It's the height of the Blitz. Night after night, wave after wave of German bombers pound London streets determined to bring the city to its knees.

Alan and his best mates, Tommy and Wikie, have virtually given up going to school. Classes are continually disrupted. Many of the teachers, dragged out of retirement because of the war, hardly care whether their pupils learn. Some days there are silences at school registration - names of children injured or killed by falling bombs.

As Alan and his friends roam the streets of Clapham and Brixton, they get sucked into the world of...