# Forces sweetheart > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Forces_sweetheart > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Forces_sweetheart.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forces_sweetheart > Source revision: 1310038615 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Favourite entertainers of armed forces}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Use British English|date=July 2017}} {{For|the film| Forces' Sweetheart (film)}} thumb|upright|Lady Angela Forbes, a forces sweetheart during World War I '''Forces Sweetheart''' (or '''Forces' Sweetheart''') is an accolade given to entertainers, actors and singers. Originally, the term was used in the United Kingdom to note popular showbiz personalities who became a favourite of soldiers in the [British Armed Forces](/source/British_Armed_Forces), though the term is also used in other countries. The role of being a favourite among armed forces personnel started during [World War I](/source/World_War_I). During this period, novelist [Lady Angela Forbes](/source/Lady_Angela_Forbes) was considered a "Forces Sweetheart" as a catering organiser for the [British army](/source/British_army) from November 1914.[http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/271622/Sweetheart-we-love-you "Sweetheart we love you!"]. ''[Daily Express](/source/Daily_Express)''. Retrieved 30 December 2012 The British Soldiers' Buffets, nicknamed "Angelinas", met every train of wounded as it arrived and were often open 24 hours a day, with food never running out.[Lady Angela Selina Bianca St. Clair-Erskine Forbes](/source/Lady_Angela_Selina_Bianca_St._Clair-Erskine_Forbes). ''Memories and Base Details''. New York: G. H. Doran Co., 1922[Lady Cynthia Asquith](/source/Lady_Cynthia_Asquith). ''Diaries, 1915–1918''. London: [Hutchinson](/source/Hutchinson_Heinemann), 1968 Following Forbes, in the United States actress and singer [Elsie Janis](/source/Elsie_Janis) was called The Sweetheart of the [American Expeditionary Forces](/source/American_Expeditionary_Forces). [[File:Vera Lynn (1962).jpg|thumb|right|Vera Lynn was voted "Forces Sweetheart" in Britain during the World War II years in a 1939 poll by the ''[Daily Express](/source/Daily_Express)''.]] ==Examples== ===British forces' sweethearts=== During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), the term "forces' sweetheart" was most commonly associated with singer [Vera Lynn](/source/Vera_Lynn), whose singing of songs such as "[(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover](/source/(There'll_Be_Bluebirds_Over)_The_White_Cliffs_of_Dover)" and "[We'll Meet Again](/source/We'll_Meet_Again)" brought her fame in Britain; others popular at the time included [Gracie Fields](/source/Gracie_Fields) and [Anne Shelton](/source/Anne_Shelton_(singer)). Latter-day "sweethearts" for the British serving forces have included [Nell McAndrew](/source/Nell_McAndrew), [Katherine Jenkins](/source/Katherine_Jenkins), [Kirsten Orsborn](/source/Kirsten_Orsborn), [Cheryl Cole](/source/Cheryl_Cole), and Sarah Dennis, who was named as The Veterans Sweetheart in 2014.{{cite news|title=Cole becomes Forces' sweetheart|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/cole-becomes-forces-sweetheart-28658514.html|publisher=[Belfast Telegraph](/source/Belfast_Telegraph)|date=9 December 2016}} In 2011, London drag queen Richard Rhodes became perhaps the first man in the history of the term to be labelled a forces' sweetheart.{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/meet-cookie-monstar-forces-sweetheart-and-drag-artist-6553712.html|title=Meet Cookie Monstar, forces sweetheart... and drag artist|date=2011-01-10|work=[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)|access-date=2017-11-04|language=en-GB}} [[File:Frances Langford circa 1946.JPG|thumb|[Frances Langford](/source/Frances_Langford), nicknamed "The GI Nightingale" a popular US entertainer during the World War II years, and Korean and Vietnam Wars]] ===United States=== [Frances Langford](/source/Frances_Langford), an actress and singer, was billed as the "Singing Sweetheart of the Fighting Fronts" from World War II to the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War) and the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War). ===Commonwealth countries=== [Lorrae Desmond](/source/Lorrae_Desmond), who was at that time best known a singer and recording artist, performed along fellow vocalists [Little Patti](/source/Little_Patti), [Normie Rowe](/source/Normie_Rowe), [Dinah Lee](/source/Dinah_Lee) and numerous others as the "forces' sweetheart in Australia" [when troops were stationed in Vietnam](/source/Military_history_of_Australia_during_the_Vietnam_War). Desmond herself toured Vietnam, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Kenya and Somalia.{{cite web|url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2021/05/vale-lorrae-desmond.html|title=Vale:Lorrae Desmond}} ==Further reading== *[Joanna Lumley](/source/Joanna_Lumley). ''Forces Sweethearts''. *Eric Taylor. ''Forces Sweethearts: Service romances in World War II''. London: Hale {{ISBN|0709041969}} *[Chantelle Fiddy](/source/Chantelle_Fiddy). ''My Life on the Front''. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_WW2.htm Women in World War II] {{Vera Lynn|state=collapsed}} Category:Culture of the United Kingdom * * Category:Women in 21st-century warfare Category:Royal Air Force Category:Nicknames in film Category:Nicknames in music --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Forces sweetheart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forces_sweetheart) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forces_sweetheart?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.