I'm delighted to have been invited to speak at the Pilsudski Institute, London on May 14th 2019 about my novel  THE SUNFLOWER FIELD

Interwoven with a modern day, fictitious wartime mystery, THE SUNFLOWER FIELD  tells the true story of three Polish mathematicians who in 1932 first cracked the ENIGMA code. Considered completely unbreakable, the ENIGMA code was used by the Nazi's to encrypt their messages before transmission. Sharing this intelligence with the Allies on the eve of World War II, it was one of the most significant contributions to the Allied victory and the foundation for subsequent wartime code-breaking efforts.

Barely acknowledged and forgotten within the folds of history it's a story that's hardly been told, until now.

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I am delighted to share my recent interview with Carolyne at Perfectly Provence about my World War II novel, The Sunflower Field:

The Sunflower Field, a World War II Novel set in Provence ~ by Perfectly Provence

Inspired by her expat experiences in the South of France, Caroline Longstaffe began writing her blog “Shutters and Sunflowers” in 2012. Her stories transport you from the United States to Provence, with the occasional dispatch from the United Kingdom. Longstaffe’s articles, provide readers with well-researched “Travel Tips from an English Girl in California, in love with Provence.“

Since 1999, San Francisco has been home-base for the Longstaffe family. However, once their children were pursuing advanced study programs in Europe, it seemed like the time to explore the couple’s dream of owning a house in the South of France. Although they spent 18 months between Uzès and Lourmarin, they did not come away with a new home. However, did have a deeper enthusiasm for the area. Read the full backstory here.

On her return to California, Caroline Longstaffe had the germ of an idea for a novel. A book inspired by real World War II characters set in Provence. After, two years of research and writing she has finished the draft of her debut novel – “The Sunflower Field.”  The book combines Longstaffe’s background as a student and teacher of history, with her love of Provence.

It may have been serendipity when Longstaffe discovered, through her mother, this historical nugget:

I was already familiar with the Polish cryptologists, Jerzy Rozycki Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski and that they, contrary to what most people think, were the first people to crack the Enigma code, but I had no idea that they had lived in Uzès.

Caroline Longstaffe agreed to share some of the novel’s details with Perfectly Provence readers. “The Sunflower Field is their story, interwoven with a fictitious story set in 2010 about the solving of a second world war mystery.”

What is the Polish cryptologists’ connection with Uzès?

The Polish cryptologists first cracked the Nazi’s communication system – Enigma – in 1932 in Poland. They shared their intelligence with the Allies, in 1939, on the eve of World War II. Escaping the Nazi invasion of Poland, the trio went to Paris to join an Allied code-breaking group working closely with the British team at Bletchley Park. Alan Turing came from Bletchley to visit them in January, but by May with the capitulation of France, they fled again, this time to Algeria. A few months later the three Poles secretly crept back into southern France arriving at Château des Fouzes in Uzès. Here, they continued their vital work (decoding messages from North Africa) for the next two years assisted by the Resistance.

What spoke to you about this war era story?

During times of war, people are frequently called upon to do extraordinary things, finding inner strength, which they never realised they possessed. I have often wondered whether I would have been able to find such courage. What would I have done if I had been in the perilous situations they confronted? The bravery and fortitude of such people, especially those involved in espionage and the Resistance, within the enemy occupied territory, is both humbling and often inconceivable in its magnitude.

Weaving the threads of a story within such a rich tapestry, during the treacherous days of World War II was, in part, a way of exploring such ‘what if’ questions. As a historian, once I learned the story of the Poles, whose work was the foundation for one of the most significant contributions to the ending of World War II, setting my story during the war was enticing and irresistible.

Can you describe your character, Collette?

Collette is an eighteen-year-old member of the Resistance. A young girl caught up in the horrors of war, coping with stressful situations. Someone with a steadfast determination to play her part whatever the cost, but at the same time still a young girl. At times struggling with the misery of her situation, with her raw emotions and someone, like most young girls, capable of falling in love. I hope that her courage and resolve leaps from the pages!

The code breakers were based in Uzès. What is the book’s connection with Provence?

Provence is the primary setting of the story. The Sunflower Field tells the cryptologists’ story interwoven with a fictitious story set in the present. When in 2010, Sophie’s father dies, she finds a letter written in 1944 which takes her to Uzès and then to Lourmarin. She finds herself unravelling a spellbinding wartime drama. A mystery involving a priceless art treasure and the indomitable Resistance, both of which prove to have connections with the present. The bulk of the narrative, set during the war and in 2010, takes place in either Uzès or Lourmarin. Provence is the stage for “The Sunflower Field.”

How did you do your research for the novel?

As a student and teacher of history, the research was fascinating. The book takes places in two eras, the story of the cryptologists in 1940-42 and solving the mysterious letter in the present. For the World War II part, I have endeavoured to incorporate an account of what happened by introducing some fictional characters to facilitate the intertwining of their story within that of the present day.

Some of my research was done online and from resources such as the Uzès archive office. I also interviewed local French people who shared their genuine and fascinating stories. These have enriched the narrative by retelling real events. My desire is that in addition to revealing the truth about the Polish decoders, “The Sunflower Field” will deepen the understanding of life during the Second World War by the sharing of these incredible tales.

