Douglas Bennett is a pacifist who was mustard-gassed in the First World War. He watches as his son and daughter go off to war, despite the fact that he is a pacifist.
With both children away, he finds solace in unlikely friendships - with Harry Chase's mother Robina, and the young Polish refugee she has reluctantly taken into her home. Douglas' worst fear looks set to become reality when his son Tom finds himself aboard HMS Exeter, a ship which eventually faces German ship the Graf Spee in one of the first major battles of the war.
Desperate for news of Tom, the uncertainty of his son's wellbeing and the haunting horrors of his own experience of battle look set to overwhelm him, until unexpected news from his daughter Lois gives him renewed hope for the future.
