A novelisation of the career of Lieutenant Guy Barrington. Branded a coward and dishonourably discharged from the British Army for deserting his post during WWIIs Desert War, he had actually been taken prisoner by the Germans and, having escaped, made the difficult decision to stay at his dying brothers side on the battlefield before returning to his unit. To prove himself innocent of any hint of cowardice, Barrington joins Churchills Scallywags the secret, civilian suicide squads whose purpose, through dirty tricks and sabotage, was to destabilize any Nazi attempt of an occupation of England. Working with Naval Commander/author, Ian Fleming and Tommy Yeo-Thomas (Flemings inspiration for James Bond), he continues on as an agent of Britains Secret Operations Executive (SOE), taking on covert missions in France. Eventually, inevitably, he is captured, tortured by the Gestapo and sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. By macabre means he escapes and makes a desperate bid to reach Portugal in time to fly home on fated Flight 777 with his famous film star collaborator and propaganda specialist, Leslie Howard.