perhaps,
0:45:58 > 0:46:00in her life and the life of the country,
0:46:00 > 0:46:01and those of us who were living at
0:46:01 > 0:46:04that time. But she went on performing,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07she went on singing and giving joy and pleasure,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10and using not just radio, the original medium,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13but then she went on television,
0:46:13 > 0:46:15so we could all see her.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21Vera appeared on television throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s,
0:46:21 > 0:46:23as households across the country
0:46:23 > 0:46:27switched in their millions from radio to TV.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29Welcome once again to our show,
0:46:29 > 0:46:33our show of 45 minutes of songs and music.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38Vera's prime-time television shows in the heyday of light entertainment
0:46:38 > 0:46:42proved that there was always an audience for her.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45She didn't try and change her image to fit with the times,
0:46:45 > 0:46:47but stuck to what she knew her public loved,
0:46:47 > 0:46:50and became more of a star than ever.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54Vera was on television a lot in the '60s, '70s.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59It was good that television wasn't always just chasing the newest fad.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01She had a warmth that came over.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04She was somebody who people welcomed into their front rooms.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11- That's your programme.- Oh, yes.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15- They were fun, those, weren't they? Those shows?- Oh, yes.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16Good dancers, all of them.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Oh, yeah, they were always kidding about.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25What makes an artist authentic
0:47:25 > 0:47:28is that they recognise and accept
0:47:28 > 0:47:33who they are, and simply offer that to the public.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37I don't think Vera Lynn would know what a face-lift was.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41To try and become something that she wasn't
0:47:41 > 0:47:44would not be acceptable to her, and she never did it.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46# Yours
0:47:46 > 0:47:50# Till the stars
0:47:50 > 0:47:53# Lose their glory... #
0:47:53 > 0:47:57In the early days of the Beatles, it wasn't just rock and roll shows,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00there would be, like, variety bills.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04So we would be on with a lot of various different acts,
0:48:04 > 0:48:06and Vera was on one of them.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08So we were like, "Wow."
0:48:08 > 0:48:11We were totally amazed. It was like, "Vera Lynn!"
0:48:11 > 0:48:14You know, really, we were so sort of...
0:48:14 > 0:48:16"Pleased to meet you, Vera."
0:48:16 > 0:48:18And she was so great.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20She was really so sort of...chummy.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25She didn't pull the big sort of, "Hello."
0:48:25 > 0:48:26It was, like, "All right, mate?"
0:48:26 > 0:48:29She was very sort of, you know, down to earth.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31So we really liked her.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35We immediately went home and told everyone, "We've met Vera Lynn."
0:48:35 > 0:48:40# In the grey of December... #
0:48:40 > 0:48:44I got the idea when we met her that she was a very strong woman.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48But it was like, you can tell, she is doing this.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51She is organising what songs she likes.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54She is going where she wants to, she is doing what she wants to do.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57So, yeah, when you think about it,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59that was quite early days for
0:48:59 > 0:49:02a woman to be that confident and that secure
0:49:02 > 0:49:03in her own self.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05How are you?
0:49:05 > 0:49:06ELECTRICAL BUZZING
0:49:06 > 0:49:09- It's the ring, I can't get it off, I'm sorry.- Excuse me.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11Are you going to come over?
0:49:11 > 0:49:13- Because I'm going to say our line. - Oh, are you?
0:49:13 > 0:49:15I was going to say... Eh?
0:49:15 > 0:49:17It's all in it!
0:49:17 > 0:49:19I was going to say, "I bet that shook the chalk
0:49:19 > 0:49:21"off the white cliffs of Dover."
0:49:21 > 0:49:24- Oh!- I was going to say that, but I won't now.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27# If you don't happen to like it
0:49:27 > 0:49:31# Pass me by... #
0:49:31 > 0:49:34APPLAUSE
0:49:39 > 0:49:43Fast-forward to 1995 and Vera was in her 70s,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46and you'd think it was time for her to happily retire.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48But it was the 50th anniversary of VE Day,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51and Vera was an essential ingredient.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54The commemoration took place here in grand style, and it was watched by
0:49:54 > 0:49:57millions at home on television.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01Very Lynn the entertainer had become Vera Lynn the icon.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05# You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean
0:50:05 > 0:50:08# So cheer up, my lads Bless 'em all... #
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Come on, again!
