In any British commemoration of World War 2 (WW2), you might also hear of Dame Vera Lynn who was an English singer and entertainer fondly called the ‘Forces Sweetheart’, since she popularly performed for the troops in places like Burma and India. Two of her most famous songs composed in 1939 at the outbreak of WW2 were ‘There’ll Always Be an England’ and ‘We’ll Meet Again’. Dame Vera Lynn gave concerts to the soldiers as part of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), but how many of you know the untold story of Lauretta Boston who also belonged to ENSA and performed for WW2 troops and did much more? Dame Vera Lynn died in June 2020, but Lauretta is still very much alive and turned 101 (no this is not a typo) at the end of October! Here is the story of the most amazing woman I have ever met, who I thought I’d spend a maximum of two hours with but ended up chatting to for four!
Who Exactly is ‘Lauretta’?
Lauretta was born in the UK in October 1922 to a Sierra Leonean father (Nathaniel Boston) and an English mother Margaret. Her father was a barrister who qualified at Lincoln’s Inn and whose younger brother Sir Henry Lightfoot-Boston became the first African and indigenous Governor-General of Sierra Leone. Lauretta grew up with her white English grandmother in Paddington, London. From aged 5, her grandmother taught her to sing and play the piano. She recalls that her grandmother would sit her on her lap in front of the piano, holding her with her left hand and playing the piano with her right, having written notes on the white piano keys for her. In 1929, at the tender age of seven, Lauretta’s memorable musical performance was not at a primary school concert like the rest of her peers, but rather she played and sang ‘Won’t You Buy My Pretty Flowers’ in front of the Lord Mayor of London at a children’s charity concert in Tottenham Court Rd. Lauretta has positive memories of growing up in Paddington as a mixed-race child. Showing me a childhood photograph, Lauretta said that when she was little she was much darker than she is now and everyone was always so nice and made a fuss of her!
Music came naturally to Lauretta and by age thirteen, she had been awarded a scholarship for piano playing at the Royal Academy of Music. However, she tells me she didn’t enjoy her time there at all: “I found it rather boring and rigid. It was all theory and I loved playing songs that also had a story. In addition, it was a long walk to the Royal Academy, sometimes in hot weather and by the time I got there I’d want to dose off. I just didn’t bother with it!” Lauretta’s ‘break’ came when she was sixteen, when she signed her first professional contract for a hit musical at Drury Lane Theatre called ‘The Sun Never Sets’ which gave her the opportunity of working with big names like Adelaide Hall and Stewart Granger.
War-time Contribution
In 1939, a major upheaval came just as Lauretta was starting her career and the country was thrown into World War Two when she was still in her teens. Lauretta joined the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) which was formed to entertain the armed forces during the conflict. The nightly air raids were scary and Lauretta with some humour told me they used to joke that ENSA stood for ‘Each Night Something Awful’! Lauretta was singing in shows around the country and even showed me her little diary which had the dates and places of her performances from all those years ago. These included performing to the Air Force in Biggin Hill and the Navy in Southampton and Portsmouth. She also entertained factory workers in Liverpool and Kirby.
In 1941, at the tender age of 18, Lauretta married Rowland a Nigerian with whom she had two daughters. He later became a barrister through the influence of his father-in-law, Nathaniel. The fact that Lauretta still went for rehearsals at the Criterion Theatre on her wedding day shows how devoted she was to her work. During the Blitz, Lauretta performed at the Dorchester and Mayfair Hotels, after which Rowland would collect her at Green Park underground station and they would walk all the way to Swiss Cottage in the blackouts with air raids going on around them! In addition to the performances Lauretta did as part of ENSA, she participated in Childrens Hour on BBC Radio regularly and took part in a variety of programmes such as ‘Monday Night at Eight,’ the religious programme, ‘Lighten our Darkness’ and Variety Bandbox. She also did BBC overseas broadcasts.
Post-War Activities and the Famous Churchill’s Nightclub
After the War, Lauretta lived and performed at the Theatre Royal in Dublin, Ireland for a few years before returning to London in the 1950s. Lauretta then toured Germany and performed for American Troops there. It was then she met Calypso King Lord Kitchener who also entertained American soldiers. Lauretta became the resident singer of the Latin American band at Churchill’s, an upmarket nightclub in Bond St. This was one of the top clubs in London, where legends like Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Eartha Kitt and Frank Sinatra visited whilst Lauretta was performing there. One night after their set, famous Hollywood actor Errol Flynn asked if he could play the bongos and he sat at Lauretta’s feet playing whilst she played the maracas! She also met Dusty Springfield during one of the cabaret sets. Lauretta performed every night at Churchill’s except Sundays, finishing at four in the morning, which explains why she told me she doesn’t necessarily go to bed early when I asked. She said Churchill’s was a lively club every day of the week. The bar did not sell beer and most patrons preferred to drink champagne. It was a fashionable club where style was just as important as the music and cabaret acts. Lauretta said “ I could go for three weeks wearing a different evening dress each night.”
In 1959, Lauretta performed in Nigeria and appeared on the cover of the Nigerian Radio Times. She did a series of Sunday recitals accompanied on the piano by Fela Sowande. Lauretta played me a recording of one of her recitals and her voice was amazing! Whilst in Nigeria she also met her old friend renowned artist Ben Enwonwu, the first African artist to be commissioned by Queen Elizabeth 11. She also appeared with Paul Robeson the African American singer, actor and activist at BBC Broadcasting House to celebrate Nigerian Independence.
When Lauretta developed health difficulties which affected her throat, she retired from professional singing but still continued performing until aged 95 for Kensington Activity Group. She still has her piano which she has had for over 40 years and an organisation called ‘Help Musicians’ keeps it tuned for her.
Lauretta has lived through twenty-six British Prime Ministers, commencing with David Lloyd George when she was born, to Rishi Sunak, the current British Prime Minister. She has also lived through five British Monarchs. It was King George V who was on the throne when she was born. Next was Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936, followed by King George VI, then Queen Elizabeth II and finally King Charles III. What an amazing life!
For her 100th birthday last year, Lauretta received a card from King Charles III and Camilla. One celebration for her 101st birthday was when a friend took her for a meal at The Shard. As we can see, ‘Aunty Lauretta’ is still flying high and she even sent me a photo of the occasion by WhatsApp that night! I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing this pretty, witty, chatty, amazing woman many more birthdays to come!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, thanks to Charles Harding for introducing me to his aunt and providing some information. Huge thanks go to Lauretta for providing me with much information and photos on her amazing story whilst we drank tea and ate cake!
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