Keep the Home Fires Burning

Despite being an older man and father to three young children, 35-year-old Sid Cartwright finds himself called up in the early days of World War II. He joins the 138 Field Ambulance Company and sees action in both Italy and North Africa, including the now famous battles at El Alamein. He bears the hardship and separation bravely, as does his stalwart wife, Ivy, back home in Yorkshire. With her husband away on active duty, she's forced to raise their three children alone, like so many British mothers. As Sid battles the many horrors of combat, Ivy too must endure countless air-raids, the privation of rationing and the dreaded arrival of the telegram boy. And all the while she has to stay strong for her two girls and young Alfie. Keep the Home Fire Burning warmly recounts one ordinary family's struggle to keep heart, soul, body and hope alive in the dark, uncertain days of World War Two.