In the early days of the Second World War, Lieutenant Jim Perry (David Niven) does his strenuous best to turn a bunch of grumbling ex-civilians into soldiers, earning himself their intense dislike.  Eventually however, the men come to respect their officer.  After their training is completed, their battalion is shipped out to North Africa to face Rommel's Afrika Korps.   However, their ship is torpedoed en route, and they miss the fighting.  They are assigned to guard a small town.  Perry appropriates a cafe as his headquarters, much to the disgust of the pacifist owner, Rispoli (Peter Ustinov).   When the Germans attack, Perry and his men fiercely defend their positions.  The last scene shows them advancing in a counter-attack.  Instead of the film ending with the words "The End", it concludes with the more uplifting "The Beginning", an attempt to galvanise support for the final push in the war effort.