"Some of the archive belonging to the "Forces' Sweetheart", Dame Vera Lynn, will go on display at the Imperial War Museum this Spring after it was donated to the museum by Dame Vera's daughter, Virginia Lewis-Jones. The Imperial War Museums will preserve the personal archive of the woman whose voice promised, "We'll meet again," to a generation living through war."
"Born Vera Margaret Welch in East Ham in 1917, Lynn became known as the "Forces' Sweetheart" during the Second World War. Through her BBC radio programme Sincerely Yours, launched in 1941, she broadcast song requests and personal messages between troops overseas and families at home. At a time when separation and uncertainty defined daily life, her broadcasts - and songs such as We'll Meet Again - became emotional lifelines."
"The correspondence reveals in intimate detail what her music meant to those living through the conflict. One exchange traces a connection between Corporal David "Ted" Lindsey, stationed in India, and his family at home. After Ted described the joy among thousands of troops when Lynn appeared unexpectedly at an ENSA concert, his sister-in-law wrote asking for a signed photograph to send to him."
Dame Vera Lynn's daughter, Virginia Lewis-Jones, donated parts of Lynn's personal archive to the Imperial War Museum, which will display items this spring. The archive includes Lynn's BBC contract for Sincerely Yours and around 600 letters from listeners; at the programme's height she received up to 2,000 letters weekly. The correspondence documents how broadcasts and songs such as We'll Meet Again operated as emotional lifelines, conveying comfort, sustaining troops, and recording loss. Selected exchanges show personal connections between troops and families, requests for signed photographs, displacement caused by bombing, and messages describing how Lynn's music sustained listeners through wartime hardship.
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