This is the epic true story of George Stalnaker & Simone de Cruzel.
George Stalnaker was an American World War II pilot forced to parachute out of his crippled B-26 bomber behind enemy lines after destroying the last bridge the Nazis could use to reinforce troops at Normandy.
Simone de Cruzel was a member of the French Resistance & spy for Britain with the code name of “Sister.” After her identity was compromised, she was captured by the Gestapo, imprisoned, & put on Death Row.
Managing to survive, meet, & fall in love, they may have been born worlds apart but were alike in one important way – heroism was in their DNA!
Excerpt
Some call it a “Winter Playground” while others refer to it as a “Summer Playground.” They’re all correct. The operative word is “Playground.” The sun-splashed French Riviera, also known as the “Côte d’Azur” or “Azure Coast,” is more than 115 kilometers (71 miles) of picturesque paradise in southern France. The city names evoke romance – Cannes, Nice, and Saint-Tropez. The air temperature ranges from a moderate 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit) on average in the winter to a balmy 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer.
In July and August, the water stays at about 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) while the sun shines an average of 300 days of the year. You can walk right into the ocean without feeling a chill or you might choose, instead, to sit and sip Bordeaux on the balcony of one of the luxury hotels and simply watch the aristocrats, politicians, actors and actresses, artists, playwrights, millionaires, and European royalty on their yachts. Maybe you’ll want to lounge at an outdoor café and plan an evening at a casino or nightclub.
In the 1920’s and 1930’s, France was a country of individualism, surrealism, materialism and plenty of other “isms” that influenced world culture. The Charleston, shimmy, cabaret, and jazz clubs were the rage as Josephine Baker scandalized the nation by dancing in scantily-clad outfits. Money and champagne flowed freely. In Riviera high society, gentlemen were expected to wear morning dress and evening tails with opera cloaks. The women were adorned in custom-made gowns, carried fancy parasols, and accessorized with the finest furs and jewels. There were parties before major social events and, of course, parties afterwards. Perhaps whole rounds of parties if you were well-connected.
Born into this upper-class, privileged lifestyle on August 6, 1920, Simone de Cruzel fit right in. She enjoyed skiing in the French Alps, boating and snorkeling in the Mediterranean, and cavorting on the beaches of the Riviera with friends such as Prince Ranier III of Monaco, son of the Duke and Duchess of Valentinois. The Prince later married American film star Grace Kelly in a wedding capturing the world’s attention and producing a media frenzy.
One of Simone’s many prized possessions was a sky blue sports car that she received for her birthday. She loved to drive the convertible as fast as she could with the top down and her long light brown hair flowing in the breeze. The electric hair dryer had yet to be invented which was not a problem at all for her because she really didn’t need one. Following her favorite route on the steep, twisting mountain that overlook the pristine ocean, she tested her beloved car’s acceleration and handling. It passed the test every time.
A Horse Calvary Officer in World War I, her father Etienne was a judge and member of the Provincial Supreme Court. As you would expect, he had a stern demeanor and was a strict disciplinarian so Simone and her sisters, Jacqueline and Monique, learned to live within boundaries and limits. They weren’t going to do anything to embarrass their father, one of the most respected members of the community.
There were times when her parents, particularly her father, felt they had to remind the girls of the family rules. When he wanted to intimidate them, he’d grab one of them by the hair or gather his sabers and swords and put them around his place at the dinner table. Both acts managed to get their attention.
Marie-Ange, their mother, was known as a sophisticated and cultured woman. The family lived in Nice in a luxury apartment building they owned about two blocks from the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean. Their huge courtyard was frequently used to host parties and other social gatherings. It was as close to an idyllic existence as can be imagined.
That life quickly changed as Nazi Swastikas blighted the landscape of most of Europe during World War II in one of the darkest periods of human history. The continent was in shambles with many cities reduced to rubble as destruction occurred on an enormous scale. Acts of unprecedented cruelty were taking place that make the most frightening scenes depicted in horror movies seem tame. France fell on June 22, 1940.
Although just 19 years old, Simone joined the struggle to free her country from its occupiers by becoming a spy for the British and taking to the streets with a rifle in hand as a member of the Resistance. After many successful missions, her identity was compromised and she was captured by the Gestapo, imprisoned, and put on Death Row. Suffering through torture and starvation, she awoke every morning for months wondering if this day would be her last.
In contrast to the French Riviera, few people have referred to the state of Iowa as a “playground” of any sort. The climate is less than ideal with an average annual temperature of 49.9 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius.) Typically, 134 days of the year are below freezing. There are 164 cloudy days and 97 partly cloudy days per year. That doesn’t leave many more for sunshine. The mean annual snowfall is over 33 inches. The city names are not known for evoking romance - Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Davenport. The tallest mountain is Hawkeye Point, reaching an elevation of just 1,670 feet (509 meters.) Frankly not much of a tourist attraction, it’s more of a hill than a mountain. If you wanted to spend a day at the beach, you’d have quite a drive because the coastline is pretty far away. You certainly won’t find many members of royalty in Iowa.
The seat of Polk County and the capital of the state, Des Moines is the perfect definition of “Middle America.” Located 1,551 miles (2,496 kilometers) from Los Angeles and 1,159 miles (1,865 kilometers) from Boston, the city would eventually become a center for the insurance industry and a national focus of attention as home to the first American presidential primary caucuses every four years. Iowa is best known for being America’s top corn-producing state, generating 2.3 billion bushels on 12.6 million acres of land.
