It is Christmas and their is much dissension in the Ashton family. An incendiary bomb has landed on the roof, revealing amongst the wreckage caused in the bedroom, a copy of Jean's Mothers will, which upsets Edwin. Jean is furious with him for signing papers allowing Robert to go to sea. Freda is unsure of her feelings for Owen who has arrived for Christmas, Tony comes home on leave and finds Sefton ill with flu and more difficult than usual. Margaret is finding the strain of the situation unbearable. The episode is mainly about the changes the war is causing in the family.