Durante la II Guerra Mundial (1939-1945), los alemanes dominan las aguas del Mediterráneo gracias a un eficaz sistema de defensa que los aliados no pueden contrarrestar. La causa de la superioridad alemana es el fortín de Navarone, que, gracias a sus gigantescos cañones, cierra el paso a la navegación por el mar Egeo.

A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.

Cuando la economía de un pequeño ducado europeo se ve amenazada, al pequeño país no se le ocurre otra solución que declarar la guerra a los Estados Unidos de América.

Intercutting dramatic vignettes with newsreel footage, the story follows the characters from an infantry squad as they make their way from Sicily to Germany during the end of World War II.

The core of the plot is the romantic triangle formed by the protagonist, a conscripted soldier named Private Brigg, a worldly professional soldier named Sergeant Driscoll, and Phillipa Raskin, the daughter of the Regimental Sergeant Major. The location is a British army base in Singapore during the Malayan Emergency.