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Coordinates: 51°08′N 1°22′E / 51.14°N 1.37°E / 51.14; 1.37

The White Cliffs of Dover The cliffs seen across the channel from Cap Gris Nez, France The location and extent of the White Cliffs of Dover.

The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation. The cliff face, which reaches up to 350 feet (110 m),^[1] owes its striking façade to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint. The cliffs spread east and west from the town of Dover in the county of Kent, an ancient and still important English port.

The cliffs have great symbolic value for Britain because they face towards Continental Europe across the narrowest part of the English Channel, where invasions have historically threatened and against which the cliffs form a symbolic guard. Because crossing at Dover was the primary route to the continent before air travel, the white line of cliffs also formed the first or last sight of the UK for travellers.

Location[link]

The cliffs are located along the coastline between approximately: Latitude 51°06'N, Longitude 1°14'E and Latitude 51°12'N, Longitude 1°24'E. Shakespeare Cliff marks the point where Great Britain most closely approaches continental Europe. On a clear day, the cliffs are easily visible from the French coast.

Geology[link]

The cliffs are composed mainly of soft, white chalk with a very fine-grained texture, composed primarily of coccoliths, plates of calcium carbonate formed by coccolithophores, single-celled planktonic algae whose skeletal remains sank to the bottom of the ocean and, together with the remains of bottom-living creatures, formed sediments. Flint and quartz are also found in the chalk.^[2] White cliffs like those of Dover are also found on the Danish islands of Møn and Langeland and the island of Rügen in Germany. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the cliffs were named as the third greatest natural wonder in Britain.

The cliff face continues to weather at an average rate of 1 centimetre (0.39 in) per year, although occasionally large pieces will fall. This occurred in 2001, when a large chunk of the edge, as large as a football pitch, fell into the channel.^[3] A further large section collapsed into the English Channel on 15 March 2012.^[4] Visitors are, therefore, urged to remain well away from the cliff edge.

Ecology[link]

Evidence of erosion along the cliff top Close up of the cliffs from the walk along the ridge South Foreland lighthouse above the cliffs at Dover

Several species of cliff nesting birds nest on the cliff face, including fulmar and colonies of Black-legged Kittiwake. However, contrary to the words of the famous song ("There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover"), bluebirds are an American species not found in the UK.

See also[link]

• Albion
• Beachy Head
• Dover, New Jersey
• "On a piece of chalk" by Thomas Henry Huxley
• Samphire Hoe Country Park...
• Seven Sisters, Sussex
• South Downs

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: White Cliffs of Dover

• Dover Museum information on the cliffs

Coordinates: 51°07′46″N 1°18′32″E / 51.1295°N 1.3089°E / 51.1295; 1.3089

Dover
Aerial view of Dover Harbour
Dover  Dover shown within Kent
Population	28,156 (2001 Census) Urban area 39,078
OS grid reference	TR315415
- London	77.8mi
District	Dover
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DOVER
Postcode district	CT16, CT17
Dialling code	+44 (0)1304
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Dover
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Dover ( /ˈdoʊvər/; French: Douvres) is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings. The town is the administrative centre of the Dover District and home of the Dover Calais ferry through the Port of Dover. The surrounding chalk cliffs have become known as the White Cliffs of Dover, and the narrow sea passage nearby – the Strait of Dover.^[1] Its strategic position has been evident throughout its history: archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for peoples entering and leaving Britain. The name of the town derives from the name of the river that flows through River Dour. The town has been inhabited since the Stone Age according to archeological finds, and Dover is one of only a few places in Britain – London and Cornwall being other examples – to have a corresponding name in the French language, Douvres.^[2]

Services related to the Port of Dover provide a great deal of the town’s employment, as does tourism, although many of the former ferry services have declined. There was a military barracks in Dover, which was closed in 2007.

History[link]

Dover Castle seen from Castle Street.

Dover’s name originated with its river – the River Dour, deriving from the Brythonic Dubrās ("the waters"), via its Latinized form of Dubris. The cliffs also gave England its ancient name of Albion ("white"). The Romans called it ’’Porte Dubris’’; the modern name was in use at least by the time Shakespeare wrote King Lear (between 1603 and 1606), in which the town and its cliffs play a prominent role.

