A tale of the war years. Anatoliy Sidorov, convoyed by the echelon carrying penal battalions to the front, runs away. To hide the escape, the guards catch a harmless railroader Egor Sidorov, who popped out of the depot at his lunch time to change vodka coupons for bread, but which has, unfortunately, the same name as the escapee. Had an ordinary worker to perform military exploits along with a battalion of the penalties. An instructive film about human psychology of the war generation, which was inspired by the ideas of universal communist happiness and at the same time poisoned by fear, humiliated by massive violation of justice and personal dignity.