0:50:10 > 0:50:12CROWD SINGS
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Although this was Vera's last-ever public performance,
0:50:19 > 0:50:23there was a renewed appetite for her timeless classics, which were played
0:50:23 > 0:50:25regularly on the radio again.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29Vera had a new fan base to add to her existing one.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32APPLAUSE
0:50:32 > 0:50:35So I would love to see some of the fan mail,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38because I can only imagine the thousands that your mother must have
0:50:38 > 0:50:41- received over the years. - Absolutely, yes, absolutely.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43Thousands and thousands and thousands.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47It's not possible to keep them all, obviously, but we have a few here.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50- The greatest hits? - Yes, the greatest hits
0:50:50 > 0:50:53are pulled together, so to speak. And they're from all over the world.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56I mean, for example, look, isn't that wonderful, that?
0:50:56 > 0:50:57That's from Indonesia.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59This one's from Canada.
0:50:59 > 0:51:00There one is from Australia.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02This is from Finland.
0:51:02 > 0:51:03Where are we?
0:51:03 > 0:51:06- Norway.- Norway. "I'm a boy, 18 years old,
0:51:06 > 0:51:10"living in a small town in northern Norway called Finnsnes."
0:51:10 > 0:51:12"My name is Magnus and I live in Sweden.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14"I'm interested in older movies,
0:51:14 > 0:51:16"older music and British history and culture."
0:51:16 > 0:51:18Well, he's hit jackpot here, then, hasn't he?
0:51:18 > 0:51:19Well, he has, exactly!
0:51:19 > 0:51:24Sometimes we have that just say, "Vera Lynn, UK,"
0:51:24 > 0:51:26and they manage to get to the house.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28- Which is amazing.- Everyone knows Dame Vera.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31Absolutely. "I'm writing to you as I have been learning
0:51:31 > 0:51:35"about the war in my school and have found it very interesting.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38"I've also been reading your autobiography that my nanny lent me.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40"Aged eight years old."
0:51:40 > 0:51:42- Aww.- Um...
0:51:42 > 0:51:44"I love your wonderful voice for a long time."
0:51:44 > 0:51:46This is from Germany.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49"In two weeks, I can celebrate my 90th birthday."
0:51:49 > 0:51:52"The only joy in my life is my passion, your music."
0:51:52 > 0:51:54Do you think you get a letter every day?
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Oh, yes, there's always loads.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57Absolutely always loads.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59And does your mother respond to them now?
0:51:59 > 0:52:00Yes, yes, absolutely.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03That's amazing, at her grand old age, that she's still doing it.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06Oh, yes, she thinks it's very important
0:52:06 > 0:52:08to retain a connection with people. You know?
0:52:08 > 0:52:11And this one is quite amazing.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15- Well, yes, rather a special one. - Yes!
0:52:15 > 0:52:17I'm going to read this one out to you.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20"I send you my warmest congratulations and good wishes
0:52:20 > 0:52:24"on the occasion of your birthday. You cheered and uplifted us all
0:52:24 > 0:52:27"in the war and after the war, and I'm sure that this evening
0:52:27 > 0:52:29"the bluebirds of Dover will be
0:52:29 > 0:52:31"flying over you to wish you a happy anniversary.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34- "Elizabeth R." - Yes. That's wonderful.
0:52:34 > 0:52:39# When the lights go on again
0:52:39 > 0:52:43# All over the world
0:52:45 > 0:52:49# And the boys are home again
0:52:49 > 0:52:52# All over the world. #
0:52:52 > 0:52:58Dame Vera's appeal has of course continued way beyond her initial
0:52:58 > 0:53:00fame and fortune and huge success
0:53:00 > 0:53:04as a popular singer on record in the '40s and '50s,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08because as recently as 2009, she had a number one album
0:53:08 > 0:53:11of many of her greatest recordings.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14And it can't have been selling primarily to her generation,
0:53:14 > 0:53:16because, sad to say, not too many of them were around.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18It sold to all generations,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22and her songs and her voice are timeless
0:53:22 > 0:53:26and obviously very good.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28APPLAUSE
0:53:28 > 0:53:32Vera became the oldest living artist to ever have a number one album.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36That album was called We'll Meet Again,
0:53:36 > 0:53:40and the title track is probably Vera's best-known hit.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45# We'll meet again
0:53:45 > 0:53:47# Don't know where
0:53:47 > 0:53:50# Don't know when
0:53:50 > 0:53:54# But I know we'll meet again
0:53:54 > 0:53:59# Some sunny day
0:54:01 > 0:54:05# Keep smiling through
0:54:05 > 0:54:06# Just like you... #
0:54:06 > 0:54:09That's her great song, I think,
0:54:09 > 0:54:10We'll Meet Again,
0:54:10 > 0:54:14which had a special resonance during the war years,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18but it's still effective for us now, I think.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22If I hear it on the radio, I just think what a great record,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26what a wonderful recording, and how much good it did.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30You know? It was much more than just another pop song.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34# ..They'll be happy to know... #
0:54:34 > 0:54:38She had that little sob in her voice, too, she'd put that in.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42A few little tricks she used so effectively.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47And when she says when - we'll meet again, don't know where,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49don't know when -
0:54:49 > 0:54:51she puts the H in.
