Dipankar De Sarkar/IANS

London, Sep 14: If all four members of the band had been alive today, they might well have been singing 'Help!' or 'You Can't Do That' -- for the Beatles have been edged out of the British charts in what was supposed to be their big week.

By a 92-year-old, distinctly unfashionable woman.

Dame Vera Lynn, who began singing when the Fab Four were not even a twinkle in their parents' eyes, made history Sunday by becoming the oldest living artist ever to have a number one album.

Known in Britain as the "Forces' Sweetheart" for her rousing and wistful wartime songs, Lynn outsold The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon with her latest collection 'We'll Meet Again - the Very Best of Vera Lynn.'

The surprise triumph - coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II - came amid the launch of digitally remastered versions of all Beatles albums and the release of the globally-hyped video game, The Beatles: Rock On.

"I am extremely surprised and delighted, and a big thank you to all my fans for putting me there" said Lynn, who was born in London in 1917 and whose last number one hit was in 1952 - ten years before The Beatles recorded their first single.

She began singing aged just seven and her career was already flourishing when the war broke out in 1939, following which she travelled thousands of miles - often at great personal risk - to entertain Allied troops.

Lynn - it is 70 years since she first recorded her best-known song 'We'll Meet Again' - said last week: "I am extremely excited and delighted to be back in the charts after all these years."

"My songs reminded the boys of what they were really fighting for. Precious personal things rather than ideologies. I brought home a little nearer for them."

However, Beatles albums crowded out the rest of the charts, occupying the 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 21st, 24th, 29th, 31st, 33rd, 37th and 38th spots, according to the Official Charts Company.

But no one was grudging the wartime heroine her sensational victory.

"It's a really lovely surprise, that nobody could have imagined a few weeks ago, and it's ironic that it's taken one revered British icon to block the historic return of another to the top of the charts," said Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for HMV.

The previous oldest occupant of the number one spot before Vera Lynn was Bob Dylan with his new album 'Together Through Life' in May, at the age of 67.