Dover’s history, because of its proximity to France, has always been of great strategic importance to Britain. Archaeological finds have shown that there were Stone Age people in the area; and that by the Bronze Age the maritime influence was already strong. Some Iron Age finds exist also, but the coming of the Romans made Dover part of their communications network. Like Lemanis (Lympne) and Rutupiae (Richborough) Dover was connected by road to Canterbury and Watling Street; and it became Portus Dubris, a fortified port. Forts were built above the port; lighthouses were constructed to guide passing ships; and one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Britain is here.

Dover figured largely in the Domesday Book as an important borough. It also served as a bastion against various attackers: notably the French during the Napoleonic Wars; and against Germany during World War II. It was one of the Cinque Ports during medieval times.

Geography[link]

1945 Ordnance Survey map of Dover, showing the harbour

Dover is near the extreme south-east corner of Britain. At South Foreland, the nearest point to the continent, Cap Gris Nez near Calais is 34 kilometres (21 mi) away, across the Strait of Dover.^[3]

The site of its original settlement lies in the valley of the River Dour, making it an ideal place for a port, sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds. This led to the silting up of the river mouth by the action of longshore drift; the town was then forced into making artificial breakwaters to keep the port in being. These breakwaters have been extended and adapted so that the port lies almost entirely on reclaimed land.

The higher land on either side of the valley – the Western Heights and the eastern high point on which Dover Castle stands – has been adapted to perform the function of protection against invaders. The town has gradually extended up the river valley, encompassing several villages in doing so. Little growth is possible along the coast, since the cliffs are on the sea’s edge. The railway, being tunnelled and embanked, skirts the foot of the cliffs.

Climate[link]

Dover has an oceanic climate (Koppen classification Cfb) similar to the rest of England and the United Kingdom with moderate temperatures year-round and light precipitation each month.

Demography[link]

In 1800 Edward Hasted (1732–1812) reported that the town had a population of almost 10,000 people.^[5]

At the 2001 census, the town of Dover had 28,156 inhabitants, while the population of the whole urban area of Dover, as calculated by the Office for National Statistics, was 39,078 inhabitants.^[6]

With the expansion of Dover, many of the outlying ancient villages have been incorporated into the town. Originally the parishes of Dover St. Mary's and Dover St. James, since 1836 Buckland and Charlton have become part Dover, and Maxton (a hamlet to the west), River, Kearsney, Temple Ewell, and Whitfield, all to the north of the town centre, are within its conurbation.

Economy[link]

Shipping[link]

The Port of Dover and the white cliffs of Dover

The Dover Harbour Board^[7] is the responsible authority for the running of the Port of Dover. The English Channel, here at its narrowest point in the Straits of Dover, is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Ferries crossing between here and the Continent have to negotiate their way through the constant stream of shipping crossing their path. The Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme allots ships separate lanes when passing through the Strait. The Scheme is controlled by the Channel Navigation Information Service based at Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre Dover. MRCC Dover is also charged with co-ordination of civil maritime search and rescue within these waters.^[8]

The Port of Dover is also used by cruise ship passengers, and the old Dover Marine railway station building, together with a newly built one^{[clarification needed]}, cater for those passengers.^[9]

The ferry lines using the port are (number of daily sailings in parentheses):

• to Calais: P&O Ferries (25)
• to Dunkerque: DFDS Seaways (11).

These services have been cut in recent years:

• P&O Ferries sailings to Boulogne (5 daily) were withdrawn in 1993 and Zeebrugge (4 daily) in 2002.
• SNCF withdrew their three train ferry sailings on the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
• Regie voor Maritiem Transport^[10][11] moved their Ostend service of three sailings daily to Ramsgate in 1994; the route now operates as TransEuropa Ferries
• Stena Line merged their 20 Calais sailings into the current P&O operation in 1998.
• Hoverspeed ceased operations in 2005 and withdrew their 8 daily sailings.
• SpeedFerries ceased operations in 2008 and withdrew their 5 daily sailings.
• LD Lines ceased the Dover-Dieppe service on 29 June 2009 and Dover-Boulogne 5 September 2010.

The Dover lifeboat is a Severn class lifeboat based in the Western Docks.^[12]

Transport[link]

Dover’s main communications artery, the A2 road replicates two former routes, connecting the town with Canterbury. The Roman road was followed for centuries until, in the late 18th century, it became a toll road. Stagecoaches were operating: one description stated that the journey took all day to reach London, from 4am to being “in time for supper”.^[13]

The other main roads, travelling west and east, are the A20 to Folkestone and thence to London and the A258 through Deal to Sandwich.

