This feature length film has been compiled from newsreel footage which was shown in New Zealand cinemas during the Second World War. It is not a detailed history of New Zealand's part in the Second World War, but it does give fascinating glimpses of the changes which that war forced on New Zealand society. Still photographs and the written word can describe those changes, but 'War Years' adds a dimension which personalises the issues. Whether on active service with military units, or on the home front, National Film Unit cameramen of the early 1940's captured people, their attitudes and their emotions.