NAME, RANK, AND SERIAL NUMBER

A thin tale of a very minor episode in World War II espionage annals, in which three OSS officers parachuted into Hungary in hopes of convincing the Horthy government to withdraw from membership in Hitler's Axis. Immediately captured, they underwent a mildly rude period of detention while the Nazis invaded Hungary, then were transferred to Oflag IVC, a German camp for escape-prone POWs, where they found good company, pleasant captors, and lived to wonder at their survival through it all. Most amazed of anyone is Florimond duS. Duke, who tells the story of his and his companions' adventures, in a narrative stronger on staccato speech ("" 'This is a hell of a note,' Duke grated"") than on action--though there is a night in which the three squash 150 bedbugs and mosquitoes. So much for carnage or excitement. There isn't even an escape attempt. What's left? Not much.