During the
Western Desert Campaign of World War II, two
Allied officers in
Egypt are interviewed to lead a dangerous
commando mission behind German lines in
Benghazi. Major David Brand, a
South African, is a regular army officer but lacks command and combat experience. He does not speak
Arabic and has only a limited knowledge of
Libya. Captain Jimmy Leith, a
Welshman, is an amateur volunteer with extensive knowledge of the area who speaks
Arabic. It is decided that both officers will go, with Major Brand in command. The men see Brand as a disciplinarian — "the only thing he's slept with is the rule book." Major Brand's wife Jane is a
Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) Flight Officer who enlisted to be near her husband. When Brand invites Leith to drinks with his wife, he picks up the fact that the two had had an affair before she married Brand. Leith had walked out on her without explanation. The unit parachutes into Benghazi with the mission of attacking a German headquarters and bringing back secret plans from a safe to be opened by Wilkins, an experienced
safecracker. Dressed as local civilians, Brand's hand shakes with fright when he has to knife a German sentry; the deed is done by Leith. The mission is completed with the British suffering only one death and one man wounded. The patrol ambushes a German detachment, capturing
Oberst Lutze, whom Brand knows to be responsible for the secret documents. Possibly in the hope of getting rid of Leith, Brand leaves him alone with two seriously wounded men, one British, one German. Leith decides to put them out of their pain. He shoots the German, who pleads for his life. The Briton encourages Leith to act quickly and get it over with. Leith puts his pistol to the soldier's head and fires but there are no bullets left. Rather than reloading, Leith picks the man up and sets out to carry him to safety. The man cries out in agony and curses Leith's failure, but dies before Leith puts him down again. Leith, whose Arab friend has joined him, then catches up with the rest of the unit. The patrol is supposed to escape on camels but they discover the men left with them have been murdered and the camels taken. During the long march back across the desert, Brand's animosity towards Leith grows, not only due to the affair with his wife but to Brand's fear that Leith will reveal him as a coward to headquarters and destroy his career. While the group are resting, Brand sees a scorpion climb up the leg of Leith's trousers but does not warn him in time. When Leith is stung, Brand refrains from shooting him as his orders permit and lets him die in pain during a sandstorm. The men believe he killed him. A patrol eventually picks up the group and takes them back to HQ. Brand's wife is distraught to learn of Leith's death and when Brand is immediately awarded the
Distinguished Service Order, instead of congratulating him, she walks off disconsolate. In the closing shot Brand ruefully pins the medal on a stuffed training dummy. ==Cast==