Hannibal Brooks (Oliver Reed) is a British prisoner of war assigned to care for an elephant in a zoo in Munich. When the zoo is bombed by the Americans, Brooks is ordered to transport the elephant to a safer zoo in Innsbruck. En route to Innsbruck, Brooks accidentally kills the Nazi member of the escort ( Peter Carsten) and the sets off with an American (Michael J.Pollard) and an Austrian (Helmuth Lohner), the trio escapes with the elephant and head for the Swiss border and freedom.