L'histoire, durant la seconde guerre mondiale, d'un commandant britannique qui emmènera ses troupes dans une série de mésaventures en Europe et dans le nord de l'Afrique.
Des jeunes gens sont appelés sous les drapeaux afin de servir leur pays durant un an. Refusant catégoriquement ce passage obligé, ils vont échafauder de nombreuses combines afin de se faire réformer au plus vite...
1940 - Operation Dynamo has just taken place. From the newly conquered French coastline, a Wehrmacht colonel looks out over the English Channel with powerful binoculars. Surveying the white cliffs of Dover, he spies Godfrey emerging from a lavatory. Godfrey joins the rest of his platoon, who are defiantly waving the Union Flag. The colonel fumes contemptuously, "How can the stupid British ever hope to win?!"
During a thunderstorm in early September 1944, units of the 35th Infantry Division are nearing the town of Nancy, France. One of the division's mechanized reconnaissance platoons receives orders to hold their position while under counterattack from the Germans; the out-numbered platoon are also on the receiving end of mortar fire from their own side.
Larry is a waiter who has just lost his job and his girlfriend. Bill is a flustered husband living off a slip and fall lawsuit settlement. Everett is an inept security guard who was fired after only four days as a police officer. The three are members of the State Military Reserves, although their duties in the reserve consist mostly of drinking and partying at the reserve center once a month.
Cass (Quinlan), Rita (Curtis), Sylvie (Griffith), Virginia (Blanchard) and Yvette (Carmen) are five beautiful Women's Army Corps recruits attached to the United States Army's 3rd Platoon of Alpha Company at Fort Jackson. Although they are raw recruits, their drill sergeant, Sgt. Reed (MacLachlan), sees them as future soldiers. The proposal relates the women's efforts to train to become soldiers while also dealing with their personal problems. During and by the end of their basic training, they discover that a soldier's life is more than a uniform and that strength doesn't always depend on the size of their muscles.
Two US Marines who are so incompetent that they are sent to the European Theatre of Operations end up in the Battle of Anzio where they face the German's giant artillery piece "Anzio Annie".
Upon the United States entry into World War I, the first American units to arrive at the front in France are veteran Marine companies, one of which is commanded by captain Flagg, along with his Lieutenants, Moore and Aldrich. Flagg has developed a romantic relationship with the daughter of the local innkeeper, Charmaine, and resumes their relationship after returning from the front. However, he lies to her and tells her he is married when she wants to come with him on his leave to Paris. Replacements arrive and their lack of discipline and knowledge infuriate the Captain. But he is expecting the arrival of a new top sergeant, who he hopes will be able to train them properly. However, when the sergeant arrives, it is Quirt, Captain Flagg's long time rival, a rivalry which quickly re-ignites.
Will Stockdale (Andy Griffith) is a backward, backwoods rube from outside Callville, Georgia who may or may not be smarter than he looks. Accused by Mr. McKinney (Dub Taylor) the head of the draft board of being a draft dodger, it turns out that Stockdale's draft notices have been hidden from him by his father, who doesn't want the boy to leave home and be ridiculed. His father tells Will to be careful going to big cities like Macon and Atlanta. Pa Stockdale says he has been to those cities many years before and he was ridiculed.
Jinx Roberts (Dick Foran) is a stunt pilot and his assistants are Blackie (Bud Abbott) and Heathcliff (Lou Costello). All three are fired from the carnival and air show that they work for after a disagreement. Jinx decides that he should join the Army Air Corps, so they go to a nightclub to party one last time. While there Jinx falls for the club's singer, Linda Joyce (Carol Bruce). Coincidentally, she becomes a USO hostess at the same Academy that Jinx and her brother Jimmy (Charles Lang) are enrolled at. It turns out that Jinx's instructor, Craig Morrison (William Gargan), was his co-pilot on a commercial airplane years earlier, and the two still hold animosity for each other. Meanwhile, Blackie and Heathcliff join the Air Corps as ground crewman and fall in love with twin USO hostesses (Martha Raye in a dual role).
After serving in Europe during World War II, Herbie Brown (Lou Costello) and Slicker Smith (Bud Abbott) return to the United States aboard a troop ship. Also onboard is their old nemesis, Sgt. Collins (Nat Pendleton). As the ship nears New York, Collins and his superiors search the men's belongings for contraband. A six-year-old French orphan, Evey (Beverly Simmons), whom Herbie and Slicker befriended, is found in Herbie's duffle bag. She is handed over to Lt. Sylvia Hunter (Joan Fulton), who delivers her to immigration officials in New York. However, during a shift change at the office, Evey is mistaken for a neighborhood kid and set free. Meanwhile, Herbie and Slicker are back to their pre-war occupation of peddling ties in Times Square. Collins is also back at his old job--a police officer assigned to the same beat. He is about to arrest the boys when Evey shows up and helps them escape.
Bud Jones (Bud Abbott) and Lou Hotchkiss (Lou Costello) are wrestling promoters. Their star, Abdullah (Wee Willie Davis), no longer wishes to follow the script for their crooked matches, especially since he is supposed to lose his next match. Abdullah leaves America to return to his homeland, Algeria. The promoters' financiers, a syndicate that has lent them $5,000 to bring Abdullah to the States, are now requiring them to return the money or face the consequences. The two men follow Abdullah to Algeria in hopes of bringing him back.
Popular crooner Russ Raymond (Dick Powell) abandons his career at its peak and joins the Navy using his real name, Tommy Halstead. However, Dorothy Roberts (Claire Dodd), a reporter, discovers his identity and follows him in the hopes of photographing him and revealing his identity to the world.