Forces sweetheart

For the film, see Forces' Sweetheart (film).
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 that became a favourite of soldiers in the 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. During this time, novelist Lady Angela Forbes was considered a "Forces Sweetheart" as a catering organiser for the British army from November 1914.[1] The British Soldiers' Buffets, nicknamed "Angelinas", met every train of wounded as it arrived and were often open 24 hours a day, and food never ran out.[2][3]

Following Forbes, in the United States actress and singer Elsie Janis was called The Sweetheart of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Vera Lynn was voted "Forces Sweetheart" in Britain during the World War II years in a 1939 poll by Daily Express.
  1. ^ "Sweetheart we love you!". Daily Express. Retrieved 30 December 2012
  2. ^ Lady Angela Selina Bianca St. Clair-Erskine Forbes. Memories and Base Details. New York: G. H. Doran Co., 1922
  3. ^ Lady Cynthia Asquith. Diaries, 1915–1918. London: Hutchinson, 1968