This routine Second World War drama finds the normally reliable Dirk Bogarde slightly off-form as a pilot grounded on doctor's orders. His determination to continue flying is deflected momentarily by his love for naval intelligence widow Dinah Sheridan and the disappearance of comrade Bryan Forbes after he's caught tinkering with a code machine. It's all pretty much as you'd expect, but a little more insight into the lives of the air crews would have filled in the gaps left by the absence of flag-waving propaganda.

Wing-commander Tim Mason leads a squadron of Lancaster bombers on almost nightly raids from England. Having flown eighty-seven missions he will shortly be retiring from flying, but the strain is showing. He tries to make sure his men concentrate only on their job and so keeps women away from the base, but then he himself meets naval officer Eve Canyon.