A national TREASURE

Her voice was a light in the darkness of wartime Britain. Here we salute Dame Vera Lynn, one of our true heroines, who has sadly died aged 103

- MICHELLE HATHER

It is spring 2020 and lockdown Britain faces its greatest crisis since the Second World War.

During a TV address, the Queen borrows a famous lyric: ‘We will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again, we will meet again,’ she says.

It is a perfect tribute to the late Dame Vera Lynn, the woman behind the song.

Few contributed more to morale during the war with Germany. Dame Vera sang of bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover – and promised there would always be an England.