Timeline

Germany declares war on Russia. Friedrich, a university student, volunteers for the Bavarian Army.

Germany declares war on France. Henri, a carpenter from Lyon, is mobilized into the 124th Infantry Regiment.

Germany declares war on France. Jean-Luc, a published poet in Paris, is mobilized immediately.

Britain declares war. Jack enlists in the 1st Division, AIF, at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne.

Britain declares war on Germany. Edith volunteers for the Red Cross the same week.

Britain declares war. Canada is automatically at war. Tommy enlists in Halifax.

Britain declares war. India, as a British colony, is automatically at war. The Indian Army mobilises.

Britain declares war on Germany. William enlists in the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers.

Germany invades Belgium, violating its neutrality. Pieter, a farmer from the Antwerp region, is mobilized into the Belgian Army.

Frederick enlists in the 1/8th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He and Zen become engaged before he ships out.

Antoine Roussel writes "The Last Night Before the War" to Colette Roussel from Meaux, France

Antwerp falls to the Germans. Pieter's wife, Liesbeth, flees the city. Pieter is forced to retreat with the Belgian Army to the Yser River.

Jean-Luc writes his first letter to Claire from the front lines near the Aisne River.

The Battle of the Yser begins. The Belgian Army makes its final stand in the last unoccupied corner of the country.

King Albert I orders the opening of the sluice gates at Nieuwpoort. The land begins to flood.

Pieter writes this letter as the water rises around his position. He describes the flooding to Liesbeth.

Ottoman Empire enters the war. Mehmet is called up from his village near Eskişehir.

Pieter is killed by rifle fire during a German assault. His letter is recovered from his kit bag.

The first convoy of Australian troops sails from Albany, Western Australia.

Edith is posted to a small hospital in Folkestone, treating wounded from the first battles.

Edith is transferred to Étaples, the largest base hospital in France.

Frederick writes his first letter to Zen from the training camp in England.

Jean-Luc writes this letter at dusk. The gas attack begins at 5:00 PM.

Jean-Luc dies in the second day of the gas assault.

The ANZACs land at Gallipoli at dawn. Jack's boat comes under fire before it reaches the beach.

Allied forces land at Gallipoli. The 57th Regiment is ordered to hold the high ground at all costs.

Jack writes this letter from a dugout on the cliffs above Anzac Cove.

Claire receives the letter and Jean-Luc's notebook from his commanding officer.

The great Turkish counterattack at Anzac Cove. Thousands of Turkish soldiers die. Mehmet writes this letter at night.

Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary. Marco, a farmer from Tuscany, is mobilized into the Italian Army.

Amar receives his mobilisation order. He leaves his village in Kumaon for the first time in his life.

Tommy marries Eleanor in Halifax. They have three days together before he ships out.

Henri and Marie marry in Lyon. He has five days of leave before returning to the front.

Jack is evacuated with dysentery, emaciated and feverish. He weighs less than eight stone.

Amar's regiment, the 39th Dogras, arrives in Basra, Mesopotamia.

Frederick is deployed to France. The correspondence intensifies — letters cross the Channel almost daily.

The Siege of Kut begins. The garrison is surrounded by Ottoman forces.

William and Margaret marry in a small ceremony in Southampton. They have six days together before he ships out.

The last Allied troops evacuate Gallipoli. Ottoman victory. Mehmet has survived.

Tommy arrives in France with the 3rd Canadian Division, 58th Battalion.

Mehmet is transferred to the Caucasus Front. The Battle of Erzurum is raging.

Frederick writes his 42nd — and final — letter to Zen. It is Valentine's Day.

The Battle of Verdun begins. Friedrich's unit is deployed to the fortress city.

Fort Douaumont falls to the Germans. Henri's regiment is ordered to Verdun.

A wounded Belgian officer delivers Pieter's letter to Liesbeth in London, where she has found refuge.

Henri's daughter Amélie is born in Lyon. He receives a photograph but never holds her.

Amar writes this letter. Food has run out. Men are eating grass and boiled boots.

Marco and Elena marry in their village church in Tuscany. He has three days of leave.

Kut surrenders. 13,000 Allied soldiers become prisoners of war.

The death march begins. Prisoners are marched north toward Anatolia without food or water.

Mehmet is captured by Russian forces near Erzurum. He is sent to a POW camp in Siberia.

Henri writes this letter on the eve of the assault. It is never sent.

Henri is killed during the assault on Fort Douaumont. The letter falls from his pocket.

German soldier Karl Weber finds the letter and keeps it.

The first day of the Somme. Over 20,000 wounded arrive at Étaples in 48 hours.

First day of the Somme. Frederick is killed. The 1/8th Royal Warwicks is decimated.

The first day of the Somme. William goes over the top at 7:30 AM. He is killed within the first hour.

Friedrich is wounded by shrapnel and evacuated to a field hospital. He writes to Greta for the first time in months.

