May 1940. Sergeant Jack Tanner has been posted to a training company on the south-east coast of England. But all is not well in the camp. As the Germans launch their Blitzkrieg in Europe, Tanner and the entire company are thrust into the thick of the action and find that they must find their way back to Allied lines. Soon enmeshed in the long withdrawal to the French coast, Tanner, Sykes and their new platoon commander, find themselves pitted against the great panzer commander himself, General Rommel.