Julie Harris is working in London's East End as a midwife when a bombing raid destroys her family. All she has left is her motherless baby nephew William. Determined to uphold her promise to keep William safe until his father, Bill, returns from war, she accepts a post as a midwife in Cliffehaven. Here they are taken in by the Reilly family at the Beach View boarding house. But all too soon Julie learns that Bill is 'missing in action' and William falls dangerously ill. As she begins the vigil by William's bedside, she fears she will lose the boy she has grown to love as her own ...