Spoofy, Jimmy Gubbins, and Billy Foster are all reported dead in the First World War. In reality, they have been prisoners of the Germans and are released at the end of the war. They return to England to discover that they are believed dead and they christen themselves The Three Live Ghosts. Jimmy's mother has been collecting life insurance on him and doesn't want his non-dead quality to spoil the game. Additionally, she wants to claim the reward for a missing William Foster by turning in Billy. And Spoofy, who suffers from amnesia and kleptomania, worries his pals when he turns up with posh clothes and a baby, just after a nobleman's house is robbed and a child kidnapped.