Fact1: Evans spurring him to test authority and patience of weak-willed non-commissioned officer, Fact2: O'Rourke dares Evans to place him on disciplinary charge, Fact3: Featherstone insist on being allowed to go to NAAFI to buy cigarettes and Evans ill-advisedly sidekick, Fact4: Walker is prepared to turn blind eye provided, Fact5: himself and Flynn puts O'Rourke on situation guard duty
Output: West Germany, 1954. Lance Bombardier Evans, a sheltered middleclass National Serviceman, is about to be sent back to England to undertake a second attempt at officer training. But first he has to get through one night of guard duty without incident. Evans is in charge of a section of six men detailed to guard an obsolete Bofors Gun at a British military base. It soon becomes clear that none of the section, with the exception of Flynn, have any respect for Evans, guessing rightly that the latter has no enthusiasm and little ability in his role. Gunner ORourke in particular is troublesome and insubordinate, his contempt for Evans spurring him to test the authority and patience of the weakwilled noncommissioned officer NCO. Evans fumbling attempts to engage him in friendly conversation only makes matters worse. The atmosphere grows more tense and ORourke strikes one of the other men, Rowe and then dares Evans to place him on a disciplinary charge but the NCO is too nervously intimidated to do so. ORourke and his sidekick Featherstone insist on being allowed to go to the NAAFI to buy cigarettes and Evans illadvisedly lets them go. ORourke confides to Featherstone that at midnight it will be his 30th birthday and the two decide to go the canteen and start drinking, knowing full well it is forbidden whilst on guard duty. ORourke, having endured a grim childhood and the harsh, unjust punishments of the army for all his adult life, is at breaking point. Drunk and unstable, he tries to kill himself by jumping out of an upper story window but only suffers minor injuries. Evans refuses to report the incident but not out of any genuine concern for ORourke but rather out of fear that it impact on his chances of becoming an officer. Sgt Walker, a much stronger NCO, arrives on a visit only to find Evans has apparently lost control of his section. Walker, aware of Evans lack of experience, is prepared to turn a blind eye to the mess provided Evans disciplines ORourke. Evans refuses, prompting Walker to warn him that when he returns, he will bring the duty officer with him and that Evans had better have his section back in order. An exasperated Flynn tries to convince Evans that he needs to exert some authority and that his attempts to win ORourke over by being lenient will not work. ORourke and Featherstone, drunk and disheveled, finally return. Ignoring Flynns advice to report them, Evans is still convinced he can retrieve the situation himself and he puts ORourke on guard duty. Walker and Lieutenant Pickering arrive for the nightly inspection when Evans is checking on ORourke, still trying to talk him round. ORourke angrily accuses Evans of caring more about his own chances of becoming an officer than he does about the welfare of his own men. Evans admits that this is true, saying that becoming an officer represents his only chance of going home. ORourke threatens to attempt suicide again but Evans is too preoccupied with his own problems to really hear him. Walker orders the section to assemble for inspection and Evans goes back to the guard hut only to be ordered to fetch ORourke. He goes back to the Bofors Gun only to discover that ORourke has stripped to the waist and fatally stabbed himself in the abdomen with a bayonet. Evans angrily kicks ORourkes corpse, knowing that his chances of going back to England are ruined. Walker and Lt Pickering arrive and Evans, now destined to spend the rest of his service in the ranks, has to face the full force of military punishment.