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Kate, Sally, Maxine and Elsie work at Priddy's Hard, the great naval armament depot on the shores of Portsmouth Harbour. The hours are long and the work difficult and dangerous; the women who work here are routinely handling cordite, shells, torpedoes and bombs. But even in the dark days of World War II they still find time to enjoy themselves. There are ENSA concerts in the canteen and hops in the local drill hall, while Canadian and American soldiers flood into the streets of the garrison town, giving ample opportunity for flirtation and romance.However, beneath the careless laughter each girl nurses a secret. Kate is terrified that she carries a jinx, while Maxine has discovered a family secret which turns her bitterly against both her parents. Elsie is still grieving over the loss of her son Graham, killed in the Blitz. And spirited young Sally has lied about her age to gain admission to the Hard, risking another kind of danger amongst the gunpowder and the shells.Each faces a dilemma that will be resolved only after D-Day in June 1944. What happens then brings each woman face to face with her own strengths and failings and, ultimately, her own destiny.