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Dame Vera Lynn's birthday marked in home village

Hannah Gray
BBC News, Ditchling
Emily Coady-Stemp
BBC News, South East
Hannah Gray/BBC Virginia Lewis-Jones looks at the camera smiling. She is standing outside a church where people in the background can be seen standing and talking. The sun is shining.Hannah Gray/BBC
Virginia Lewis-Jones, Dame Vera's daughter, said it was a "wonderful day"

Forces' Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn has been remembered on what would have been her 108th birthday at a service in her East Sussex village.

The service was held at St Margaret's Church in her home village of Ditchling on Thursday.

Dame Vera, who died in June 2020 aged 103, had a career spanning more than 90 years and was best known for entertaining troops on the front line during World War Two.

Vicar David Wallis, who said they wanted to celebrate the singer in her own church, said her songs about longing for home, peace and calm, were "just as relevant, if not more relevant, in the world today".

Hannah Gray/BBC The inside of a church with the pews full and people seen from the back. A stained glass window is seen at the back of the church and and a woman dressed in a dark blue suit is standing and singing in to a microphone.Hannah Gray/BBC
Katie Ashby, lead singer of the D-Day Darlings, sang at the service

Of the way the village remembered her, he said: "She was their friend, their neighbour, she loved this place very much, but they realised they shared her with the nation."

Virginia Lewis-Jones, Dame Vera's daughter, said it was a "wonderful day" with the whole church full, including children from the village school.

"She's still here all the time," she told BBC South East.

Getty Images A black and white photo from 1943 showing Dame Vera in Trafalgar Square, London, surrounded by people from the Navy in uniform and taking their hats off.Getty Images
Dame Vera had a career spanning more than 90 years

She spoke of her mother's two legacies, the first being a charity in her name which supports children with cerebral palsy and other motor learning impairments.

"The other legacy is, it's very important that if you can help people that is what you should be doing," she said.

"You just can't sit back and not do anything."

'Poignant, special and uplifting'

Also at the service was Susan Fleet, a friend and PA to Dame Vera who had known her since the 1970s.

She said it was "very poignant, special and uplifting" to be able to remember her at the service.

"With what we're going through in the world today, those songs of hers had resonance and meaning," she added.

"They were uplifting so I think people will be turning more to that music perhaps than they have in the past."

Dame Vera captured the hearts of the nation during World War Two with her uplifting performances and recordings.

She was made a dame in 1975 and a companion of honour in 2016.

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