The show centres on 17-year-old Thomas "Tolly" Johnson who puts his age up so he can enlist with his brother Bevan and ends up fighting at Gallipoli in the campaign that helped create the Anzac legend.

The story depicts the ten month campaign in Turkey highlighting the landing on 25 April 1915, by ANZAC troops who go into battle on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Landing in the dark, Tolly, Bevan and their fellow soldiers endeavour to establish a defensible foothold beneath the treacherous slopes of the peninsula. The series follows both the battle and its aftermath.

The soldiers spend eight months learning combat skills while trying to survive in the most difficult of circumstances. By the time of their final evacuation they have learnt much about themselves and their mates.