FED UP of a constant diet of blubber, the Eskimo began to hum a familiar tune. “What’s that song?” said his mate. “Oh I heard it on the radio, it’s all about what we eat... it’s called whale meat again!”

OK, bad gag and it certainly won’t have the Arctic Monkeys laughing because this week Dame Vera Lynn had the temerity to knock the Sheffield band off top spot and become the world’s oldest living artist to have a number one album.

And not even the latest and much-hyped offering from the Fab Four could compete with the forces’ sweetheart in the battle of the charts.

Dame Vera, now 92, remains a national treasure. Her heart-felt songs helped the country through some of the darkest days of the Second World War and now once again they are selling like hot cakes. We’ll Meet Again – The Very Best of Vera Lynn was released this month to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of war.

And in a remarkable double, her autobiography, Some Sunny Day, shot straight to the top of the Sunday Times bestsellers non-fiction list and is still there.

Dame Vera said: “Who would have thought something like this would happen? Top Of The Pops again – I’m delighted!

“It’s all about nostalgia I think. They are all good songs – lovely melodies with nice lyrics – and schools have recently been studying World War II as part of their curriculum, so the music has tied in with that and the younger generation is beginning to appreciate the songs more.”

It’s also 70 years since Dame Vera first recorded the song she’s best known for – We’ll Meet Again – at Decca’s studios, when she was aged only 22. She said: “I like to keep busy and I always mix a lot with younger people and try to keep up with make-up and fashion.”

Always a glamorous figure, it’s obvious that she has a life-long love of clothes. Sadly, she no longer has any of her stage outfits.

“Unfortunately, I never thought at the time of keeping any stage clothes. The dresses I wore on stage were lovely – very glamorous and feminine.

“A lot of chiffon was used then and the dresses were floaty – they were nice to work in. I wish now that I had kept some because they were authentic 1940s fashions.”

Dame Vera’s morale-boosting voice helped sustain countless Servicemen during the war and in 1940 she hosted the BBC radio show Sincerely Yours which sent messages to loved ones serving overseas from their girlfriends at home. She also gave many outdoor concerts, singing for the troops, and toured Egypt, India and Burma.

These days they still like a bit of Vera at St Catherine’s Nursing home in Shipton-by- Beningbrough. At the home, lifelong York resident Lucy Wood, 95, recalled being at The Rialto in Fishergate where she saw Vera Lynn singing for the first time.

“Oh she was lovely and she had such a wonderful way with people. I met her and she told me that she had just come back from Burma where she sang for the troops. I said: ‘I know. My husband George is out there and he wrote telling me that he had seen you.’ “I didn’t see George for four years during the war and Vera Lynn was such a big help to me. Knowing that she had met my husband made me feel that part of him was with me as I spoke to her. When she sang ‘We’ll Meet Again’ I knew that George and I would be back together soon.”

Fellow residents Maurice and Elsie Hughes agreed that Dame Vera was an inspiration to all who endured the wartime years. Eighty-nine-year-old Maurice who served with the RAF in Yorkshire said: “We used to listen to her on family favourites on the wireless. She was such a beautiful songstress and a bonny lass as well. She stood out from the rest. “All the ENSA entertainers did a great job but Vera Lynn was special. The country was all the better for having her around during the war. She was like a friend to us, like the girl next door and she kept us all going.”

Elsie, also 89, finally met Dame Vera ten years ago. “She was such a nice, kind lady. I had been a big fan of hers during the war and I remember thinking ‘ooh isn’t she lovely’ when she sang. She gave us the thought that one day everything would be well again” Dame Vera’s career enjoyed resurgence in the early 1950s when she became the first UK artist to top the US charts, but her new-found stardom must surely mark her finest hour.

Not that it has gone to her head. There’s no whirlwind world tour in sight; instead she is happy to be pottering around at home.

She said: “I used to paint but for the last few years I’ve been too busy. My daughter Virginia keeps nagging me to take it up again.

“I used to garden a lot but that’s more difficult now so I stick to my greenhouse and grow tomatoes.”