After heavy fights at the east front the first paratrooper front is transferred in 1943 to Avignon. When soldier Karl Christiansen is insured during a test parachute jump, he is brought to the war hospital, where Oberleutnant Reiter goes to see him. Both meet the lovely nurse Inge, whom Karl pleases. But before they get the chance to confess their love to each other, the division is transferred to Sicily. Lots civilians search shelter in the world-famous monastery Monte Cassino. There Karl and Oberleutnant Reiter meet Inge again, who had been transferred to that monastery. But the old ruins become the centre of the dramatic fighting and the individual fates go under in one of the greatest material battles of World War II…