Â鶹ԼÅÄ

In tribute to the late Dame Vera Lynn, The Force's Sweetheart, Stuart Maconie considers her own musical part in the fight against fascism.

We hear from those who lived through WW2 – both those serving in the Armed Forces and those on the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Front – and discover the significance of music during the war years and how it kept the forces' spirits up whilst comforting those waiting anxiously at home.

Some families were further strained and stretched because, not only were the men fighting overseas, but the children had been evacuated to the safer confines of the countryside. And yet in London and industrial towns like Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, life went on defiantly despite the attentions of the Luftwaffe.

And whilst the Nazis overran Europe and crept ever closer to the UK, the Americans entered the fight against fascism. Not only did the Americans bring their sheer weight of numbers and their superior weaponry, they also brought with them their music and a colourful, glamorous presence. Some resented them, but many were enthralled; particularly children, who were more than happy to receive some of the abundant sweets the Yanks seem to carry with them everywhere.

Throughout the hardship, the poverty, the rationing, the nights in air-raid shelters, the loss of home and lives, music kept the British people going.