Chris Barker joined the Post Office at 14, working as a messenger boy and then as a counter clerk, becoming an active trade union member. He served as a signalman in North Africa during World War II. Bessie Moore was a colleague of Chris Barker's at the Post Office, before working at the Foreign Office, using her training in Morse code to translate intercepted German radio messages.

Through letters written across continents during World War II, two former co-workers find love

Twenty hours have gone since I last wrote. I have been thinking of you. I shall think of you until I post this, and until you get it. Can you feel, as you read these words, that I am thinking of you now; aglow, alive, alert at the thought that you are in the same world, and by some strange chance loving me.

In September 1943, Chris Barker was serving as a signalman in North Africa when he decided to brighten the long days of war by writing to old friends. One of these was Bessie Moore, a former work colleague. The unexpected warmth of Bessie's reply changed their lives forever. Crossing continents and years, their funny, affectionate, and intensely personal letters are a remarkable portrait of a love played out against the backdrop of World War II. Above all, their story is a stirring example of the power of letters to transform ordinary lives.