The play charts the fortunes of a group of ATS girls from their arrival as a raw, awkward, ill-assortment of individuals to their passing-out parade as a 'perfectly drilled unit of faceless soldiers', following the shifts and tensions of their personal relationships, the comedy, drama and - in one case - eventual tragedy that occur during their period of training together. The action centres on the girls' barrack room, with small insets in adjacent places.