0:54:51 > 0:54:52Where.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54When.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57She is fastidious.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00Wonderful.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05The way she used the vibrato with vowels...
0:55:07 > 0:55:10Because I always say that consonants carry the sense
0:55:10 > 0:55:13and vowels carry the emotion.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15# ..When
0:55:15 > 0:55:22# But I know we'll meet again some sunny day. #
0:55:22 > 0:55:24That was Vera all right, no messing.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27And she could sing it as well as I can!
0:55:27 > 0:55:30- BOTH:- # Keep smiling through
0:55:30 > 0:55:36# Just like you always do... #
0:55:36 > 0:55:38I know every word of that song.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Yes. Oh, my word.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44A wide range of artists have covered We'll Meet Again.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47Johnny Cash, the Muppets, Rod Stewart and the Faces,
0:55:47 > 0:55:50but I think nobody does it like Vera Lynn.
0:55:50 > 0:55:56# ..Some sunny day... #
0:55:56 > 0:56:00I would put Vera Lynn very high
0:56:00 > 0:56:06on the list of unique contributors to our civilisation.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08She is one of the greatest
0:56:08 > 0:56:11British popular music interpreters of all time.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15The humble beginnings are what
0:56:15 > 0:56:18I think Vera has retained
0:56:18 > 0:56:22in herself. She has never felt important.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24She has never felt a celebrity.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27And she doesn't behave like one.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30She's just a real person
0:56:30 > 0:56:34communicating in a genuine way with other people,
0:56:34 > 0:56:37and enjoying the connection.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40Oh, what is this? Oh, Oh, look.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43Oh, good heavens, Oh, look.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Happy birthday balloons.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Happy birthday, Mummy!
0:56:48 > 0:56:49Dear Vera.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52# Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you! #
0:56:52 > 0:56:54Happy birthday, dear Vera.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57Wow. We love you.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59I love you. We all love you.
0:56:59 > 0:57:00Happy birthday.
0:57:00 > 0:57:06Dame Vera, how lovely this is, happy birthday and, for your 100th,
0:57:06 > 0:57:08I've got lovely memories.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11And... Keep well.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13Happy birthday, Vera.
0:57:13 > 0:57:14You're still a wonderful singer.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18I hope you have many more years of happiness ahead.
0:57:18 > 0:57:23I think, probably, something I suspected long ago,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26that you are immortal.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28Happy birthday, Vera.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33You really don't know what you meant to us.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Vera, I wish you the happiest 100th birthday possible,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and may there be many, many more.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41Happy birthday to you, Vera.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45I'm very pleased you're reaching your 100th birthday now.
0:57:45 > 0:57:50And I hope to do the same very shortly.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54Thank you for coming to Burma and entertaining us
0:57:54 > 0:57:56on that evening so long ago.
0:57:58 > 0:57:59Carry on, dear.
0:57:59 > 0:58:05Mazel tov, darling, and a very happy 100th birthday.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08I've never said that to anybody else.
0:58:08 > 0:58:09Big kiss.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12# We'll meet again... # Everybody!
0:58:12 > 0:58:16# ..Don't know where Don't know when
0:58:16 > 0:58:20# But I know we'll meet again
0:58:20 > 0:58:22# Some sunny day! #
0:58:22 > 0:58:24Very good!
0:58:24 > 0:58:26THEY LAUGH
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Oh, dear.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# You must remember this
0:58:33 > 0:58:36# A kiss is still a kiss
0:58:36 > 0:58:41# A sigh is just a sigh
0:58:44 > 0:58:49# The fundamental things apply
0:58:49 > 0:58:54# As time goes by... #