In this prequel to the 'Sergeant Tom' series, set in 1939/40, Sergeant Tom Lane and his long-time comrade, George Parry, are with the British Expeditionary Force in France. When the German Army sweeps through Belgium and France in May 1940, they are soon fighting for their survival, along the bloody roads that lead to Dunkirk. Caught up in the irresistible force of the invasion, and enduring action after action, they battle their way through to the fire-swept beaches where their salvation may lie.