Hamish MacDowell, handsome and intelligent, is a school boy in Edinburgh, Scotland. Deciding to lie about his age, he joins the Royal Navy, and is swept into the misery of World War I. When the war is over, Hamish realizes all he knows is life on board ship, and so he transfers to the British Merchant Navy. Half way around the world, his ship berths in the South Pacific and, having found paradise, he decides to "jump ship" in Australia. Soon, he will meet the love of his life, but as an illegal immigrant.