Bomb Girls

Gladys is inspired to organize a fundraiser to support Canadian prisoners of war, but her business-minded parents see in it an opportunity of a different sort. Marco finds out the truth about Lorna’s pregnancy. With Kate unable to get away from her father, Betty takes matters into her own hands.

To offset the disheartening news about the war, Victory Munitions throws a Valentine’s Day party. Gladys gets a Valentine’s surprise in the form of an unexpected visit, Kate plans to skip town but finds she may have left it too late, and matters come to a head between Lorna and Marco.

Drawing on her family’s connections, Gladys tries to help Marco secure the release of his father, who has been detained as an “enemy alien” in an internment camp. But she only ends up making things worse. Betty and Kate attempt to find comfort by going to church, while Vera seeks solace of a different sort.

Lorna hosts a dinner party for her other son, an airman named Gene, who is home on leave to promote war bonds. However, Lorna’s daughter, Sheila, shocks her when she arrives for dinner with an unexpected guest. A citywide blackout allows Gene to make an early exit under cover of darkness, preferring to spend his time with Kate and Gladys instead. As events turn out, they are glad that he did.

The arrival of new “bomb girls” bolsters the workforce at Victory Munitions, but tensions develop between the two groups of workers. Gladys finds herself on the receiving end of Gene’s attentions and rebuffs him. Vera sets her sights on becoming office manager but has a rival who also wants the job and will do anything to get it. Meanwhile, Marco is convinced that somebody is trailing him.

Victory Munitions hosts a star-studded cavalcade to raise money for war bonds. Lorna becomes increasingly concerned about the volatile behavior of her son Gene, and Gladys begins to realize what kind of man he is-and how different a man James is. But has the realization come too late?

Preliminary reports of an Allied raid on the German-held port of Dieppe electrify the nation. Gladys has her own battles to fight, including dealing with her guilt over James’s death. Lorna finally gets her long-coveted home telephone but finds that the phone can bring bad news as well as good.

The women of the Blue Shift begin to realize that enemies don’t just limit their efforts to the battlefield. Gladys grows suspicious when a young woman asks her detailed questions about factory operations. She takes her concerns to Clifford Parry, the new head of security at Victory Munitions.

A visiting reporter highlights the disparity between women’s and men’s salaries at Victory Munitions, leaving Lorna with a tough decision to make. Gladys learns more about the shadow world of intelligence from Clifford, who also surprises her with facts she didn’t know about her father.

After trying a new class, Lorna finds herself smitten by dancing-and possibly by her dance teacher, too. Clifford encourages Gladys to keep tabs on her friends, but Vera misconstrues Gladys’s newfound interest in Marco as something else. He, meanwhile, continues to question his true allegiances and to keep company with the wrong sort of people.

Believing Marco to be innocent, if misguided, Gladys is torn between her patriotic duty and loyalty to her friends. Marco is similarly conflicted but may now be in too deep to turn back. Struggling with her family’s changing dynamics, Lorna enlists husband Bob in her ongoing dispute with Sheila.

Kate is anticipating her wedding and enjoying the fact that her mother is back in her life. But a police detective is asking more questions about her father’s death, and Betty decides there is only one thing she can do to save her friend. With the first Allied victory, at El Alamein, on the horizon, Clifford offers Gladys an opportunity to serve her country in a different way.

As the Battle of the Atlantic rages in the spring of 1943, Victory Munitions takes on a vital role: production of newly developed sonar equipment for use against German U-boats. However, a saboteur is already on site. Covertly recruited and sworn to secrecy, Gladys must now spy on her coworkers and friends. But without the help of Lorna, Kate, Betty, and Vera, how will she find the traitor?