In Cairo during World War II British Intelligence selects five convicts--Durrell, a murderer; Rocca, the former head of a crime syndicate; Scanlon, a demolition expert; Fell, a forger; and Saval, an art thief and impersonator--to perform an essential mission in exchange for their freedom. Their mission, led by Maj. Richard Mace, is to rescue Italian General Quadri from a prison in Dubrovnik so that he can turn his troops against their German allies and facilitate the end of the war. They arrive in Dubrovnik and with the assistance of partisans Marko and Mila are making plans to tunnel into the prison when they are captured by the Nazis and imprisoned with the general. They escape, taking the Italian general with them, but lose Fell during the escape. Scanlon and Saval also are killed en route to the location of the Italian troops. They discover the general is an impostor substituted by the Nazis when the real general was killed, but they force him to address the Italian troops. Durrell, disguised as a Nazi and shouting Nazi slogans, kills the phony general before the eyes of his troops when he tries to convince the troops to remain loyal to the Nazis; and this turns the Italians against the Nazis. The mission is a success, but at its conclusion Roberto Rocca is the only surviving convict.