Jess and Nancy, nursing in France during the Great War, are very different girls with much in common. Both have lost their lovers in the trenches, so when the war is over, they return to a bleak future, nursing in Liverpool. Very soon, however, their paths diverge. Nancy marries an Australian and goes to live in the Outback, whilst Jess marries a Liverpudlian. Both have children; Nancy's eldest is Pete, and Jess has a daughter, Debbie. When the Second World War is declared, Pete joins the RAF and comes to England, promising his mother that he will visit Jess. In the thick of the Blitz, Pete finds Jess's home destroyed and her daughter missing. Whatever the cost, Pete must find her