A World War II British Sweetheart
A
few days ago I was listening to the “BBC America” broadcast and
was surprised when I heard the lilting strains of “The White Cliffs
of Dover”. I closed my eyes and traveled back in memory to the
late 1940's. I couldn't remember the name of the singer but I remembered every word of that song.
Some
of you long-time blogger friends may remember that my family and I
lived just outside of Boston and during those final years of WWII we
entertained British sailors who came in to the Boston Naval Yard for
repairs on their boats. They would come out for the weekends and
some of them became like family and we've stayed in touch. Here are
a few pictures of the many that we hosted … including one of me at
age 10 !
As
I continued to listen to the broadcast I found that the BBC was
honoring the 100th birthday of Vera Lynn. She was the
singer who gave the troops hope for a better world and they called
her “The Forces Sweetheart”.
Now
she is Dame Vera Lynn and, besides living to the ripe old age of 100,
she is also releasing a new compilation album, “Vera Lynn 100”.
It makes her the first singer to ever do that as a centenarian.
posted by Ginnie at 5:00 PM
8 Comments:
Well done, Vera. Such a treasure!
Such a little sweetie, Ginnie!
What handsome young men. I'll bet you had some king sized 10 year old crushes.
How neat....:)
Though I wasn't British, one of the songs I remembered with such affection from those years when I was quite young was Whit Cliffs of Dover -- so hauntingly beautiful to me.
Our ex-pat British neighbor used to blare her in the backyard periodically. I quite enjoyed it.
I was not familiar with Vera Lynn, but will certainly be looking her up online thanks to your post, Ginnie. And, what memories you have of hosting the British.
Went to youtube to hear it. Did not remember it at all, but it was actually before I was born - imagine that! However, along with the Vera Lynn listing were recordings of Jo Stafford, and I do remember her from my childhood. I made a CD of her music for my Aunt K a few years ago. One of my favorites was All the Things You Are................ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_yzmsiQqFA
We used to have GIs come to dinner with us on holidays when we lived in Turkey. I know it meant a lot to them. It was a great thing your family did for those Brit boys.
(for some reason NCMountainwoman's comment doesn't want to publish so here it is: Ginnie)
My parents had many 78 rpm records of those wonderful WWII songs. I learned them at an early age and still love them. I even bought a retro record player so I can play them. How wonderful that your family gave those young men a taste of home.
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