Vera Lynn
I have a Children's Charity in Cuckfield, West Sussex, which helps young children affected by cerebral palsy and associated disorders. The perseverance these young people display every day is inspirational.Collection: Inspirational
When I look on my mantelpiece and see these cards wishing me a happy 100th birthday, I can't believe it.Collection: Birthday
We can't change the past but we can learn from history and remember the important things - the sacrifices our loved ones made, and the price of our freedom today.Collection: History
Mum worked for a London dressmaker before she married. When she was forced to give up work after her marriage, she carried on dressmaking for people at home.Collection: Marriage
Seeing photographs of my dad, Bert, on the beach with a knotted handkerchief on his head to avoid getting sunburn still brings a smile to my face.Collection: Smile
Take each day as it comes and focus on the present moment.
I went goodness knows how long without a bath.
I don't have a good memory, so learning all the songs for my TV performances was a real challenge.
In the mid-1970s, I even decided to make my own country album. I put the idea to my record company, thinking we'd just go into the studio in the U.K. and make a novelty album. But instead, they suggested I go to Nashville. I was flabbergasted. I hadn't expected that at all.
I don't like a cheater.
I never wanted to be a Judy Garland.
You can't do an awful lot about getting older but you shouldn't let it stop you from doing what you want to do.
Keep interested, read books, watch television and try to keep in touch with life and what people are doing, seeing and enjoying.
Be active to your full capabilities.
I've liked country music for as long as I can remember, especially the songs of Dolly Parton. Her lyrics are similar to mine: simple, expressive, from the heart. Our voices are in the same kind of register, too.
I'm a girl from East Ham.
I used to go from place to place by tram. A shilling would take you all around London and the suburbs.
They didn't like my voice at school.
Singing in the jungle was very hot and very sticky, which was a bit hard going. I had a little piano, which they trudged around on the back of a lorry, hoping it would survive the journeys.
When I was a toddler, I fell ill with diphtheritic croup and was taken to an isolation unit. One of my earliest memories is of being on my own in a tent surrounded by steaming kettles.
Dad, who worked as a plumber, was a quiet and undemanding man who liked to laugh - and he was a very good dancer.
Perhaps it is no surprise I became an entertainer because many of my relatives were natural performers. Dad, who had a fine pair of lungs, was master of ceremonies at East Ham working men's club in east London. I felt so proud when I saw him in his white gloves calling out the names of the dances.
I was born with a passion for music.
I have always managed to combine my family life and my career, but there came a point when I had to choose between a career in America and my family. I chose my family.
In 1939, a newspaper ran a competition for the first load of boys off to war to pick their favourite singer. They chose me from my radio broadcasts. That's when I became known as the 'forces' sweetheart.'
When I was 14 or 15, I was in a small troupe for teenagers, and I heard somebody say, 'Oh, she'll never get anywhere. She's too common.'
When I left school at 14, I thought I had better get a job. I got one in a factory where I sewed on buttons. It was so boring and we weren't allowed to talk or sing. I lasted a day.
You've got to be nice to people when you're on your way up, because you never know who you are going to meet on the way down.
I always took things very seriously. Always have done.
There was so little said about the Burmese war. The Forgotten 14th, they called them.
I seem to have had quite a lot of pink dresses.
People used me, in a way, to achieve something, and I was glad of it. I was just doing my job.
I am delighted to learn that the small part I played in the campaign to protect the white cliffs of Dover has been so effective.
Over many years, I have been a supporter of the National Trust and the vital work that they do in preserving our heritage and landscapes - long may this continue.
The white cliffs of Dover are a significant landmark and it is so encouraging to know that they will now be protected for future generations.
I felt very greatly honoured to be given a Damehood and never expected to receive anything else. So for Her Majesty to bestow a further accolade on me is very unexpected and I feel even more honoured.
I have never been terribly ambitious.
If work came along I liked, I would do it. If it interfered with home life for too long or took me away, I wouldn't.
I don't think the singers take it as seriously as we used to. The words, the meaning, the phrasing, the feeling of the song. They see the words, they know the tune and they just sing it.
I was never the glamorous type like Betty Grable.
I don't listen to the radio. I'd rather watch the television.
I don't listen to music. I never have done.
My favourite hotel is the Hilton Hawaiian Village beach resort in Honolulu.
Our family didn't have a lot of money, so my brother, parents and I spent our holidays at Southend-on-Sea.
Getting an upset tummy is never pleasant, and it's worse if you get a funny tummy a long way from home.
I've visited Holland plenty of times and always liked staying in the Hilton in Amsterdam.
I'm keen on the sun, so weather is an important ingredient for a perfect holiday.
Always arrive in plenty of time so that when you step on the train or sit down in the plane you're relaxed, not hassled.
You never know what's going to happen en route to the airport or station and the last thing you want is to get there just as your train or plane is disappearing into the distance. Get there early, read a book, have a coffee and don't get stressed.
If I switch on the radio and hear some nice classical music, I will sit and listen to it but I don't sort of play records or go for any particular type of music.