1914. Mining engineer Tommy Birch goes off to war, leaving his new wife Rita behind in Pontefract. On the front line, Tommy runs afoul of a German mine and is reported as missing, presumed deceased by his fellow soldiers. But Tommy isn't dead.

Found behind enemy lines, wearing only a pair of boots stolen from a dead German, Tommy is picked up by the enemy who believe him to be one of their own. He spends weeks recuperating in a German military hospital, where he meets, and quickly falls in love with, a nurse named Anna Kohler who tends him back to health.

Meanwhile, back in Pontefract, Rita is living with Tommy's family when she receives notification that Tommy has been killed in action. But his body still hasn't been found, and Rita never gives up hope that Tommy is out there somewhere, so great is her love for him.

Will Rita ever be reunited with Tommy, or is she destined to spend a lifetime wondering if her husband is still alive?