What advice do you have for anyone thinking they might want to write a book?

Have a passion for your subject. Just as in any creative process, the biggest challenge is believing in yourself enough to keep going. Like many things in life, it is easy to abandon your dreams, and convince yourself that what you are trying to create is not worth the effort. Don’t allow that little bird called ‘doubt’ and her twin sister ‘fear’ to land on your shoulder and stay there. If you have a passion for what it is you are trying to create you will succeed in finishing your project.

As much as I would love my book to become a best-seller, and I have the cast for the screenplay all picked out. If that never happens, I have a sense of accomplishment in knowing that I didn’t give up! I have written a book, and even if it isn’t that good, I did it. It is my debut novel, and I am sure I have much to learn. But how do we learn, if not by the actual doing. Maybe what I learned next will help me with the sequel.

How did you land on the title for your book?

As you know, my blog is called Shutters and Sunflowers. Because those wonderful French shutters and endless fields of sunflowers are two things that come to mind when I think of Provence. I didn’t plan to choose a book title to connect it to my blog, the title found me…

We look forward to reading “The Sunflower Field” to discover more about the brave Polish code breakers, Collette and Sophie. Read more of Caroline’s blog posts and travel tips here.

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'The Sunflower Field,' my debut novel, is written to honor the ‘few’, of which there were thousands, who during World War II, in words inspired by Winston Churchill, "gave so much, for so many." In particular for three of those ‘few’, the Polish mathematicians, Jerzy Rozycki, Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski, with whom lies the origins of one of the most significant contributions to the allied victory of World War II, the deciphering of the Nazi encrypted communication system, the Enigma code.

Château des Fouzes ~ World War II intelligence center

I discovered their story having lived in Uzès in the south of France. It led me to the gates of Château des Fouzes, a few kilometers from the town center. It was here, from 1940 to 1942, that these three men worked in secret, at this intelligence centre, code named CADIX, as part of an allied decryption unit.

The Legacy of the Poles who cracked the Enigma Code

As I stood outside the château’s gates, over seventy years later, the persistent chirping of crickets, like the ceaseless ticking of a clock, reminded me of all the minutes which had passed since these men had been here.

Yet World War II was not so long ago, it was my grandparents war, they fought in it, my parents lived through its deprivation, I, like my children, learnt about it in school and I studied it in college.

Like millions of others, I have visited the war memorials, line after line of white crosses, the museums filled with history, the beaches filled with memories, the concentration camps filled with glass containers of tiny shoes and the decimated villages filled with ruins and I have felt very small and humble. But never more so than when I stood outside Château des Fouzes, reading this small plaque, thinking about the unsung heroes it commemorates.

The Enigma Code

Rozycki, Rejewski and Zygalski, first cracked the Enigma code in 1932. The Enigma machine was originally developed in Holland just after the First World War as a cipher apparatus.

This small, typewriter looking device became available commercially and was popular with the banking industry.

Once it came into the exclusive hands of the German Armed Forces, it was developed further so that its possible configurations of approximately 158 million, million, million, made the Enigma code one that was considered unbreakable.

Bletchley Park ~ World War II code breaking

The importance of the Poles’ intelligence about the Enigma code, which they shared with the Allies on the eve of World War II, cannot be over emphasized. It lay the foundation for the subsequent decryption efforts at Bletchley Park in England, led by Alan Turing. Even with Turing’s unquestioned genius, without the Poles' contribution the ultimate final cracking of the Enigma code would have been delayed, World War II would have continued for perhaps as much as two further years, at a cost of thousands more lives.

The role the Poles played did not end in 1939, after the war had started they continued their critically important work from Paris and then in October 1940, assisted by the Resistance, from within the shadows of Château des Fouzes, until they were forced to flee in November 1942. Their achievements were monumental, the recognition for what they did far less so.

"...we shall fight in the fields and streets..... we shall never surrender."

 (W.S. Churchill June 1940)

Standing by the château gates, contemplating all that had happened during those desperate times, I asked myself, if I had been alive then, what role would I have had? Would I have joined the Resistance, would I have had their courage, their resilience, their determination, prepared to risk my all in a world besieged by terror? Would I have been able to make the types of decisions that were forced upon them, to act without hesitation, to take another’s life, to stare death in the face and play my part in the fight for a cause so much bigger than myself?

People weren’t made differently seventy years ago, what was different were the unprecedented times they found themselves living in. It was perhaps the world’s darkest hour. It bought together many people from many nations, such as these Poles who, working alongside the French and the Spanish, sent their critically important decryptions back to the British.

I am not Polish, nor do I have any connections to Poland but staring across the château’s deserted courtyard I realised that the freedom and liberties I enjoy today was because of people like them.

Wandering away from this forgotten place, buried in the south of France, my path took me down the same rutted track where their feet had trodden, between fields of dancing sunflowers and I knew that theirs was a story I had to tell.

