A troop train is halted by a bombing on the battlefields of WWI France. Paul, a French soldier, takes advantage of the opportunity to visit his village and see his parents. His sergeant gives him an hour to do so. Meeting his mother in the village church, he discovers that his fiancee is not living with her anymore. In fact, she works in a soldiers' tavern, where the owner is pursuing her. She has no interest in seeing Paul anymore, because he never wrote to her after leaving for battle. In fact, Paul's mother has been hiding her son's letters from her.

En 1918, pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, à la suite d'une attaque allemande, un transport de troupes est bloqué à proximité d'un village. Paul, un jeune soldat né dans ce village, profite des deux heures nécessaires à la réparation de la voie pour déserter et rendre visite à ses parents et à sa fiancée dont il est sans nouvelle. Mais Marie n'est plus là...