Something uplifting to take from war-time was the classic music that accompanied the era, which was designed to lift spirits and spread a little cheer.
This week is national war effort week, and so to celebrate, here are 10 tracks that celebrate the nation's endeavours.
Flanagan & Allen
Run Rabbit Run
Run Rabbit Run was written in 1939 the composer Noel Gay's show The Little Dog Laughed in 1939. The song is reportedly about the Luftwaffe aircraft, which, on their first air raid on Britain, apparently killed two rabbits.
The Andrews Sisters
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
The 1941 song Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was recorded in Hollywood in 1941. It has since been re-recorded multiple times.
Elsie Carlisle
Please Leave My Butter Alone
Please Leave My Butter Alone is a song first recorded by Doris Waters and Elsie Waters (singing as Gert and Daisy), though popularised by Elsie Carlisle's cover. The song was released in 1940 and plays on a double entendre of people "pinching" the singer's butter.
Vera Lynn
We'll Meet Again
One of the most famous singer's of the wartime era, Lynn's 1939 track We'll Meet Again struck a chord with many families who saw their young men sent out to fight and hoped to see them once fighting was over.
Margaret Whiting
All Through the Day
A bestseller of 1946, Whiting's All Through the Day appeared in the film Centennial Summer which revolved around two sisters falling in love with a Frenchman preparing for a Centennial exposition.
Glenn Miller
In the Mood
A number one hit of 1940, In the Mood was later recognised as one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. Sadly, Glenn Miller didn't live to see the hit go on to appear in The Beatles "All You Need is Love" number one in 1967.
George Formby
When I'm Cleaning Windows
Formby and his wife travelled the country playing to three million servicemen and women over the course of the war. When I'm Cleaning Windows was one of the songs they performed.
Billy Cotton
We Must All Stick Together
Performed by Cotton and his band, the 1939 song We Must All Stick Together encouraged a message of nationwide camaraderie irrespective of wealth. The English band-leader and entertainer is also TV presenter Fearne Cotton's great-uncle.
Al Bowlly
Goodnight Sweetheart
Famous as the theme tune of the 1990s TV sitcom of the same name starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, the original was written by Ray Noble, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, and was also recorded by Guy Lombardo.
Joe Loss, His Orchestra
Praise Be The Lord and Pass The Ammunition
A song written in 1942 as a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, its title is said to have come from a statement made to soldiers fighting in order to keep morale up. It was recorded by Joe Loss and his orchestra - the longest running live entertainment unit of all time.
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