Barbara Harper-Nelson was once the nineteen-year-old girlfriend of twenty-two-year-old French airman Francis Usai, who served in the RAF Bomber Command. Amazingly, she still possesses the letters she received from this witty and amusing young Frenchman, exiled from his conquered country but still fighting for freedom and undertaking nightly missions into the horrendous firestorm that was the Battle of the Ruhr. Together with her own diaries, these letters constitute a unique, evocative and often amusing conversation between two young people during a turbulent and often terrifying time in history, as they coped with the daily threat of permanent separation and the regular, tragic loss of close friends. The intensity of their love story and the quality of their courage catch at the heart, showing how the human spirit endures, even and especially during times of war.

"‘A vibrant glimpse into the past – history as it was actually lived, moment by moment.The French Squadrons is not only fascinating from a historical point of view but also from the immense amount of social and cultural information that it conveys.’" - Kate Atkinson

"‘An extraordinary tale ... both utterly absorbing and intensely poignant.’" - The Good Book Guide