Zen receives the death notification. She writes in her diary: 'Letter came saying my darling killed... went to Lichfield.'

The Battle of Fromelles. Jack's battalion loses 60% of its men in a single night.

Margaret receives the letter, along with a chaplain's note and William's personal effects.

Amar dies of starvation and disease during the march. He is buried in an unmarked grave.

Edith writes this letter to Margaret during a rare moment of quiet.

Tommy fights at the Somme. He survives a gas attack that kills half his platoon.

British forces retake Kut. Amar's letter is found among the debris.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge begins at 5:30 AM. The Canadian Corps takes the ridge by midday.

Tommy writes this letter from a captured German dugout on the ridge.

Tommy is killed by a sniper while consolidating the captured position.

Eleanor receives the letter in Halifax, along with the chaplain's notification.

Elena gives birth to their son, Marco Jr. Marco is at the front and cannot return.

Marco receives a photograph of his son. He writes that the baby has his eyes but Elena's heart.

Marco writes this letter from the trenches near Caporetto. The Austro-German offensive begins hours later.

Marco is killed during the collapse of the Italian front. His body is never found.

Elena receives Marco's letter and the death notification.

Friedrich writes this letter during the unofficial Christmas ceasefire.

The German Spring Offensive begins. Étaples is shelled. Edith treats gas cases for three days without sleep.

Armistice. Jack is in a hospital in Rouen, recovering from a wound to his left thigh.

Armistice. Edith is asleep on her feet when the guns fall silent. She does not celebrate.

Armistice is signed. Friedrich is in a field hospital recovering from his second wound.

Armistice. Karl Weber returns to Berlin with the letter stored in his kit bag.

Armistice is signed. Mehmet is still a prisoner in Siberia.

Friedrich returns to Munich and reunites with Greta — on Christmas Eve, exactly a year after his letter.

Friedrich and Greta marry in Munich.

Liesbeth returns to Belgium. She finds their farm destroyed. She begins to rebuild.

Jack arrives back at Port Melbourne. Mary is waiting on the pier.

Edith returns to London and enrols at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine.

Armistice Day. Claire publishes Jean-Luc's poetry collection.

After a two-year journey across Russia and the Caucasus, Mehmet arrives home in Eskişehir. Ayşe does not recognise him at first.

Mehmet fights in the Battle of Sakarya, the turning point of the Turkish War of Independence.

The Republic of Turkey is proclaimed. Mehmet and Ayşe watch the celebrations from their village.

Edith qualifies as a doctor — one of the first women to do so at the Royal Free.

Haruo meets Shigeko on the first day of primary school in Kagoshima. They become inseparable.

The Vimy Memorial is unveiled by King Edward VIII. Eleanor attends the ceremony.

Jan and Hana marry in Prague. They rent a small flat in the Vinohrady district.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The Second Sino-Japanese War begins. Liang enlists in the National Revolutionary Army.

Liang marries Lin Mei in a small ceremony in Chongqing. They have three days together before he marches east.

German troops occupy Prague. Jan escapes to Poland the same night. Hana stays behind.

Germany invades Poland. Karl is conscripted into the Wehrmacht.

Nazi Germany invades Poland. Jan is captured and sent to Stalag VIII-B.

Germany invades Poland. Jan is captured by Soviet forces and interned.

Britain declares war on Germany. Jimmy joins the RAF Volunteer Reserve.

Liang fights in the First Battle of Changsha. He is wounded in the shoulder but survives.

Krystyna joins the ZWZ (Union of Armed Struggle) in secret.

Jimmy completes flight training and is posted to No. 609 Squadron.

Dunkirk evacuation begins. Harry, part of the rearguard, is captured by German forces.

609 Squadron converts to Spitfires. Jimmy writes home about "the most beautiful machine ever built by man."

France signs armistice with Germany. Antoine is in the army medical corps.

Evelyn learns through the War Office that Harry is a POW, but his exact camp address is unclear.

Jimmy marries Rose in a brief ceremony in Bristol. They have six weeks together.

The Blitz begins. London is bombed for the first of 56 consecutive nights.

Battle of Britain Day. Jimmy writes this letter before dawn. He is shot down at 14:23.

Rose receives the letter from Jimmy's commanding officer.

Evelyn writes this letter by candlelight in the basement during a raid. Cannot send it without Harry's address.

Diana Armstrong is born. Rose names her after the moon — "because he always flew toward it."

Antoine returns to his medical practice in Lyon. Joins the Voile du Nord resistance network.

Kenji enters the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima.

The worst raid of the Blitz — over 1,400 killed. The next night, the bombing stops.

Operation Barbarossa begins. Karl is sent to the Eastern Front.

Operation Barbarossa begins. Dmitri is conscripted into the Red Army.

The Second Battle of Changsha. Liang's unit is decimated. He is promoted to sergeant for bravery.

Australia declares war on Japan. Colin enlists in the Australian Imperial Force.

The Third Battle of Changsha begins. Japanese forces cross the Miluo River.

