Plans Under Way For Dame Vera Lynn Memorial On White Cliffs Of Dover

Plans are under way to remember the Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn almost a year after her death.

It is hoped a memorial will be built on the White Cliffs of Dover, the site of the singer's famous wartime song, to remember her and the work she did for charity.

Fundraising for the memorial, as well as full details of the campaign, will begin on 18 June – exactly one year since Dame Vera's death.

Virginia Lewis-Jones, Dame Vera Lynn's daughter, told Forces News that "hopefully" the memorial will be funded by public donations "and anybody who wants to donate obviously can".

"We're hoping it is a specific site which is a bit like an amphitheatre," she said.

"What they're hoping to do is to turn it into a proper cultural space as an amphitheatre... [where] they can have concerts and shows and that sort of thing."

"The whole thing will cost roughly £1.5m so we've got a lot of work to do," she said.

Ms Lewis-Jones added part of Dover's coastal path will be renamed the Dame Vera Lynn Way – which she will open on 18 June.

Following her mother's death, tributes to the singer flooded in from around the world and Ms Lewis-Jones thanked the British public for its "tremendous support".

Dame Vera was also honoured with a Spitfire flypast before her funeral.

As the original Forces Sweetheart, Dame Vera spent much of the Second World War entertaining British troops in places others feared to tread.

Some of her best-known songs include 'The White Cliffs Of Dover', 'There'll Always Be An England', 'I'll Be Seeing You', 'Wishing' and 'If Only I Had Wings'.

"We'll Meet Again", arguably Dame Vera's most famous song, experienced a resurgence after the Queen referenced it in an address to the UK about the COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020.

Cover image: Dame Vera Lynn with a cutout figure of herself (Picture: PA).