Dame Vera Lynn's wartime archive will be shared with Imperial War Museum.

The Imperial War Museum has acquired Dame Vera Lynn's Second World War archive, which includes more than 600 fan letters and personal items such as her 1944 India tour diary; the museum says the collection will undergo a rigorous conservation and collection care process before items can be displayed.

The Imperial War Museum has received the Second World War archive of Dame Vera Lynn. The museum announced the collection will go through a rigorous collection care process before it can be shown to the public. The archive was built during her wartime career when she toured to entertain troops and broadcast to those at home. Dame Vera Lynn was widely known as the Forces' Sweetheart and died in 2020 at the age of 103. Highlights of the acquisition: - More than 600 fan letters from the wartime period. - Dame Vera Lynn's personal diary from her 1944 tour of India. - The contract for her BBC radio show Sincerely Yours. - About 160 wartime contracts covering more than 200 engagements. - Letters from Dame Vera to her husband, Harry Lewis. - Items of ENSA tropical uniform, including a pair of khaki shorts and an Auxiliary Territorial Service hat. Summary: The acquisition adds personal material to the Imperial War Museum's wartime holdings and documents the role of entertainment and broadcasting in connecting troops and the public. Museum staff have said the items will undergo conservation, cataloguing and other collection care steps before they are displayed. No timetable for public display has been announced.