Liang writes this letter by moonlight on scrap paper. He knows the morning counterattack will be his last.

Liang is killed by machine-gun fire while holding the bridge approach. Changsha is secured by Chinese forces on January 15.

Bobby enlists after Pearl Harbor. Chooses paratroopers because "the pay is better."

Krystyna becomes a Home Army courier, smuggling documents across Occupied Poland.

Lin Mei receives the letter, delivered by a soldier who walked 600 miles from Hunan to Chongqing.

The Battle of Stalingrad begins. Karl's unit is encircled in the city.

German 6th Army reaches Stalingrad. The bombing begins.

Dmitri is ferried across the Volga into the burning city. Assigned to 284th Rifle Division.

Dmitri writes this letter by the light of a burning building near the Red October factory.

Germans occupy Vichy France. Resistance work becomes far more dangerous.

Dmitri is killed by a German machine-gun while crossing a workshop floor.

Operation Uranus begins. Soviet counter-offensive encircles the German 6th Army.

German forces at Stalingrad surrender. Karl is taken prisoner.

German 6th Army surrenders at Stalingrad.

Natasha receives the letter from Dmitri's fellow soldier.

Haruo enters the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Shigeko gives him a ribbon for good luck.

Antoine writes this letter from a safehouse in Lyon, hiding it in a hollow book.

Antoine arrested by Gestapo during a raid. Taken to Montluc Prison.

Bobby marries Maggie at St. Cecilia's Church, Brooklyn. They have three days together before he ships out.

Colin and Irene marry in Newcastle. They have two weeks together before he ships out.

Deported to Auschwitz on Convoy No. 61.

Italy surrenders to the Allies. Giovanni joins the local partisan brigade in Lazio.

Bobby assigned to 101st Airborne, 506th PIR, ships to England for training.

Hannah writes this letter, unaware Karl has already been captured.

Italy declares war on Germany. Partisan activity intensifies across the region.

Hannah dies in a bombing raid on Berlin. The letter is entombed in the wall.

The first Allied assault on Monte Cassino begins.

Antoine dies at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The monastery is bombed. Giovanni writes this letter in the hills above Cassino.

Giovanni is captured by German forces during a supply mission.

Giovanni is executed by firing squad at dawn.

Lucia receives the letter, smuggled out by the medic.

Kenji transferred to air unit, begins flight training.

Polish forces capture Monte Cassino. The road to Rome is open.

Bobby writes this letter from his Nissen hut at Upottery Airfield, Devon.

Bobby boards his C-47. The invasion is postponed one day due to weather.

D-Day. Bobby's C-47 is hit by flak over Utah Beach at 00:45 AM. The plane explodes.

Warsaw Uprising begins at 17:00 (W-Hour). Krystyna serves as medic in Wola district.

Krystyna writes this letter in a cellar during a lull in the fighting.

Krystyna is killed by shrapnel while pulling a wounded fighter to cover.

Douglas Simper is born. Colin receives the news by telegram while training in Queensland.

Warsaw Uprising surrenders. The city is systematically destroyed.

Thomas Robert Sullivan is born. Maggie names him after his father.

Marco Jr., now 27, is killed fighting as a partisan — exactly 27 years after his father, at the same age.

First organized kamikaze attacks begin at Leyte Gulf.

Elena dies of grief. The letter is found in her hands.

Kenji and Yuki marry in a small Shinto ceremony in Nagasaki.

Haruo volunteers for the Special Attack Units. He does not tell Shigeko what this means.

Kenji assigned to the Kikusui special attack unit at Kanoya Air Base.

Kenji writes his final letters and death poem.

Kikusui No. 1 operation. Kenji takes off, shot down 30 miles from Okinawa.

Haruo and Shigeko are married at 11 PM in a brief ceremony. They have four hours together.

Harry is liberated from Stalag XX-A by advancing Soviet forces.

Colin deploys to Borneo with the 26th Brigade Group.

Haruo flies his final mission. He writes this letter before takeoff. He is 21 years old.

Harry returns to London. He and Evelyn are reunited at Paddington Station.

Shigeko receives the letter, his sword, and a lock of his hair.

Colin writes his last letter to Irene. He tells her about Douglas, the jungle, the leeches.

Colin is shot while recovering a wounded soldier. He saves the man's life.

Colin dies of his wounds in a field hospital. He is 26 years old.

Irene receives the telegram. She does not open it for three hours.

Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Yuki survives in a countryside temple.

Daughter Sakura is born.

Jan receives the letter at a displaced persons camp in Germany.

Ikuhisa is born on Christmas Day. Haruo's memorial service is held the same day.

Ikuhisa dies in Shigeko's arms at eleven months old.

Karl is released from Soviet captivity and returns to Berlin. He finds Hannah's name on a memorial.

Liesbeth dies at 73. The letter is found in her Bible, where she had kept it for 44 years.

Edith retires from medical practice. She has treated over 30,000 patients in her career.

