A microcosm of a dictatorship, Erpingham's holiday camp is run with a would-be-no-nonsense efficiency and regimentation. Erpingham is irked by Redcoat Riley's evident lack of organisational skills and wants him to consult the manual more diligently.
The Entertainment's Officer dies and Riley gets his chance to run a night's entertainment. It soon goes horribly wrong wit one of the campers, Eileen - who keeps pointing out that she is pregnant - claiming to have been struck and assaulted by Riley: her Kenny knocks Riley down.
As the misunderstanding gets uglier, an infuriated Erpingham decides to teach the campers a lesson by locking away the food and sealing off the chalets. Kenny address the campers saying that after the children have been denied bread, the womenfolk insulted and shelter denied them, they will have to take the law into their own hands. Other campers counsel caution, especially Ted whose Lou supports him, so she is attacked by Eileen. The campers march on the stores and the revolution gathers intensity. Kenny beats up Erpingham who falls through the floor and dies. The Padre, who has his own problems as a result of a taste for creeping into teenage girls' chalets, conducts a makeshift service at which Riley delivers and eloquent eulogy of his late, great employer. A Class 'A' (Higher Employee) wreath is ordered.