I believe in serendipity, that maybe we are all connected by a mere six degrees of separation. So if anyone reading this can help me, as I actively seek The Sunflower Field’s publication, I’d be forever grateful. I would so love to publish this book, yes of course for me but more importantly for Jerzy Rozycki, Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski, some of “the few, who gave so much, for so many………..”

Read more about The Sunflower Field by clicking here

Contact me here

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"We shall fight on the beaches……..but we shall never surrender” the immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill. And fight on the beaches is what thousands of brave Allied troops, did. Under the joint command of Generals Montgomery and Eisenhower, thousands of men courageously jumped into a violent and raging sea. Rained upon by Nazi gunfire from coastline defenses, known as the 'Atlantic Wall', many never even reached the beach. This was the D-Day Landings, the Allied invasion of the Normandy Beaches, on June 6th 1944, which mercifully changed the course of history forever, ridding the world of the Nazi reign of terror which had spread its evil like a cancerous mass across mainland Europe. 

In the early hours of June 6th 1944 an Armada of 5000 ships slipped across the English Channel. When they opened fire, the Nazis, battered by recent ferocious storms, were completely taken by surprise.

Seventy years later, standing beside a calm and tranquil sea which glistened like liquid steel, we stared at one of these troop carriers. Bathed in brilliant sunshine, it was hard to imagine all the chaos and terror that had occurred in 1944. Soldiers, burdened by uniforms and supplies, crammed together like canned fish, determinedly clutching their weapons, being thrown and jostled as these flimsy crafts were tossed amongst the tumultuous waves. The smell of fear must have pervaded the air, as each man contemplated that second when the bow would open and there would be nowhere to go but forward. Spewed out like lemmings, many to an immediate watery grave, these brave boys, helped free the world for people such as us.

Pegasus Bridge

It was a massive military operation, relying on the success of so many smaller but critical events, the success of each ensuring the overall victory of the whole. One of these, codenamed 'Operation Deadstick', occurred at what became to be known as ‘Pegasus Bridge’. In the early hours of June 6th 1944, the British 6th Airborne Division silently descended like giant moths in gliders next to Pegasus Bridge. Although many lives were tragically lost in crash landings, the German defenses were overwhelmed within a few minutes. It was a significant triumph enabling Allied troops to land at Sword Beach and cross the river. This same division then destroyed a series of bridges which together with the destructive skills of the French Resistance, prevented German reinforcements reaching Normandy.

Pegasus Bridge today, a replica of the original, which now stands at the nearby Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum

An original photograph of the landed gliders

The original Pegasus Bridge

Images of The French Resistance

Port Winston

Another key component to the Allied success was ‘Operation Fortitude’, which fooled the Nazi High Command into believing that the Allied attack would occur in Pas du Calais further to the north. There were no significant harbours to the south which helped make the deception credible. However, this meant that the Allies had to create artificial harbours to enable their fleets to moor and off-load their gargantuan army of supplies; troops, tanks, trucks and armaments.

Remains of the Mulberry Harbour at 'Port Winston', Arromanches.

It was a daunting task and one of the greatest engineering feats of the war. The creation of these artificial, Mulberry Harbours’ began on June 7^th 1944. Sixty retired battle ships were scuttled across the English Channel to be sunk in two locations, at Omaha Beach, where the Americans had landed and just off Arromanches which became known as ‘Port Winston’. One hundred and forty caissons were towed across the Channel at 5mph and set in place over the following 10 days, creating Mulberry Harbours which covered a stretch of 2 ½ miles along the coastline. Within just two weeks the Allies had gained the upper hand.

At the end of 1944 most of these caissons were dismantled and towed to the Netherlands to become part of their dike system. These few remain today, an enduring reminder of D-Day.

Juno Beach

Juno Beach, where the Canadian troops landed. Due to its' proximity to the HQ of the Allied ground forces, Juno Beach was the site where many important visitors arrived. On 12^th June British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,  June 14^th  Charles De Gaulle, June 16th King George VI, June 19^th the South African Prime Minister shortly followed by The Belgian Prime Minister and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.

An Allied Tank

Local French Reaction

The French had suffered the miseries of Nazi occupation since May 1940 together with the division of their country.

Whilst the north remained occupied, the country was split in two. ‘Vichy France’ to the south, was created under the ‘puppet leader’ Philippe Pétain who, wishing to prevent further loss of life, surrendered and subsequently cooperated with the Nazis.

During this time the lives of the local people had been decimated. They lived with little to eat and in constant fear, unable to trust anyone. When the Allies arrived and the Nazis slowly began to be pushed south, the people of Normandy were jubilant. Sadly this enthusiasm was severely dampened by the subsequent Allied ariel invasion which destroyed many of the surrounding towns as part of the offensive to decimate the Nazi stronghold.

Artwork from 10 year of French children in 1944 depicts the sentiment of the time

A small child's dress, made from the remnants of an Allied parachute

This was a dark time for the people of Normandy, who witnessed the almost total destruction of many of their beautiful cities and the death of its citizens, which continued until the end of August 1944

2014 memorial to D-Day outside the Memorial Museum in Caen

Port Winston today

Allied pilots about to embark for Normandy

Caen Memorial Museum, remembering D-Day, 70 years later in 2014

We should never forget.............

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