We’ll Meet Again
brings back VE-Day

75th anniversary of 1945 Allied Victory in Europe highlights the songs of Vera Lynn

By Byron Toben

Friday, May 8 marked the 75th anniversary of the 1945 Allied Victory in Europe (Japan was to surrender on August 14, ending WW II).

Many of the morale-boosting songs during that War were popularized by the wonderful Vera Lynn (later honoured with the title ‘Dame’).

To steal a phrase from South Pacific… There is nothing like this Dame. She is still with us at 103 (!) and briefly appeared (in virtual form) this year on a May 8 broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London, featuring the mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins.

Dame Lynn had appeared live on previous VE anniversaries in 1984 White Cliffs of Dover…

and 1995 VE 50th Anniversary.

Here she is as recorded in 1943…

and as honoured in COVID-19 2020 by many of the sheltered in place West End Stars of London theatre.

During the war, Vera Lynn also toured dangerous zones, like Burma, to cheer the British troops much the same as Bob Hope, Marlene Dietrich and Al Jolson did for US troops.

Montreal area viewers may recall the excellent radio play ’Till We Meet Again set in the 1940s and enacted live on stage at the Hudson Village Theatre in 2005, 2006 and 2009. It captured the feel of the period and later toured parts of Quebec and Ontario as well as being restaged at both Concordia’s D.B. Clarke and Oscar Peterson halls.

Feature image: IMDb

Read more articles from Byron Toben

Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.