Born the son of a minister named Luther who preached at the Des Moines Congregationalist United Church of Christ and his wife Margaret, George Winfield Stalnaker had a fraternal twin sister Josephine. It was before the days of ultra-sound imaging so they were surprised on May 23, 1917 when she emerged after George. Exhausted, Margaret asked the doctor, “Are there any more?” She was relieved to hear him say, “No, that’s it!” They went on to have a second son named Howard on June 6, 1919. The children were all born at home at 3103 University Ave. House calls were made in the case of approximately 95% of all births at the time.
The preacher’s kids were very polite but full of mischief as they went wading in the baptismal font, soaping windows of homes, and tipping over outhouses.
George’s favorite expression would turn out to be, “By golly!” while continually pushing his glasses back up on his nose as they fell down. It was reminiscent of a Jimmy Stewart movie. In fact, George, with his dark brown hair and hazel eyes, resembled the thin, athletic-looking Stewart. You say the words, “American World War II pilot” and you immediately picture someone who looked like him.
During George’s early childhood in the 1920’s, the U.S. stock market was on an historic run that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average increase tenfold in value. The exuberance was evident in economist Irving Fisher’s prediction the day before the market crash that “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”
The “Roaring Twenties” ceased its roar on “Black Friday,” October 24, 1929. The market lost 11% of its value by the opening bell and the slide continued with a drop of nearly 13% on “Black Monday” and 12% on “Black Tuesday.” The “Great Crash” ushered in “The Great Depression” which lasted for the next decade. Industrial production dropped by 46% and international trade by 70%. Although it originated in America, the “Great Depression” had global impact as the world’s Gross Domestic Product fell 15% by 1932. The stock market did not return to its September 3, 1929 peak of 381 until November 23, 1954.
U.S. President Herbert Hoover indicated the economic crisis was “just a passing incident in our national lives” and urged people to be patient and not rely on the federal government for assistance. By 1933, nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. Of the 52 million people in the work force, close to 13 million of them had lost their jobs, an all-time high rate of over 25%. Some of the unemployment rates in American cities were staggering, such as 80% in Toledo, Ohio and 90% in Lowell, Massachusetts. Shantytowns consisting of makeshift cardboard box and scrap wood homes were sarcastically called “Hoovervilles.” The “Great Depression” described not just the economic downturn but the mood of the country. People were in no frame of mind to worry about the problems in Europe, thousands of miles away in distance and thought. They saw in newsreels or listened on the radio to the dreadful things happening but the most common response was, “Hey, we’ve got our own problems to worry about.” News about the German atrocities taking place in death camps was buried deep in the pages of American newspapers.
With the country mired in the Great Depression, the American public grew increasingly dissatisfied with President Herbert Hoover’s hands-off economic policies and was ready to look to the federal government for leadership. In accepting the Democratic Party nomination in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt pledged “A New Deal for the American people.”
After graduating from Harvard University, Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School and began working for the firm of Carter, Ledyard, and Milburn. At age 28, he was elected State Senator from New York’s 26th District, which had been held by Republicans for 32 years.
He served only a few months of his second term when President Woodrow Wilson named him Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He was on the national ticket for Vice-President in 1920 but he and Presidential candidate and Ohio Governor James Cox lost to Warren Harding and
Calvin Coolidge. Roosevelt was then elected New York’s Governor in 1928, serving for four years.
The President delivered his inauguration speech on March 4, 1933 declaring, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He claimed he would “wage a war against the emergency as though we were invaded by a foreign foe.” His speech resonated with the American people who were confident they had elected someone willing to take bold action. Over the next eight years, he put a massive government stimulus program into action.
Putting people back to work buoyed consumer confidence and gave Americans a sense of optimism. The role of the federal government was re-defined as initiator of massive social programs. Where did the money come from? FDR took the dangerous gamble of gutting the defense budget, leaving the country to pursue its isolationist stance out of necessity.
In the meantime, young George Stalnaker rose early before school every day and shoveled coal into downtown church furnaces to earn a few dollars of spending money. Few American children were fortunate enough to be given an “allowance” during those days.
One of his earliest hobbies was making small clay sculptures and drawings. His mother Margaret bragged to people about how artistic he was, yet George didn’t agree. He made a clay statue of himself that she raved about. George was so displeased with the end result that he broke it and threw it away, which really upset his mother. He was not going to invest time and effort in art or sculpture. George would make his mark on the world in a different way.
After graduating from West Point, he was named a Squadron Commander, flew 35 combat missions, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was piloting a B-26 Marauder twin-engine bomber when it was hit by enemy fire over Nantes, France, losing its right engine. With the left engine failing and the plane rapidly losing altitude, the mission of destroying the last remaining bridge the Germans could use to reinforce their troops at Normandy was completed before the crew was forced to bail out. The aircraft banked sharply, stalled, spun out of control, and exploded upon impact with the ground. Trapped behind enemy lines, he and his flight crew were declared Missing in Action.
Simone De Cruzel and George Stalnaker may have been born worlds apart but they were alike in one important way – heroism was in their DNA. This is the epic true story of how they survived, met, and fell in love.
Book 5, the final story in the Wilderness Series--A marvelous and fantastic journey, enjoy little known history crafted with original, brilliant unforgettable moments, unforgettable characters, and an unforgettable adventure that will keep you shakin
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