Dame Vera Lynn is 100 on Monday

[Wander00]

For mainly our more mature Members, and thinking particularly of Danny and his colleagues, Dame Vera Lynn is 100 tomorrow. I was fortunate enough to attend last night's 100th Birthday concert at The London Palladium, graced by the presence of HM The Queen, a signal honour I thought. What an event that was.


Just thought fellow Pruners might want to wish Dame Vera a happy 100th birthday for tomorrow

[rog747]

indeed - BBC had a program last night - shes more frail now bit deaf but memories are spot on

[Warmtoast]

If you missed it I posted this on PPrune earlier:

As a fan of Andre Rieu I recorded one of his programs broadcast on Sky Arts of his concert in Maastricht for Veterans on Armed Forces' Day 2013. I particularly liked it because it included an interview with Dame Vera Lynn in her home where she discussed her trip to Burma - a quite moving experience. The actual broadcast of Andre's interview with Dame Vera has been posted on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acZFr21WLNw
The clip includes photos from Dame Vera's photo album showing some of the troops she met whilst in Burma.

[Onceapilot]

Happy Birthday Dame Vera! I am sure she is proud of the tremendous work she did for the Country. The comfort she gave to the "hearts and minds" of the Allies in the gravest of times was hugely important! :ok:

OAP

[goudie]

Remember my mum singing along with Vera. With the old man ' somewhere at sea' she would often shed a tear or two as she did so.
Happy birthday, Dame Vera

[Danny42C]

Wander00 (#1),

Thank you for thinking of me and my contemporaries. Here are some remarks sent to a relative of mine:

"Dame Vera - now she had "guts". She went far closer up to the 14th Army ("The Forgotten Army")'s 'sharp end' in the rain and mud of the Burma jungle than any other of the ENSA artists, most of whom kept well back and "entertained the Troops" in comfort in Bombay, Delhi or Calcutta. We were well out of it, on rough strips about fifty miles from the fighting (for you need that distance to get a formation of fully loaded dive bombers up to our bombing height of 12,000 ft, so there is no point in basing yourself closer). Never saw a glimpse of her there (which was only right and proper, for we had a 'basha' hut to keep dry in, a 'charpoy' to sleep on and three meals a day - what more could a man want ?) Whereas the PBI were living hand-to-mouth in the rain and mud with no shelter other than their groundsheets. They deserved to be the ones to hear her sing !

It so happened that I did see Vera once - in a very smart yellow swimsuit across the pool at the Calcutta Swimming Club. My gunner "Stew" and I were recuperating from hospital after a crash in the Arakan. She was surrounded by a cloud of top brass, of course, so a couple of scarred fighting aircrew were 'under the radar" as it were - invisible. Not her fault".

Happy Birthday, Dame Vera !

Danny.

[ExRAFRadar]

This forum is rapidly turning into JetBlast.

How in any shape or form is this Military Aviation related.

[teeteringhead]

ExRAFRadar How in any shape or form is this Military Aviation related. Have you read Danny's post above??

Or alternatively, her daughter/manager married a Chinook crewman!

[Fonsini]

This forum is rapidly turning into JetBlast.

How in any shape or form is this Military Aviation related.

Because a C-70 Nightingale sang in Berkely Square ?

[racedo]

How in any shape or form is this Military Aviation related.

Because she did more for Military Aviation and other branches than pretty much anybody else................ she kept morale going for those thousands of miles from home, many who would never get the chance to come home.

When she passes this mortal world a National Day of Mourning is I believe appropriate.