Mid-winter, 1943. Britain is gripped by intense cold and in the darkest days of the war. It is six months before D-Day and the battle to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe.

RAF officer Martin Paget is returning home for Christmas He has been on covert operations in France and knows he has to return there. While in England, he rediscovers a passion that he thought was long over.

In a freezing hut on Salisbury Plain, Sergeant Harris's mind is occupied by questions of just how his young and ebullient wife is coping with their separation. His troops are training for landing on the shores of Normandy.

US officer Harry Miller arrives in Somerset where his American division has set up its headquarters. His affair with an Englishwoman is both bittersweet and potentially dangerous.

Enjoying fishing off the coast of occupied Jersey is German cook sergeant Fred Weber. He believes he has found a sort of peace in the midst of the terrible conflict. But his calm is soon to be shattered as his war takes on a violent twist...

Each man is heading inexorably towards the beaches of France where the great battle will begin...