Forces sweetheart
- Forces' Sweetheart was also a 1953 film.
Forces Sweetheart (or Forces' Sweetheart) is a title given to some entertainment women in the British Armed Forces (mainly in the Royal Air Force), although it was also later used in the United States.
First World War
The role had its origins in World War I. Lady Angela Forbes, (born 8 Grafton Street, Mayfair, London, on 11 June 1876, died on 22 October 1950 in Jersey), was the Forces Sweetheart at camp and a wartime catering organiser for the British army from November 1914.[1] The British Soldiers' Buffets, commonly known as Angelinas, met every train of wounded as it arrived and were often open 24 hours a day, and food never ran out.[2][3] Following her, Elsie Janis was called The Sweetheart of the AEF.
Second World War
Sweethearts during World War II included Vera Lynn (now Dame Vera Lynn), whose singing ("There'll be blue birds over the White Cliffs of Dover" and "We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when") brought great happiness to many in Britain; Gracie Fields; and Anne Shelton.
Post war
Frances Langford, whose husband was assistant secretary of the United States Air Force under president Harry Truman, was "Singing Sweetheart of the Fighting Fronts" from World War II to the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Present
Present-day sweethearts include Nell McAndrew, Katherine Jenkins, Hayley Westenra and Michael Wilkins who was the forces sweetheart from 2009 to 2014.
Literature
- Joanna Lumley. Forces Sweethearts.
- Eric Taylor. Forces sweethearts: Service romances in World War II.
- Chantelle Fiddy. My Life on the Front.
- Cookie Monstar AKA Richard Rhodes. "first male to become a 21st century Forces Sweetheart 2010"
References
- ↑ "Sweetheart we love you!". Daily Express. Retrieved 30 December 2012
- ↑ Lady Angela Selina Bianca St. Clair-Erskine Forbes. Memories and base details. G. H. Doran Co., 1922
- ↑ Lady Cynthia Asquith: diaries, 1915–1918. Hutchinson, 1968