According to the officer's handbook, 'an officer will perform whatever task confronts him with whatever men are available' and for Major Bell the men in question are drunks, thieves and deserters. With the German army closing in on his company's position, Major Bell undertakes a suicidal mission to blow up a bridge of strategic importance to the enemy. His only help will come in the form of a rag-tag band of army rejects who must become heroes if they are to fulfil their mission and come back alive.

Insurance salesman Tom and his wife Jenny are struggling through the first years of marriage in a modest flat, on Tom's even more modest salary. By contrast Drew, Tom's old army pal, is a footloose bachelor currently running a car-hire firm owned by his rich uncle, who lives in Canada. Since Drew's uncle makes it clear that his nephew will only inherit the business when he's a respectable married man, his upcoming visit throws Drew into a panic. Having taken a fancy to the vivacious Jenny, Drew persuades her to masquerade as his wife – an arrangement that leads the trio into some highly complicated situations!

The cat and mouse game between government agents and a spy ring that has taken secret documents from a plane crash in Germany, not far from an US military research centre.