The railway reached Dover from two directions: the South Eastern Railway's main line connected with Folkestone in 1844, and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened its line from Canterbury in 1861. A tram system operated in the town from 1897 to 1936.

Dover has two long distance footpaths: the Saxon Shore Way and the North Downs Way. Two National Cycle Network routes begin their journey at the town.

Also, the ferry to Calais is a popular transport. From Dover to Calais it usually take one and a half hours to cross the Strait of Dover. The Strait of Dover is the stretch of water between Dover and Calais, and also the stretch of water the Dover-Calais and Calais-Dover ferries cross.

RNLI[link]

Dover Lifeboat station is based at crosswall quay in Dover Habour. There is a Severn class lifeboat, which is the biggest in the fleet. It belongs to the RNLI which covers all of Great Britain. The lifeboat number is 17-09 and has a lot of emergencies in the Channel. The Severn class is designed to lay afloat. Built from fibre reinforced composite (FRC) the boat is lightweight yet very strong and is designed to right itself in the event of a capsize. There is also a coastguard station in Dover. Based on the top of the white cliffs it has a great over view.

Education[link]

There are nine secondary level schools, 16 primary schools and two schools for special education.

Several of the state secondary schools now specialise: Astor College for the Arts; Dover Grammar School for Girls is a specialist Humanities College; Dover Grammar School for Boys, a Business and Enterprise College; St Edmund's Catholic College for the Performing Arts; and Dover Christ Church Academy, a specialist Maths, ICT and Music Academy.

The Duke of York's Royal Military School, England's only military boarding school for children of service personnel (co-ed ages 11–18), is also located in Dover, next to the military base.

Dover College, a public school was founded in 1871 by a group of local business men.^[14]

Public services[link]

Dover has one hospital, Buckland Hospital^[15] located in a former Victorian workhouse on Coombe Valley Road. The town once had four hospitals, Buckland, Royal Victoria, Isolation and the Eye Hospitals located at various points across the town. Buckland Hospital is currently (2008) threatened with closure and various local organisations are trying to stop the cuts facing the hospital.^[16] Astor College for the Arts federated with St Radigunds Primary School (then renamed White Cliffs Primary College for the Arts) to form the Dover Federation for the Arts (DFA). Subsequently Barton Junior School and Shatterlocks Nursery and Infant School joined the DFA. It has been a very successful Federation recognised by OFSTED with two schools rated as Outstanding and two being Good with outstanding features. Currently (November 2011)the DFA have applied to become a Federation of Academies.

Local media[link]

Television[link]

Dover was the home to television studios and production offices of Southern Television Ltd, the company which operated the ITV franchise for South and South East England from 1958-1981. The studios were located on Russell Street and were home to programmes like 'Scene South East', 'Scene Midweek', 'Southern News', 'Farm Progress' and the nightly epilogue, 'Guideline'. The studios were operated by TVS in 1982 and home to 'Coast to Coast', however they closed a year later when the company moved their operations to the newly complete Television Centre in Maidstone.

Newspapers[link]

Dover has two paid for newspapers, the Dover Express (published by Kent Regional News and Media) and the Dover Mercury (published by the KM Group). Free newspapers for the town include the Dover and Deal Extra, part of the KM Group; and yourdover, part of KOS Media.

Radio[link]

Dover has one local commercial radio station, KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country, broadcasting to Dover on 106.8FM. The station was founded in Dover as Neptune Radio in September 1997 but moved to Folkestone in 2003 and was consequently rebranded after a takeover by the KM Group. Dover is also served by the county-wide stations Heart, Gold and BBC Radio Kent.

The Gateway Hospital Broadcasting Service, in Buckland Hospital radio, closed at the end of 2006. It was the oldest hospital radio station in East Kent being founded in 1968.^[17]

Dover Community Radio (DCR) currently offer internet programming and podcasts on local events and organisations on their website. The online station of the same name launched on 30 July 2011 offering local programmes, music and news for Dover and district.^[18]

Culture[link]

There are three museums: the main Dover Museum,^[19] the Dover Transport Museum,^[20] and the Roman Painted House.^[21]

International relations[link]

Twin towns / Sister cities[link]

Dover has three twin towns:

• Calais, France
• Huber Heights, Ohio, United States
• Split, Croatia

Sports[link]

Dover Leisure Centre, is operated by Vista Leisure, a not for profit charitable trust,^[22] caters for a wide range of sports and activities including a 25m swimming pool, teaching pool, sports hall, gym, fitness classes, sauna and steam room, is located on Townwall Street.