Mehmet dies in his sleep. He is buried on the hill above his village, facing east toward Çanakkale.

Margaret dies at 84. The letter is found in her belongings and donated to the Imperial War Museum.

Jack dies in his sleep, aged 85. The biscuit tin of letters passes to Mary.

Zen dies at 91. She is buried with a single letter from Frederick — the first one he ever wrote her.

Edith dies at home in Islington, aged 93. Her VAD badge is pinned to her pillow.

Madeleine testifies at the trial of Klaus Barbie in Lyon.

The letters are rediscovered in the museum archives and published for the first time.

Irene donates the letters to the Australian War Memorial on Anzac Day.

The letter is discovered during renovations. Karl is located and reunited with Hannah's words.

Evelyn dies at 86. Her daughter discovers the unsent letter in "Mrs. Dalloway."

The letter is catalogued at the British Library, India Office Records.

Irene dies at 82. She is buried with Colin's photograph and his last letter.

Shigeko donates the letter to the Chiran Peace Museum on the 60th anniversary of the war's end.

Rose dies at 85. The letter is donated to the RAF Museum.

The letter is discovered in a Berlin attic and traced to Henri's granddaughter.

Claire Dubois receives the letter at a ceremony in Berlin, 91 years after it was written.

Maggie dies at 85. Her ashes are interred beside Bobby at Normandy American Cemetery.

Shigeko dies at age 89. Her ashes are scattered in the Pacific near Haruo's crash site.

Amar's great-grandson discovers the letter and publishes it.

Zen donates all 42 letters and 15 postcards to Birmingham Museum.

Antoine and Colette marry in the village church. The wheat is waist-high in the fields.

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Zoran, a reservist, is called up immediately.

Germany mobilizes for war. Klaus, a theology student at Munich, volunteers for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry.

Germany mobilizes for war. Johannes Richter, a professor of classical literature at Heidelberg University, volunteers for military service.

Germany declares war on Russia. Dmitri, a university-educated landowner from Tver, is commissioned as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army.

Mobilization order. Antoine leaves the farm in Colette's hands. He has been married 21 days.

Germany declares war on France. David enlists in the 152nd Infantry Regiment.

Britain declares war on Germany. Thomas, a farmhand, enlists in the 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry.

Britain declares war on Germany. Angus, a crofter's son and village piper, enlists in the Cameron Highlanders.

Johannes writes his first letter to Elfriede from training camp. He jokes about a classics professor learning to march in straight lines.

Antoine writes his letter in bivouac east of Meaux. The crickets are singing.

First Battle of the Marne begins. Antoine is killed in the morning assault.

Rachel and the children flee Alsace as German forces advance. They arrive in Paris.

Colette receives the letter. The farm has 40 acres of wheat to harvest.

The 121st Reserve Regiment is deployed to Flanders. Johannes marches through Belgium.

Dmitri marries Natasha in a small Orthodox ceremony. They have three weeks together before he is deployed to Galicia.

Klaus arrives at the front near Ypres. He writes his first letter home describing the horror of trench warfare.

Pieter Van Der Waals writes "The Belgian Last Stand" to Liesbeth Van Der Waals from Yser River, Belgium

Johannes writes this letter, his last, two days before the attack. He meditates on Homer, war, and love.

Johannes is killed at Langemarck, part of the wave of German student volunteers cut down by machine-gun fire.

Johannes Richter writes "The Professor's Letters" to Elfriede Richter from Langemarck, Belgium

Angus marries Fiona MacLeod in the village church. They have one week together before he ships out to France.

Christmas Eve. The guns fall silent. German soldiers begin singing "Stille Nacht." British soldiers respond with "Silent Night."

Christmas Day. Klaus meets British soldier William Marchant in no man's land. William shows him a photograph of his sister, Alice. Klaus falls in love. He writes this letter by candlelight that night.

Klaus Weber writes "The Christmas Truce Letter" to Alice from Ypres, Belgium

Klaus is killed during a trench raid near Ypres. His kit is searched, and the letter is found unsent.

Klaus's commanding officer reads the letter and, rather than disposing of it, keeps it among his personal papers. It is never sent to Alice.

Jean-Luc Moreau writes "If I Should Fall" to Claire Dubois from Ypres, Belgium

Jack Gallagher enlists in the Australian Imperial Force in Sydney. He is a stockman from rural New South Wales.

Jack O'Brien writes "The Cliffs of Gallipoli" to Mary O'Brien from Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey

Second Battle of Artois begins at dawn. David writes his letter and is killed by noon.

David Lévy writes "The French Jewish Soldier" to Rachel Lévy from Artois, France

Rachel receives the letter in Paris.

Angus writes to Fiona with the news that she is expecting a child. He is overjoyed.

Mehmet Çavuş writes "For This Soil, For Home" to Ayşe Hanım from Gallipoli Peninsula, Çanakkale

Thomas proposes to Emily by the river where they first met as children. She says yes.

