The second engine, a WD Austerity 2-10-0, came to Isfield shortly afterwards and, following a year-long restoration, was the object of a visit by Dame Vera Lynn on 6 August 1985 who gave the locomotive her name.
Self-effacing and gently spoken, she pioneered the art of interviewing stars in their own homes, including the wartime 'forces sweetheart' singer Vera Lynn, the irascible television personality Gilbert Harding, the song and dance man Frankie Vaughan and the stiff-upper-lipped film actor Kenneth More.
Her one-woman show Yours Sincerely, a musical play about Dame Vera Lynn has played in the UK and abroad.
Many songs sung by Vera Lynn, including "We'll Meet Again", were accompanied by Arthur Young on the Novachord.
A part-time cabaret artist, Monaghan toured western Europe during World War II with other notables of the period including Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields and George Formby, and later formed his own band.
He was widely touted as Australia's first singing cowboy complete with yodel, in the style of Gene Autry: Dawson had an extraordinary long and prolific career, releasing his first single in 1941 and his last album in 2005, aged 92, making him the worlds oldest recording artist (although now surpassed by the forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn).
A German version was recorded on 1 December 1955 by Vera Lynn, under the title "Folge dem Rat deines Herzens (Follow your heart's advice)", and was released as a single in early 1956 on Decca (D 18 172).
They worked with some of the biggest names of the day from both sides of the Atlantic, including Vera Lynn, Charlie Chester, Morecambe and Wise, George Formby, Elsie and Doris Waters, Al Martino, Billy Daniels and Guy Mitchell.
Vera Lynn (born 1917), an English singer whose career flourished during World War II
The other is WD No. (7)3672 which has been named Dame Vera Lynn.
Lynn Anderson | King's Lynn | Loretta Lynn | Lynn Swann | Vera Lynn | Lynn Harrell | Lynn Chadwick | Vera Wang | Joe Lynn Turner | Lynn, Massachusetts | Lynn University | Lynn Redgrave | Greg Lynn | Vera Miles | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn | Vera Cruz | New Lynn | Lynn Jenkins | Lynn Fontanne | Logan Lynn | Fred Lynn | Vera Farmiga | Margaret E. Lynn | Lynn Whitfield | Lynn Parsons | Lynn Nottage | Lynn Morley Martin | Lynn Goldsmith | Vera Mukhina |
The play's name is derived from a popular war-time song sung by Vera Lynn called "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".
Many well-known stars have performed in ENSA, including Gracie Fields, George Formby, Wilfrid Brambell, Joyce Grenfell, Paul Scofield, Rebecca Cantwell, Dora Bryan and Vera Lynn.