There are sports clubs catering for the usual range of sports, among them football (Dover Athletic F.C.); rugby; rowing; swimming; water polo and netball (Dover and District Netball League).^[23]

One event which gets media attention is that of swimming the English Channel.^[24]

Sea fishing, from the beach, pier or out at sea, is carried out here.^[25] The so-called Dover sole (solea solea) is found all over European waters.

Places of interest[link]

• Blériot memorial: the outline of Blériot's aircraft marked with granite setts at the exact spot where Blériot landed after the first cross-Channel flight, 1909^[26]
• Connaught Park
• Cowgate Nature Reserve
• Dover Castle
• Dover Museum
• Kearsney Abbey
• Russell Gardens
• Samphire Hoe Country Park
• Seafront promenade
• South Foreland Lighthouse
• St Edmund's Chapel
• Dover Transport Museum
• Roman Painted House Museum

Notable people[link]

Gallery[link]

Dover Harbour, from the cliffs above.

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References[link]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Dover

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Statham, S.P.H. (1899). The history of the castle, town, and port of Dover. London: Longmans Green & Co.. pp. 462 p.. 
• Foot, William (2006). Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ...: the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. CBA research report 144. York: Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 1-902771-53-2. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dover

• Official site
• Dover Latest News
• Dover Street Map
• The Dover War Memorial Project
• Dover Locals
• Dover Soul Local Community Website
• Western Heights Preservation Society
• Friends of Dover Castle A scheme for the local people of Dover to contribute and benefit from their Castle.
• Dover Community Radio Dover District's podcasting service, an online radio service for the town and surrounding area.

Dame Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn at the War and Peace Show, in July 2009
Background information
Birth name	Vera Margaret Welch
Born	(1917-03-20) 20 March 1917 (age 95) London (East Ham), England
Genres	Traditional pop
Years active	1935–present
Labels	UK Decca/London, HMV

Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917) ^[1] is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II.

During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. She became known, and is still referred to, as "The Forces' Sweetheart"; the songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again", "The White Cliffs of Dover", A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and "There'll Always Be an England".

She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the United States and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" and "My Son, My Son".

In 2009 she became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart, at the age of 92.^[2] She has devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children and breast cancer. She is still held in great affection by veterans of the Second World War and in 2000 was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the twentieth century.^[3]

Early life[link]

Vera Lynn was born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917 in East Ham, in what was then the county of Essex, now East London. When she began performing publicly at the age of seven, she adopted her grandmother's maiden name (Lynn) as her stage name.^[4] Her first radio broadcast, with the Joe Loss Orchestra, was in 1935. At this point she was being featured on records released by dance bands including those of Loss and of Charlie Kunz.^[5] In 1936 her first solo record was released on the Crown label, "Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire".^[6] This label was absorbed by Decca Records in 1938.^[7] After a short stint with Loss she stayed with Kunz for a few years during which she recorded several standard musical pieces. In 1937, she moved to the aristocrat of British dance bands, Bert Ambrose.^[8]

In 1939, during the Phoney War, the Daily Express asked British servicemen to name their favourite musical performers: Vera Lynn came out on top and as a result became known as 'the Forces' Sweetheart'.^[9]

In 1941, during the darkest days of World War II, Lynn began her own radio programme, Sincerely Yours, sending messages to British troops serving abroad.^[5] She and her quartet performed songs most requested by the soldiers. Lynn also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas.^[10]

She is best known for her 1942 recording of the popular song "We'll Meet Again", written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles; the nostalgic lyrics ("We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day") were very popular during the war and made the song one of its emblematic hits. She also appeared in the 1943 film of that name.^[11] Her other great wartime hit was "The White Cliffs of Dover", words by Nat Burton, music by Walter Kent.^[12] Contrary to later reports, she neither sang nor recorded "Rose of England" during this time and it was only in 1966 when her producer, David Gooch, selected it for her album More Hits of the Blitz that she became familiar with it. The album itself was a follow-up to Hits of the Blitz produced by Norman Newell.