Harry Cromie enlists in the Grenadier Guards at the age of 18. He is commissioned as a second lieutenant.

The night before the Battle of Loos. Angus writes this letter in the trenches, knowing the assault is imminent.

The Battle of Loos begins at dawn. Angus goes over the top playing "The Flowers of the Forest." He is killed by machine-gun fire.

Angus MacKenzie writes "The Piper of the Scots" to Fiona MacKenzie from Loos, France

Combined Central Powers offensive against Serbia begins. The Serbian Army is outnumbered three to one.

Fiona receives the letter and Angus's shattered bagpipes, delivered by a comrade who recovered them from the field.

The Great Retreat begins. Zoran writes his letter two days into the march.

Zoran Petrović writes "The Serbian Soldier's Promise" to Jelena Petrović from Mojkovac, Montenegro

Zoran dies of hypothermia and starvation in the Albanian mountains. Letter found in his hand.

Fiona gives birth to a son. She names him Angus.

Dmitri writes Natasha from the Carpathian front. He describes the snow and says he dreams of their orchard every night.

Frederick Key writes "My Darling Zen" to Zen Hall from Guillemont, France

Havildar Amar Singh writes "Letters Across the Indus" to Priya Devi from Kut, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)

Harry meets Vera Vereker at a party in London. He writes in his diary: 'Met the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.'

The Brusilov Offensive begins. Dmitri writes this letter at dawn, knowing his regiment will assault the Austro-Hungarian lines at Lutsk.

Henri Dubois writes "I Never Got to Say Goodbye" to Marie Dubois from Verdun, France

Dmitri Volkov writes "The Russian Snow" to Natasha Volkov from Lutsk, Ukraine

Dmitri is killed by shellfire at his command post. His orderly retrieves the letter and his wedding ring.

Thomas and Emily are married at 8:00 AM at St. Mary's Church, Albert. He reports for duty at noon and goes over the top at 2:30 PM. Killed at approximately 2:45 PM.

Thomas Fletcher writes "The Boy Who Died on His Wedding Day" to Emily Fletcher from Albert, France

Emily receives the letter and the death telegram in the same post.

Emily buries Thomas in her wedding dress. She does not take it off for three days.

William Clarke writes "My Dearest Margaret" to Margaret Clarke from Somme, France

Jack is wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel during the Battle of Fromelles, one of the worst days in Australian military history.

Harry is promoted to captain at 19 — one of the youngest in the regiment. He is deployed to France.

Jack arrives at the Étaples hospital complex. He is assigned to the ward where Molly Sinclair works.

Edith Baker writes "Cups of Tea and Gentle Hands" to Margaret Baker from Étaples, France

Harry gets his last leave. He has five days in London. He intends to propose to Vera but loses his nerve.

Harry writes this letter on the eve of battle near Lesboeufs. He seals the ring in his kit bag.

Harry Cromie writes "The Locket" to Vera Vereker from Lesboeufs, France

Harry is killed leading his company in the attack on German trenches. He is 19 years old.

Jack is discharged from hospital and returned to his unit. He and Molly have exchanged letters for three months.

Vera receives the letter, the locket, and the ring. She never marries Harry, but she never lets go of the letter.

Jack writes this letter from the front lines near Messines. He promises to come back.

Jack Gallagher writes "The Nurse from Étaples" to Margaret 'Molly' Sinclair from Étaples, France

The United States declares war on Germany. James enlists in Boston.

Thomas "Tommy" MacKenzie writes "From the Ridge, with Pride" to Eleanor MacKenzie from Vimy Ridge, France

Jack is killed during the Battle of Messines Ridge. His letter is found in his pocket and posted to Molly.

Molly receives the letter. She reads it in the linen cupboard of the hospital where they met.

Marco Nardi writes "The Baby I Never Held" to Elena Nardi from Caporetto, Italy

The Bolshevik Revolution. Natasha flees Petrograd carrying only the letter and the ring.

James arrives in France with the 26th Infantry Division.

Friedrich Müller writes "Christmas Eve, 1917" to Greta Müller from Verdun, France

James meets Amélie Laurent at a village dance near their training camp. They dance once.

James and Amélie share their first — and only — kiss in the churchyard of her village.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins. James' division is committed to the assault.

James writes this letter proposing marriage. He gives it to his company clerk for safekeeping.

James O'Sullivan writes "The Letter That Crossed an Ocean" to Amélie Laurent from Meuse-Argonne, France

James is killed by a machine-gun bullet near Romagne-sous-Montfaucon.

Amélie receives both letters — James' proposal and the death notification — in the same post.

Armistice. Amélie lights a candle for James in the village church. She does not stop for 73 years.

War ends. Jelena receives official notice that Zoran is presumed dead.

Elfriede publishes "Briefe aus Flandern" (Letters from Flanders). It is praised for its literary and historical value.

Natasha arrives in Paris. She begins a new life as a seamstress.

