It was since 2023 when I got hold of an British Indian Military Air Letter Card from WW2 period talking about Vera Lynn, I have been searching for stamps issued on her. I was surprised to learn there was no stamps issued on her until recently by United Kingdom. Before I show the MALC, let's talk about Vera Lynn.
Vera Lynn's Wartime Career
Quoting from Wikipedia, Lynn's wartime contribution began when she would sing to people who were using London's tube station platforms as air raid shelters. During the Phoney War, the Daily Express asked British servicemen to name their favorite musical performers: Vera Lynn came out on top and as a result became known as "the Forces' Sweetheart".
Lynn is best known for the popular song "We’ll Meet Again” which was first recorded in 1939. 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.
Her continuing popularity was ensured by the success of her weekly 30-minute radio program Sincerely Yours, which began airing at 9:30 p.m. on 9 November 1941, with messages to British troops serving abroad. She also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas. However, in the aftermath of the fall of Singapore in February 1942 the program was taken off air after the broadcast on 22 March 1942 for 18 months out of fear that the sentimental nature of her songs would undermine the "virile" nature of British soldiers. Instead, "more traditionally martial classical music" was promoted. Lynn returned with a regular show called "It's Time for Vera Lynn" on the BBC's Forces program on 31 October 1943.
While Fig1 does show Great Britain acknowledged her contribution by putting her on back side of booklet pane but it was still not a dedicated stamp that I was looking for. At that time, I just satisfied myself by buying above item while waiting for a proper stamp on her. Finally, Great Britain came out with "Valour and Victory" stamps on May 1, 2025 which also featured Vera Lynn.
Above (Fig2) commemorative collectible honors ‘Forces’ Sweetheart’ Dame Vera Lynn’s tireless commitment to British troops and advocacy for military veterans. The Miniature Sheet features four First Class landscape stamps presented alongside a beautiful photograph of Dame Vera taken in October 2009. The stamps capture Dame Vera at various moments in her wartime career, from ENSA performances (details below) and troop visits to her appearance on BBC wartime radio.
Defining Moment
In the latter half of the war years, she joined the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), the organization set up to provide entertainment for the forces and toured Egypt, India and Burma for five months, giving outdoor concerts for Allied (British/Commonwealth which also included Indian) troops. In March 1944, she went to Shamshernagar airfield in then Bengal to entertain the troops before the Battle of Kohima.
After spending a week near Calcutta, Lynn went to the North-East battlefronts, visited hospitals and autographed a large number of rupee-notes, scraps of paper and photographs of soldiers. She spent over nine weeks in India and performed over 100 shows. The weeks she spent with troops in this relatively forgotten theatre of war remained with her for the rest of her life and she became the most ardent advocate for the remembrance and care of veterans of the 14th Army who fought in Burma.
I like above version (Fig3) of it as well which is from the booklet. It shows British and Indian troops of the Fourteenth Army advancing on a town in Burma, March 1945. In 1985, she received the Burma Star for entertaining British guerrilla units in Japanese-occupied Burma showing exceptional courage and her contribution to boosting morale of allied soldiers.
Now here comes the real reason of writing this post. I wonder when she was such a Forces Sweetheart then why would someone not see her when she was visiting them! But, this is what I discovered when I got hold of below MALC.
28 Squadron Royal Air Force (RAF) was located between 29 October 1943-17 June 1944 at Imphal. It was a Tactical reconnaissance squadron, equipped with the Hawker Hurricane aircrafts. The letter was sent at the heart of Battle of Imphal (8 March – 3 July 1944) and Battle of Kohima (4 April – 22 June 1944).
The letter (Fig4) states: "Vera Lynn was here a few days ago but I certainly did not trouble to go and see her and there were only a small number who did, I am glad to say".
Frankly speaking I didn't know about Vera Lynn until I stumbled upon above letter and was amused by the letter content. The lines mentioned above caught my eyes and this is when I googled only to find out about Vera Lynn!
The intent of this post was not to demerit Vera Lynn even though the officer didn't find her visit encouraging enough to go see her. When you search on her you may find articles which states she alone didn't win the war for Great Britain so some may feel embarrassed on why so many stamps have been issued on her by Royal Mail but then you will also find quotes from the history where it was said that "Churchill didn't beat the Nazis. Vera sang them to death."
This is why I like postal letters. Sometimes, a single letter arises so much curiosity that you end up learning various facts of the history. After learning about her, I was desperate to get hold of a stamp in her honor but was frustrated unable to find one. I was holding writing a post waiting for this moment. I am really happy now that we have not one but four stamps issued in her name!
Lastly, while I focus on India and Indian contribution in world wars, I have to acknowledge the fact that while she mostly entertained and increased morale of British troops, she was committed to Fourteenth Army which consisted of the British as well Indian troops. So, in some manner she deserves to be covered as part of Indian connection. Hope some English speaking Indian Soldiers/Officers would have also felt the same way their British counterparts would have while listening to her songs and live performances during the war!
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