During the war years she joined ENSA and toured Egypt, India and Burma,^[13] giving outdoor concerts for the troops. In 1985 it was announced that she would receive the Burma Star for entertaining British guerrilla units in Japanese-occupied Burma.^[14] She is one of the last surviving major entertainers of the war years.

Post-war career[link]

Vera Lynn in 1973

Lynn's Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart became the first record by a British performer to top the charts in the United States,^[15] remaining there for nine weeks. She also appeared regularly for a time on Tallulah Bankhead's U.S. radio programme, The Big Show.^[16] "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", along with "The Homing Waltz" and "Forget-Me-Not", gave Lynn a remarkable three entries on the first UK Singles Chart, a top 12 (which actually contained 15 songs owing to tied positions).

Her popularity continued in the 1950s, peaking with "My Son, My Son", a number-one hit in 1954^[17] which she co-wrote with Gordon Melville Rees. In 1960 she left Decca Records after nearly 25 years, and joined EMI.^[18] She recorded for EMI's Columbia, MGM and HMV labels. In 1967, she recorded "It Hurts To Say Goodbye",^[19] a song which hit the top 10 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart."

Vera Lynn was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in October 1957 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, and in December 1978, for an episode which was broadcast on 1 January 1979,^[20] when Andrews surprised her at the Cafe Royal, London.

She hosted her own variety series on BBC1 in the late 1960s and early 1970s^[21] and was a frequent guest on other variety shows, notably The 1972 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show. In 1972 she was a key performer in the BBC anniversary programme Fifty Years Of Music. In 1976 she hosted the BBC's A Jubilee Of Music, celebrating the pop music hits of the period 1952-1976 to commemorate the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee year. For ITV she presented a 1977 TV special to launch her album Vera Lynn in Nashville, which included pop songs of the 1960s and country songs.^[22]

The Royal Variety Performance included appearances by Vera Lynn on three occasions: 1960, 1975 and 1986.^[23]

Lynn is also notable for being the only artist to have a chart span on the British single and album charts reaching from the chart's inception to the 21st century — in 1952 having three singles in the first ever singles chart, complied by New Musical Express,^[24] and most recently having a #1 album with We'll Meet Again — The Very Best Of Vera Lynn^[25] (see below).

Honours[link]

Lynn was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1969, and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1975.^[5] She was made an Officer of the Order of St John (OStJ) in 1998 and, in 2000, Dame Vera received a special "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award.^[9]

Charity work[link]

In 1953 Lynn formed the cerebral palsy charity SOS (The Stars Organisation for Spastics)^[26][27] and became its chairperson.

The Vera Lynn Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust was founded in 1976, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.^[28]

In 2002 Lynn became president of the cerebral palsy charity The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy, and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.^[29]

On 19 August 2008 Lynn became the Patron of the Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL,^[30] a charitable not-for-profit organisation which helps those affected by war.

On 16 November 2010 Dame Vera Lynn became Patron of The Dover War Memorial Project,^[31] a voluntary not-for-profit group remembering the Fallen from Dover, Kent, England.

Later years[link]

Lynn sang outside Buckingham Palace in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee of VE Day. This was her last known public performance.^[32]

The United Kingdom's VE Day Diamond Jubilee ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in Trafalgar Square, London, in which Lynn made an unannounced appearance.^[32] She made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again". Following that year's Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, Dame Vera encouraged the Welsh mezzo-soprano singer Katherine Jenkins to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart".^[33]

In her speech Lynn said, "These boys gave their lives and some came home badly injured, and for some families life would never be the same. We should always remember, we should never forget, and we should teach the children to remember."

In September 2008 Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website, "The Times of My Life", at the Cabinet War Rooms in London.^[34]

On 3 September 2009 Andrew Castle hosted Lynn on GMTV to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Britain's declaring war on Germany. At the end of the interview she sang a verse from "We'll Meet Again," at Castle's request.

Her autobiography Some Sunny Day was published in August 2009, when Lynn was 92. She had written two previous memoirs: Vocal Refrain (1975) and We'll Meet Again (1989).^[35]

On 18 February 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Lynn was suing the British National Party (BNP) for using "the White Cliffs of Dover" on an anti-immigration album without her permission. Her lawyer claimed the album seemed to link Lynn, who does not align with any political party, to the party's views by association.^[36]

On 13 September 2009 Lynn became the oldest living artist to make it into No. 1 in the British album chart, at the age of 92,^[37] passing such veterans of music as American jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and French singer Charles Aznavour. Her collection We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn entered the chart at number 20 on 30 August, and then climbed to number 2 the following week, before reaching the top position,^[38] outselling both the Arctic Monkeys and the Beatles.^[39] In its third week the album went gold with sales of over 100,000.

