Plot
In September 1944 US Army Major General Worden learns through the French Resistance that Waffen-SS General Dietrich and other high-ranking Nazi officials in German occupied France plan to make a second attempt on Hitler's life. Worden and other Allied generals are worried that if Dietrich succeeds in assassinating Hitler, more skilled leadership will replace him and prolong the war. Hitler's incompetence as a military commander is actually helping the Allies.
Major John Reisman is on trial for hijacking a shipment of steaks when Worden offers him a chance to train twelve US soldiers convicted for military crimes. Reisman agrees to train them for a suicide mission to assassinate General Dietrich rather than remain on trial. He returns to Marston Tyne Military Prison to select a new Dirty Dozen with the help of MP Sergeant Clyde Bowren. He initially selects thirteen prisoners — a baker's dozen. Reisman and Bowren assemble the trainees at a disused train station, and when Rosen is insubordinate Reisman has him returned to prison and trains the remaining dozen. When Valentine attempts to escape during a German air raid, Sixkiller and Wells bring him back, explaining to Reisman he was merely sleepwalking.
Dressed as elite German soldiers, Reisman and the Dozen fly into a German-held French airfield to rendezvous with a bus. Belatedly realizing that Dregor's black skin would betray the fact they are not Wehrmacht soldiers Reisman has his face bandaged as though wounded. At the airfield a Gestapo agent notices his bare hands and sounds an alarm, forcing the Dozen to escape in the bus. Wright attempts to murder Reisman during the chase but is shot and killed by Sixkiller. When the bus driver is killed, the resulting crash kills Anderson. The mission falls behind schedule and Dietrich's train leaves the target area.
The Dozen proceed on foot and attempt to commandeer a French farm truck, but the farmer recognizes they're speaking in English and shows them a Mercedes-Benz stashed in his barn. The Mercedes Benz overheats after a short distance and they abandon it. Valentine refuses to walk and threatens to pull his gun on Reisman. Wells and Sixkiller pull away from the group and train their guns on the rest of the Dozen. They stop to eat in a church, and when Reisman insists on following after the train, Dreggers refuses. Valentine trains his weapon on Sixkiller and them men all agree they want to abandon the mission. When Reisman tells them there is a shipment of gold aboard the train, they agree to continue the mission. During an encounter with a German patrol, their commander notices Dregors and in the ensuring firefight Perkins, Sanders and Baxley are wounded.
On the train, Dietrich discovers he's aroused suspicions in his second-in-command, Colonel Schmidt, and shoots him dead. The train arrives at a depot where it is met by hundreds of German troops. The Dozen arrive on foot and shelter behind a stone wall. Reisman reveals he lied about the gold. Dregors contemplates disobeying orders and shooting Hitler instead of Dietrich. Reisman convinces him otherwise and Dregors kills Dietrich with a sniper rifle. Hitler is whisked off in a car while the large reception party counter-attacks the Dozen. Rather than flee, the dozen attacks the train, finding it laden with priceless art works and Beethoven's original piano.
As the Dozen fight their way to Hitler's plane everyone except for Reisman, Dregors, Perkins, Valentine and Wells are killed before they take off. Dregors, shot in the stomach, dies from his wounds, and Reisman finds a briefcase tucked under a seat, containing top-secret intelligence information as well as a bag of jewels, which he agrees splits with the three survivors. They crash land in England and are held at gunpoint by a farmer until Reisman speaks English. The farmer tells them of a good pub in the nearby town, and Reisman agrees to buy them all a round of drinks.
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