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Vera Lynn, a British singer whose girl-next-door persona and wistful interpretation of popular songs made her a favorite among Allied troops during World War II and who maintained such a devoted following that in 2009 she again emerged triumphant on the pop charts, ahead of the Beatles and other rockers, died June 18 at her home in Ditchling, East Sussex, England. She was 103.

The Associated Press reported her death, citing a family statement. Other details were not immediately available.

She rose to stardom in the late 1930s and early 1940s with hits including “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover,” “There’ll Always Be an England,” “Yours” and “We’ll Meet Again” and reached broad audiences with her BBC radio program “Sincerely Yours.”

Her earnest rendition of “We’ll Meet Again,” about a hopeful reunion after “the blue skies chase the dark clouds far away,” was revived for ironic use for the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gb0mxcpPOU">apocalyptic ending</a> of Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 black comedy “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

For many Britons, Ms. Lynn’s voice and songs are closely entwined with their memories of World War II and evoke the deep patriotism of that era. The late British comic entertainer Harry Secombe once said, “Churchill didn’t beat the Nazis. Vera sang them to death.”

Ms. Lynn was voted “Forces’ Sweetheart” in a 1939 newspaper contest and the nickname stuck for life.

Unlike Betty Grable and other entertainers known for their glamorous panache and bombshell looks, Ms. Lynn endeared herself to fans with her familiar ease and approachability. During the war, she performed frequently for the troops and eschewed star treatment in favor of roughing it like they did. In some cases, she slept in tents or grass huts and bathed using a bucket of water.

Ms. Lynn visited Burma (now  known as Myanmar), Egypt and India. She told a British newspaper in 1995, “I asked where there was the least entertainment, where not many people went, and they said that no one wanted to go to Burma, so I said: ‘Right, that’s where I’ll go.’ ”

Ms. Lynn’s career waned with the rise of rock-and-roll, but she achieved a few pop successes, notably in the early 1950s with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVTUBR9SlmI">“Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart.”</a> Decades later, she tried to stay current with a cover version of Abba’s “Thank You for the Music.” But her overwhelming audience demand was for her wartime hits.

She recalled being in concerts: “I’d say, ‘Here’s a lovely new song I’m going to sing,’ and I’d hear a voice from the audience, ‘No, we want the old ones!’ ”

A testament to the loyalty of her fan base, Ms. Lynn’s biggest record sales came in 2009 when a reissued album of her greatest hits made her the oldest artist to hit No. 1 on U.K. pop charts — ahead of the Beatles and other popular acts such as Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys. That same year, Ms. Lynn released a memoir called “Some Sunny Day,” a reference to the lyrics in “We’ll Meet Again.”

Vera Margaret Welch, the daughter of a plumber and a seamstress, was born in London’s East End on March 20, 1917. She began performing in cabarets at 7 and, within a few years, had left school completely to perform with a touring stage show. She chose Lynn as her stage name because it was her grandmother’s maiden name.

She worked her way from musical halls to society dance bands, helped by an appealing voice and an unpretentious stage manner. She shunned any efforts to glamorize her.

By the mid-1930s, she was performing on the radio, backed by popular bands led by Joe Loss and Bert Ambrose. Her recording career soon followed.

The event that Ms. Lynn thought would squelch her career — Britain’s entry into World War II — ended up being its biggest boon. “I’ll always have the picture in my mind,” she told the Toronto-based Globe and Mail in 2009. “My mum and dad and I were having tea in the garden and the news came on the radio. I thought, well, I’ll be working in a factory next week making ammunition. There’s my singing career up the spout.”

Ms. Lynn’s husband, Harry Lewis, a former reed player in the Ambrose band, died in 1998. Survivors include a daughter, Virginia Lewis-Jones.

In 1975, Ms. Lynn became a dame of the British Empire. Throughout her life, she remained a champion for veterans, involving herself in numerous charities that took up their causes. She was drawn out of retirement from singing just once, and it was for a 1995 celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

A few years later, she discussed her legacy in a first-person story published in the Sunday Times of London.

“I helped the English overcome their fear of emotion,” Ms. Lynn wrote. “The English are shy about emotion, but the songs helped them to explain what they were feeling. During the war, it was suggested we were too sentimental, and that we were making the troops homesick — someone even brought it up in parliament. But that was proved wrong by all the letters I got. My songs didn’t make people homesick; they made them feel a little bit nearer home. I didn’t win the war, but I certainly jogged it along.”

Read more <b><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/">Washington Post obituaries</a></b>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dorothy-olsen-daring-aviatrix-with-the-wasps-during-world-war-ii-dies-at-103/2019/08/05/37a81640-b790-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html">Dorothy Olsen, daring aviatrix with the WASPs during World War II, dies at 103</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/else-blangsted-hollywood-eminence-who-escaped-nazi-europe-dies-at-99/2020/05/26/655cf808-9b60-11ea-ac72-3841fcc9b35f_story.html">Else Blangsted, Hollywood eminence who escaped Nazi Europe, dies at 99</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/cecile-rol-tanguy-who-helped-liberate-paris-from-the-nazis-dies-at-101/2020/05/13/aaa1880a-9455-11ea-91d7-cf4423d47683_story.html">Cécile Rol-Tanguy, who helped liberate Paris from the Nazis, dies at 101</a>

Sarah Halzack is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She was previously a national retail reporter for the Washington Post.

Sarah Halzack

The Washington Post

Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Second World War British Forces Sweetheart Vera Lynn attends the Battle of Britain commemoration outside the Churchill War Rooms in London

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