Jelena begins her pilgrimage along the retreat route. She searches for two months.

The Nazi regime bans and burns "Briefe aus Flandern." Elfriede hides a single copy in the lining of her coat.

Doreen and Gilbert marry in Coventry. Gilbert joins the RAF as a pilot officer.

Thomas is born. Gilbert flies his first solo sortie the same day.

Germany invades Poland. Tadeusz, a Polish Air Force pilot, evacuates his wife and daughter to hiding in Warsaw.

Britain declares war on Germany. Gilbert is deployed to France with No. 1 Squadron.

Britain declares war on Germany. Thomas, a gardener, enlists in the Devon Regiment.

Tadeusz flees to Romania, then France, then England. He is unable to send word to Anna.

Germany invades Norway. Erik, a former national ski champion, reports for duty in white camouflage.

First Naval Battle of Narvik. Erik's unit is deployed to the mountains above the fjord.

Erik writes his letter from a mountain cabin. He describes the beauty of the Northern Lights.

Erik Solberg writes "The Norwegian Ski Soldier" to Ingrid Solberg from Narvik, Norway

Erik is killed by German artillery near Mount Fagernes. His letter is found in his ski jacket.

Ingrid flees to Sweden with Erik's letter. She will not return for five years.

Gilbert's Hurricane is shot down over France. He is listed as missing in action.

Doreen writes the first letter. She will write 1,094 more.

Doreen Wright writes "The Diary That Never Stopped" to Gilbert Wright from Coventry, England

Tadeusz joins No. 303 Squadron RAF, flying Supermarine Spitfires.

Audrey meets Joe at a village dance in Sittingbourne. He asks her to dance. She says yes.

On the eve of the decisive battle, Tadeusz writes his letter, not knowing if his family is alive.

The largest German air assault on England. 303 Squadron shoots down 18 confirmed kills. Tadeusz survives.

Flight Lieutenant James 'Jimmy' Armstrong writes "Above the Clouds" to Rose Armstrong from RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire, England

Tadeusz 'Tadzio' Kowalski writes "The Polish Pilot" to Anna Kowalski from Northolt, England

Evelyn Pearce writes "Through the Blackout" to Captain Henry 'Harry' Pearce from London, England

Mussolini issues ultimatum to Greece. Prime Minister Metaxas responds with "Oxi" (No). War begins.

Nikos deploys to the Pindus Mountains with the Greek II Army Corps.

The Coventry Blitz. Doreen writes through the bombing, sheltering the children.

Nikos writes his letter from a forward position. The Greeks are advancing.

Nikos Stavros writes "The Greek Parting" to Eleni Stavros from Pindus Mountains, Greece

The Warsaw Ghetto is sealed. Samuel and Leah Rosenberg are forced inside with 400,000 others.

The Warsaw Ghetto is sealed. 400,000 Jews are imprisoned behind its walls.

Nikos is killed by an Italian mortar round. His men bury him on the mountain.

Germany invades Greece. The country falls within weeks.

Thomas and Eleanor marry during a brief leave. He is assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division.

Jan is released from internment and joins the Czechoslovak Army in Exile in Britain.

Japan invades the Philippines hours after Pearl Harbor. Miguel's unit is deployed to Bataan.

Sergeant Liang Weiguo writes "The Moon Over Changsha" to Lin Mei from Changsha, Hunan Province, China

The Battle of Bataan begins. Filipino and American forces fall back to the peninsula.

Ilona and István marry in Budapest. Hungary is already at war, but the city still feels safe.

The eve of surrender. Miguel writes his letter by the light of a burning truck. Food and ammunition are gone.

Miguel Santos writes "The Filipino Love Letter" to Maria Santos from Bataan, Philippines

Bataan surrenders. Miguel and his men are taken prisoner. The Death March begins.

Liesbeth begins working with the Dutch-Paris resistance network, hiding British and American airmen in safehouses.

Hal and Rae marry in San Diego. He is a communications officer on a destroyer.

Rachel and the children are arrested during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup. The letter is left with a neighbor.

The Lévy family is deported to Auschwitz. None survive.

The Grossaktion begins. Mass deportations to Treblinka. The Lerner parents are taken in the first week.

The Great Deportation begins. 300,000 Jews are sent to Treblinka. Samuel finds work in a German factory.

Lieutenant Dmitri Volkov writes "The Volga Remembers" to Natasha Volkov from Stalingrad, USSR

Miguel dies at Cabanatuan POW Camp. He is buried in a mass grave.

Germany occupies Vichy France. Étienne joins the Resistance. He is 21.

Audrey and Joe marry at St. Michael's Church, Sittingbourne. He ships out three weeks later.

First armed resistance in the ghetto. David joins the ŻOB.

First armed resistance in the ghetto. Samuel joins the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB).

Rachel is smuggled out of the ghetto through the courthouse passage by Żegota. David stays behind.

Leah is smuggled out of the ghetto to the Aryan side. Samuel insists she go. It is the last time they see each other.

