Letter from Mary Ratcliffe (From Swindon Advertiser)

Letter from Mary Ratcliffe

3:58pm Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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To Dame Vera Lynn... A very happy birthday AS the remarkably and dearly loved Dame Vera Lynn celebrates her 93rd birthday on Saturday, March 20, we who lived through the Second World War reach out with our love to say ‘thanks for the memory’.

Dame Vera’s daily contribution during those dark uncertain times is beyond measure, as she became the golden link between serving personnel overseas and their loved ones at home.

The meaningful words in all her songs are still cherished. A collection of her wartime lyrics entitled We’ll Meet Again...The Very Best of Vera Lynn, topped the charts once more in 2009! Her treasured renditions from the war have found a new audience as ‘our boys’ in conflict on foreign soil across the globe are linked with their precious core families, friends and lovers here at home.

The ‘Forces Sweetheart’ is Vera Lynn’s historic legacy. Her armies of admirers across the world are indebted to her for the love, strength, hope and reassurance that she communicated to them during the grim reality of war. In occupied Europe countless civilians risked death if they tuned in to listen to the BBC News on the wireless... followed by the resonance of Vera’s endearing voice of comfort.

MARY RATCLIFFE (Ex Wren WWII P5 Enigma Ultra, Eastcote) Croft Road Swindon