Comedy about three chaps who have stayed behind in a sleepy English village during the First World War, earning them the reputation of being cowards among the local women. However, while one of them is keen to avoid the conflict, another is unable to fight for medical reasons - and the third is simply too dumb to understand what's going on.

News arrives that the first Rittle man has died in battle, prompting Bert to make a move on his widow. George, meanwhile, faces a moral dilemma at work.

The boys are immediately suspicious when, out of the blue, a pretty girl named Penny asks Cecil to be her boyfriend. Maybe, just maybe, she thinks Cecil is a catch. Or, she's got an ulterior motive.

With so few men around, Cecil becomes paranoid that he is being systematically emasculated. Outraged, he decides to take matters into his own hands and prove his manhood once and for all.

Cecil is horrified to learn that George has invited the village leper over for dinner, and he's even more horrified when the village leper stands them up.

The soldiers are back on leave, which means Cecil, George and Bert finally have some other men to talk to.