Tadeusz is killed in a training accident over the English Channel. He is buried in Newark-on-Trent, England.

War Office officially presumes Gilbert dead. Doreen refuses to stop writing.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins. German forces enter the ghetto to begin final liquidation.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins. Samuel plays Chopin for the last time. He writes his letter. He is killed.

Samuel Rosenberg writes "The Pianist of the Ghetto" to Leah Rosenberg from Warsaw Ghetto, Poland

David writes this letter from a bunker in the burning ghetto.

David (Dawid) Lerner writes "From the Rubble" to Rachel Lerner from Warsaw Ghetto, Poland

David is killed in the sewers. The letter is smuggled out by Żegota.

The uprising is crushed. German General Jürgen Stroop declares the ghetto destroyed.

Rachel receives the letter, hidden in a loaf of bread brought by the family hiding her.

Dr. Antoine Lefèvre writes "In the Shadows of Lyon" to Madeleine Lefèvre from Lyon, France

István is conscripted into a Hungarian labor battalion. He is sent to the eastern front.

Étienne and Céleste marry in a secret ceremony in a safe house. No photographs, no rings.

Bobby and Rose marry at St. Brendan's Church in Brooklyn. He ships out three months later.

Three years to the day after the first letter, Doreen writes her last letter to Gilbert.

Étienne is captured by the Gestapo while carrying coded messages.

Étienne writes his final letter in Montluc Prison. The guard Karl Weber smuggles it out.

Étienne Mercier writes "The Resistance Courier" to Céleste Mercier from Lyon, France

Étienne is executed by firing squad at dawn. Age 22.

Céleste receives the letter. She continues her Resistance work.

Hannah Weiss writes "A Letter Never Sent" to Karl Weiss from Berlin, Germany

Giovanni Rossi writes "On the Hills of Cassino" to Lucia Rossi from Monte Cassino, Italy

Ilona writes her first letter. She will write another nearly every day for the next ten months.

Liesbeth and Pieter marry in a secret ceremony. They have three months together before she is betrayed.

Sergeant Robert "Bobby" Sullivan writes "The Night Before D-Day" to Margaret "Maggie" Sullivan from Upottery Airfield, Devon, England

Joe's convoy rolls through Sittingbourne at 2 AM. Audrey watches from Snips Hill, waving a white handkerchief.

Thomas writes this letter aboard a transport ship in Southampton harbour.

Thomas Whitaker writes "The Garden We Never Planted" to Eleanor Whitaker from Southampton, England

D-Day. Joe lands on Gold Beach with the Welsh Guards. He survives.

D-Day. Thomas lands on Sword Beach at 7:30 AM.

Bobby parachutes into Normandy on D-Day with the 506th PIR. He survives.

Thomas is killed by a sniper while advancing on Caen.

Audrey writes this letter. She tells Joe about watching his convoy pass in the night.

Audrey Gerrans writes "The D-Day Wife" to Joe Gerrans from Sittingbourne, Kent, England

Joe is wounded near Caen. A piece of shrapnel hits his shoulder. He writes to Audrey from a field hospital.

Krystyna Nowak writes "A City of Ashes and Song" to Jan Nowak from Warsaw, Poland

Liesbeth is arrested after a neighbor reports her to the Gestapo. She is taken to Scheveningen prison.

Liesbeth writes her letter in prison. She bribes guard Jan Koops with her wedding ring to smuggle it out.

Liesbeth van der Meer writes "The Dutch Nurse" to Pieter van der Meer from Amsterdam, Netherlands

Liesbeth is executed by firing squad at Waalsdorpervlakte.

Liberation of Lyon. Céleste is in the crowd.

Bobby jumps into Holland during Operation Market Garden. He survives.

Jan's brigade deploys to Dunkirk to maintain the siege of the German garrison.

Jan writes this letter. He has not heard from Hana since 1939.

Jan Novák writes "The Czech Exile" to Hana Nováková from Dunkirk, France

Jan is killed by German mortar fire near Bray-Dunes. He is 29 years old.

Hal transfers to the newly commissioned USS Lagarto as communications officer.

Eleanor receives the letter, six months after it was written.

The 101st Airborne arrives in Bastogne. The city is surrounded two days later.

Ilona writes her 300th and final letter. She is killed by a Soviet bomb that same night.

Christmas Eve. Bobby writes this letter in a frozen foxhole, sharing a K-ration with two other men.

Ilona Kovács writes "The Hungarian Bride" to István Kovács from Budapest, Hungary

Robert Giordano writes "The Last Christmas" to Rose Giordano from Bastogne, Belgium

Christmas Day. Bobby is killed by a sniper while delivering ammunition. The letter is found frozen in his hand.

Rose receives the letter in Brooklyn. She reads it once. She never reads it aloud again.

István is captured by Soviet forces near Budapest. He does not learn of Ilona's fate.

The Lagarto departs on its second war patrol. Rae is eight months pregnant.