Personal life[link]

In 1941 Lynn married Harry Lewis, a clarinetist and saxophonist,^[42] whom she had met two years earlier. They had one child, Virginia Penelope Anne Lewis.^[9] Harry Lewis died in 1999.^[43]

Lynn has lived in Ditchling in Sussex since the early 1960s.^[44]

Recording career[link]

Vera Lynn made her solo recording debut with the song "Up The Wooden Hill To Bedfordshire" in February 1936. The 9" 78rpm single was issued on the Crown Records label,^[45] which went on to release a total of 8 singles recorded by Vera Lynn and Charles Smart on organ. Early recordings include "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "Red Sails in the Sunset".

In 1938 the Decca label took over control of the British Crown label and the UK based Rex label, they had also issued early singles from Lynn in 1937, including "Harbour Lights". In late September 1939 Vera Lynn first recorded a song that continues to be associated with her, the song "We'll Meet Again was originally recorded with Arthur Young on the Novachord. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the Decca label issued all of Vera Lynn's records, including several recorded with Mantovani and His Orchestra in 1942 and with Robert Farnon, from the late 1940s. Firstly they were only available as 78rpm singles, which only feature two songs an A and a B-side. In the mid 1950s Decca issued several EP singles, which featured between two and four recordings per side, such as Vera Lynn's Party Sing Song from 1954 and singles were issued on two formats the known 78prm 10" and the recently introduced 45rpm 7" single. In the late 1950s Lynn recorded four albums at Decca, the first; Vera Lynn Concert remains her only live recording ever to be issued on vinyl.

In 1960, after more than 20 years at Decca Records, Lynn signed to the US based MGM Records, in the UK her recordings were distributed by the His Masters Voice label, later EMI Records, several albums and stand alone singles were recorded with Geoff Love & His Orchestra, Norman Newell also took over as Lynn's producer in this period and remained with her until her 1976 Christmas with Vera Lynn. Recording at EMI Records up until 1977, Lynn released thirteen albums with material as diverse as traditional Hymns, pop and country songs, as well as re-recording many of her known songs from the 1940s for the albums Hits of the Blitz (1966), More Hits of the Blitz and Vera Lynn Remembers - The World at War (1974). In the 1980s two albums of contemporary pop songs were recorded at the Pye Records label, both included covers of songs previously recorded by such artists as Abba and Barry Manilow.

In 1982 a stand alone single "I Love This Land" (Falklands War song) was issued and in 1984 Horatio Nelson Records issued Vera Lynn's last recordings made before her retirement. The album Vera Lynn Remembers, produced by Harry Lewis, Lynn's husband, features 17 re-recordings of songs known and associated with Vera Lynn over her 50 year recording career.

Discography[link]

Original albums[link]

Charted albums[link]

Charted singles[link]

Films[link]

• We'll Meet Again (1943)
• Rhythm Serenade (1943)
• One Exciting Night (1944)
• Venus fra Vestø (1962)

In popular culture[link]

