My life through a lens: Vera Lynn, 102, shares the stories behind her favourite snaps

Dame Vera Lynn, 102, pictured, shares the stories behind her favourite photographs

1918: I was born Vera Welch in East Ham, Essex. The first thing I remember was being stuck in a tent at East Ham Hospital surrounded by steam kettles, 18 months or so after this picture was taken of me aged one. I was in isolation with diptheric croup [a respiratory infection] – and steam was part of the treatment. I later found out they didn’t think I’d live. Who would have predicted I would become a singer?

1924: This is me in the garden with my mother Annie, father Bertram and my beloved brother Roger, who died a day before his 103rd birthday in 2017. My father was easy-going but Mum had get-up-and-go, she got me into singing professionally. I started singing in public aged seven and adopted my grandmother’s maiden name Lynn as my stage name aged 11

1932: After leaving school at 14, I joined a dance band aged 15, and by the late 1930s I was touring and singing on records by Joe Loss’s band, among others. As soon as I heard We’ll Meet Again I sensed something special about it – I recorded it in September 1939, the month the war broke out, and it became a hit. It was the perfect song for the times: everyone hoped they’d see their sweetheart again when the war was over and our brave servicemen were back home. It’s still my favourite of all the songs I’ve sung. It meant a lot to my generation, and it’s timeless

1941: I’ll never forget my wedding to my late husband Harry, with Roger on the right. It was very simple: I wore a white suit, and food was rationed. Harry was a clarinetist and saxophonist in Bert Ambrose’s band, with whom I’d toured. He was a little shorter than me, Jewish, with lovely hair. He kept saying, ‘I’m going to marry you’, and one day I replied, ‘Yes, you are!’ My wonderful Harry died in 1998, and I still think about him every day

1944: Here I am sitting in a jeep after flying out to the Far East to entertain the troops of the ‘Forgotten’ 14th Army in Burma, which Japan had invaded in 1942. I had to get special permission to go and was made an honorary colonel so I could eat in the officers’ mess. I performed on makeshift stages in forward camps a stone’s throw from the fighting. The worst thing was the mosquitoes. I had to wear khaki trousers and shirts with long sleeves, while any make-up would run because you’d perspire so much

1950: This is my daughter Virginia, aged four. People ask why I didn’t have more children, but it just didn’t happen. I couldn’t have carried on working if I’d had more, so it was meant to be. Virginia and I are the best of friends. She and her husband Tom are very supportive of my work with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity

1994: I was lucky enough to meet the Queen Mother a few times, as well as Field Marshal Montgomery and Winston Churchill. I first met her at a performance at Windsor Castle in 1942 to celebrate Princess Elizabeth’s 16th birthday, and got to know her well over the years. We shared a bond over our lifelong association with the Blitz and our support for veterans, and she really did like to be called the Queen Mum. I love this picture – we’re sharing a joke, as a guardsman looks on fondly, as if to say, ‘Look at these two!’

 2017: My 100th birthday was so special. This is a photo of Virginia and me at the celebrations. There was an album, Vera Lynn 100, of re-recorded versions of my songs with artists like Alfie Boe, and a tribute concert starring Russell Watson at the London Palladium. What’s the secret of living to a grand old age? I’m careful what I eat, I’ve never smoked and still do little daily ‘workouts’. Mind you, I do still love a slice of lemon drizzle cake with my afternoon tea at home