In 1941, the Republic of Ireland as part of an effort to remain strictly neutral, maintained a POW camp housing American, Canadian, British, and German soldiers from downed planes or wrecked boats about 25 miles from Dublin. Any soldier would be interned for the duration of the war. What the Irish failed to tell was that they would intern everybody in the same camp. In this story, Miles Keough, a Canadian pilot and POW and Count Rudolph von Stegenbek, a German POW and flier who shot down Keough meet in this camp after a fight in which both their planes were downed. Because the Irish allow their inmates to go to town on passes, they can visit pubs, see horse races, and mingle with the locals. Then, Keough and Stegenbek both fall in love with the same woman and become rivals for the affections of Mattie Guerin, an independent Irishwoman who refuses to take steps in their private little war.