Michael Jensen is born in San Diego. Rae sends word via naval dispatch.

Lieutenant Kenji Yamamoto writes "The Cherry Blossom Winds" to Yuki Yamamoto from Kanoya Air Base, Kyushu, Japan

Hal receives the news at Subic Bay. He writes his last letter.

Harold 'Hal' Jensen writes "The Submarine Man" to Rae Jensen from Subic Bay, Philippines

USS Lagarto is sunk by Japanese depth charges. All 86 hands lost.

Germany surrenders. Hana receives Jan's letter two weeks later. It is her first news of him in six years.

VE Day. Audrey celebrates in the street, but Joe is still in Germany. He returns nine months later.

VE Day. Eleanor plants the first rose in the garden Thomas dreamed of.

Anna learns of her husband's death through the Red Cross. She receives his letter months later.

Leah recovers the letter from the rubble. She opens the jar and reads his words for the first time.

Haruo Araki writes "Four Hours as Husband and Wife" to Shigeko Araki from Chiran Air Base, Kagoshima, Japan

Rae receives Hal's letter. She also receives the telegram declaring him missing.

Colin Simper writes "The Australian Jungle" to Irene Simper from Tarakan, Borneo, Indonesia

Ingrid returns to Narvik. The city is in ruins. She rebuilds.

Jose Ramos delivers the letter to Maria. She plants a mango tree.

Japan surrenders. Hal is officially declared dead.

Joe comes home. He walks through the front door on Valentine's Day. Audrey bursts into tears.

Madame Dubois finds the letter in her Bible and contacts surviving relatives in New York.

István returns to Budapest and finds the box of 300 letters in the ruins of their apartment.

The Communist coup in Czechoslovakia. Hana flees to Canada, carrying Jan's letter.

Rachel emigrates to Israel. She carries the letter in her belongings.

Leah immigrates to the newly established State of Israel. She donates the letter to Yad Vashem in 1965.

Rose enters the Sisters of Mercy convent. She takes the name Sister Rose Mary.

Krysia Kowalski becomes the first woman pilot for LOT Polish Airlines.

Colette dies in the farmhouse. The letter hangs on the kitchen wall.

Jelena dies at 76. The letter is found over her heart.

Natasha dies in Paris at 84. The letter and ring are donated to the Russian Émigré Archive.

Molly dies in Edinburgh at 79. The letter is found in her nurse's uniform pocket, preserved since 1917.

Fiona dies at 81. Young Angus plays "The Flowers of the Forest" at her funeral.

The letter and the pipes are donated to the Cameron Highlanders Museum in Inverness.

Emily dies at 84. The letter is found under her pillow, still smelling faintly of her perfume.

Amélie, now 87, is interviewed by a local historian. She still wears the locket.

Vera dies at 91. She gives the locket to her granddaughter on her deathbed.

Leah dies in Tel Aviv. Her gravestone reads: 'She carried his song home.'

Amélie dies at 91. The locket is buried with her.

Erzsébet donates the letters to the Hungarian National Museum, where they remain today.

Jan Koops dies. His daughter finds the letter and returns it to the van der Meer family.

Emma van der Meer plants the tulip garden — on Liberation Day, 50 years after the Netherlands was freed.

Ingrid dies. The letter hangs above her fireplace, exactly where she placed it fifty years earlier.

Joe dies on the 53rd anniversary of D-Day. The last thing he says is: 'Did she wave?'

Rae donates Hal's letters to the Naval Historical Center.

A Heidelberg graduate student discovers a copy of the book in the university archive. It is republished in 2000.

Doreen dies at 95. The letters are discovered in the attic.

Maria dies at 95. The mango tree still stands in the yard of the Santos family home.

Hana dies in Toronto at age 87. The letter is buried with her.

Jan's family donates the letter to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.

Letters to Gilbert is published. Proceeds fund an RAF widows scholarship.

Céleste dies at 87. The letter is read at her funeral.

Eleni dies at 101. The letter is found in her belongings and donated to the War Museum of Athens.

The letter is discovered by Vera's other granddaughter, Sarah, in a box of old family papers.

Sarah brings the letter to the Antiques Roadshow. The story goes viral. The letter is acquired by the Guards Museum.

The centenary of Antoine's death. The letter is displayed at the Musée de la Grande Guerre.

The letter is discovered in the German military archives by an archivist preparing a centenary exhibition on the Christmas Truce.

The letter is displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London. Alice's granddaughter reads it aloud at Ypres Cathedral on Christmas Eve.

The letter is published in 'Letters from the Storms: Chinese Voices from the War of Resistance 1937-1945' on the 70th anniversary of the war's end.

Rachel dies at 91. The letter is donated to Yad Vashem.

Rose dies on Christmas Day, exactly 74 years after Bobby's death. She is 96.

Linda publishes the letters. The world falls in love with Audrey and Joe.

The family donates the letter to the 101st Airborne Museum at Bastogne on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.