The Wild Geese are a fifty-man military unit for hire, comprised of mercenaries and led by Colonel Faulkner (Richard Burton), Lieutenant Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore), Rafer Janders (Richard Harris) and Pieter Coetzee (Hardy Kruger). When they are hired by sinister businessman Sir Edward Matheson (Stewart Granger), the team depart for Africa, their mission to rescue an imprisoned political leader, seize the airport and return safely to England.