The young and patriotic student Demachy joins the French army in 1914 to defend his country. But he and his comrades soon experience the terrifying, endless trench war in Champagne, where more and more wooden crosses have to be erected for this cannon fodder.
A sporty and chivalrous young man creates, with some comrades, a society whose goal is to protect honest people against rogues. He finds himself thrown into unforeseen adventures, at the end of which he will discover love.
An opera singer travelling with her company on a passenger ship encounters a mysterious young man who she falls in love with.
