1952. Bill Rohan is 18 and his future lies before him. And perhaps it will be with the pretty girl that he glimpses on her bike as he swims in the river each morning.
Their blossoming relationship is soon thwarted when he is called up to carry out two years military service as an instructor in a training camp for young British soldiers before they set off to fight in the Korean War.
Here Bill forms a friendship with Percy, a practical joker lacking any principles, with whom he plots to knock their bête noire, the uptight and vicious Sergent Major Bradley, off his pedestal.
Both of them manage to forget the confinement and discipline of the camp during rare outings. But will it still be possible for them to meet their soul mate?