• Both Lynn and "We'll Meet Again" are featured in Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall. They are directly cited in the track "Vera". In the live version of The Wall, Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall Live 1980–1981, "We'll Meet Again" opens the concert before the show starts. It serves as a link between band member Roger Waters and his father, who was killed during World War II. The film The Wall begins with Lynn singing "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot".
• Lynn and the words "We'll meet again some day" are mentioned in The Kinks' song "Mr. Churchill Says".
• The final scene of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove features "We'll Meet Again" playing as many nuclear explosions are set off.
• One of the episodes of the TV documentary series The World at War is named after one of Lynn's songs "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow", which dealt with the Burma Campaign. Ms. Lynn herself reminisced visiting the British troops in Burma, and a snippet of the song is included amidst the struggles of the British Forces in dealing with the mud and the monsoon.
• In Gary Numan's song "War Songs", there is a line that reads "Old men love war songs, I'm Vera Lynn".
• In the British campaign of Call of Duty 3, there are two SAS Jeeps. One is named "Vera", and the other is named "Lynn".
• Scottish band Travis have a song called "U16 Girls" with the following line: "I met a girl in Paris, she talked like Vera Lynn."
• During a Street Talk segment on The AFL Footy Show in 2009, an elderly Englishman claiming to be Vera Lynn's brother appeared before Sam Newman on the streets of St Kilda. Although there was no way to prove his claim, it was expected to be true because of his striking physical resemblance as well as his knowledge of her songs.
• The DC Comics character Vera Lynn Black is named after her.
• In the movie Hellboy, during Professor Broom's confrontation with Rasputin, a recording of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" plays in the background (according to the closed-captioning).
• The name Vera Lynn is cockney rhyming slang for "skin", a cigarette paper used for roll-ups. This was immortalised in the song "Ebeneezer Goode" by the Shamen with the line "Anyone got any Veras? Lovely!" It is also slang for "bin".
• The punk band the Sex Pistols are noted for coming onstage to the Lynn version of the song "There'll Always Be an England". It is also the name of their only live DVD.
• English rock band The Libertines used Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again" as their walk-on music during their 2010 reunion concerts.
• Lynn is the subject of "The Yip! Song" by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians.
• Lynn is mentioned among several memories of the Second World War in the graphic novel When the Wind Blows and the animated film adaptation.
• In an episode of 'Allo 'Allo, Herr Flick bugs General von Klinkerhoffen's golf bag. When trying to pick up what the General is saying, Lynn's "White Cliffs of Dover" is heard, leaving Herr Flick to remark, That damn woman, she gets everywhere.
• "We'll Meet Again" is played at the close of The Singing Detective.
• The character of Lynn Minmay in the anime series Super Dimension Fortress Macross is based on Vera Lynn.
• In the Futurama episode "A Big Piece of Garbage" Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again" is sung over the closing credits.
• In the 1984 film The Hit, "We'll Meet Again" is sung by the gangsters on trial to witness Terence Stamp as he leaves the courtroom. It serves as a way of telling Stamp's character that he is a marked man for testifying against his friends.

Publications[link]

• Lynn, Vera (1975). Vocal Refrain. London: W.H. Allen
• Lynn, Vera and Cross, Robin (1989). We'll Meet Again. London: Sidgwick & Jackson
• Lynn, Vera (2009). Some Sunny Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-731815-5

References[link]

External links[link]

• Debrett's People of Today
• Q&A with TIME Magazine in September 2009
• Vera Lynn at the Internet Movie Database
• 2002 BBC article
• 2009 article in The Guardian (1)
• Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy
• Dame Vera Lynn March 2010 interview
• One-hour radio programme on France Culture in June 2007 (listen)
• Vera Lynn Biography
• The Discography of Vera Lynn at Discogs.com

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (July 2010)

Jill Daniels
Field	film

Jill Daniels (born in Manchester, England) is an award winning British independent filmmaker and a Senior Lecturer in Film at The University of East London. She comes from a Jewish family of Romanian and Russian extraction. Leaving school at 16 and home when still a teenager and uncertain of what route her future career should take, she spent some time in Spain, working as a disco dancer and DJ in Madrid and Bilbao, as well as tending bar at the Fat Black Pussy Cat in the Carihuela, Torremolinos. Returning to England she became a single parent and studied fine art at Wimbledon School of Art. She received an M.A. in Film and Television from the Royal College of Art, London. She was a founding member and the London Secretary of the Independent Filmmakers Association.

During the 80s she worked for several years with the single homeless. As a fighter for women’s rights she joined the Working Women’s Charter Campaign and edited the newspaper Women’s Fight, from 1977 to 1981 where only women worked and that she says “gradually turned me into a political journalist.” This was from 1977 to 1981. In 1991 she was a jury member of the Huesca International Film Festival, Spain. She sees herself as an oppositional filmmaker, working outside the system. She teaches film and video at the University of East London.

Daniels’ work has been shown, amongst others, at the Barbican, London, the National Film Theatre, London; the Cinematheque, Lisbon; the Flea Pit, London and at the film festivals Expanded Cinema, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Feminale, Cologne, Germany; Astra Film Festival, Sibiu, Romania; Athens International Film & Video Festival, Ohio, US; Creteil, France; Nuoro, Sardinia; Taipei, Taiwan; British Film Festival, Los Angeles.

Her work is distributed by 10 Francs, France; National Film Network, US; Cinenova, UK.