The story of R.J. Mitchell (Leslie Howard), the man who designed the Spitfire. Told in flashback by Mitchell's philandering test pilot, Jeffrey Quill (David Niven), the film follows Mitchell as he attempts to persuade Whitehall to sponsor the project and struggles to overcome the technical problems on a plane which was to become one of the Allies' most valuable assets during the Second World War. Leslie Howard, the star and director, was later to be shot down and killed when his plane was attacked by the Luftwaffe. This was his last film.

Leslie Howard directs this British comedy drama that follows a group of female soldiers during the Second World War. The film chronicles the training and later employment of an assortment of women who travel to an army camp to become members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. They include the daughter of a serving officer (Joyce Howard), a waitress (Joan Gates), a Czech refugee (Lilli Palmer), an ex-dance teacher (Barbara Waring) and a party girl (Jean Gillie).