Factual error: Most of the parachutes are PX type. These came out in the 1960s. They only used X type during the war - only a few of those are seen in the film. (00:07:00)
Revealing mistake: As Sean Connery steps on board the aircraft, at the top left two aircraft are shown flying overhead, but backwards, presumably stock footage run that way for some reason. (00:39:20)
Suggested correction: The fighters are not flying backwards. Simple as that.
Factual error: In the first shot of the scene when the 30 Corps lines up on the roadside while Fox yells at his men, two of the Sherman tanks can been seen with objects which look like tires beneath their chassis. These two tanks are likely to be mock-ups built on wheeled vehicles. (00:43:30)
Factual error: One of the tanks in the column is an M47 Patton which was first introduced in 1951. (01:01:20)
Factual error: During the 9th SS Hohenstaufen assault on the bridge, the lead vehicle (the one that gets destroyed first) is a four-wheeled vehicle disguised as an Sd.Kfz .221 armoured car but not the actual vehicle. (01:22:45)
Factual error: During the 9th SS Hohenstaufen assault on the bridge, SS-Hauptsturmführer Grabner's vehicle is actually a British Bren Gun Carrier modified to look like an Sd.Kfz.251. (01:23:10)
Continuity mistake: Halfway through the movie, James Caan drives his jeep to escape Nazi brigades and brings his wounded comrade to the hospital. He is wearing full dress, with jacket. After he holds the doctor at gunpoint to "check" his friend, the scene switches outside where he is smoking a cigarette without the jacket, then flashes back with him wearing the jacket. (01:41:00)
Factual error: When the British and American soldiers are pushing the Bailey Bridge, you can see a British soldier in the background carrying a modern white and red megaphone. (01:44:28)
Factual error: The German tanks in the film are Leopard 1 tanks, which were made about 20 years later. Although the turret and the cannon are changed and there are different skirts, the Leopard is very recognizable by it's specific exhaust grill and back. (01:46:40)
Factual error: The tanks overlooking the river are actually French AMX-105 self-propelled artillery introduced in 1955. (02:01:00)
Continuity mistake: In a scene in a town on the rooftops as the British fight the Nazis, we see that the townsfolk were truly ahead of their times as they nearly all have television antennas.
Revealing mistake: While the German officer, played by Hardy Krüger, is in a pill box reporting back to his headquarters, with the bridge seen in the background, rush-hour traffic can been seen on the bridge.
Factual error: The shots of an air-strike on German artillery positions during the first armour encounter have used the Harvard aircraft (also known as T-6 Texans). However these were only used as advanced trainers by the Allied forces and never used in combat in the European theatre. One could assume from the theatrical paint jobs that the production team were attempting to disguise them as P47 Thunderbolts.
Factual error: There is a close-up of a parachutist's boot as he leaves the aircraft. It is a DMS boot. DMS boots were not issued to the army until much, much later. Late sixties, early seventies as I recall.
Suggested correction: Expecting 1970's paratroopers to wear 1940's boots is hardly an error. There were no 1944 issued boots for the 200 odd para's to wear! Anyway I used to jump with non issued Corcoran jump boots instead of issued Army boots.
An attempt to correct this was already made. In this type of film, it is a very valid mistake, just as if cars from the 60's or 70's were seen in the film. Even if the viewer doesn't expect characters not to wear era appropriate attire, it still a mistake, which is the point of this whole website.
Continuity mistake: After the scene where a British soldier is killed trying to recover supplies, a C-47 is seen crashing with a smoking engine. After the crash, look carefully at the explosion and you can see the airplane winging away.
Factual error: During the German assault on the bridge, one of the destroyed vehicles on the bridge is actually a French Hotchkiss-Brandt CC-2-55. Although it is disguised as a German Marder III tank destroyer, its lower chassis is still easily recognisable as the CC-2-55.
Factual error: The Waffen SS soldiers throughout the movie are wearing the wrong uniforms. By 1944, most Waffen SS soldiers should be wearing half or full camouflage. Their helmets also shouldn't have the swastika on it, and many should also have been camouflaged.
Factual error: When the tank corps is shown before leaving, the village is refered to as Leopoldsville. It was in fact the Belgian village of Leopoldsburg. It's shown on the map as Bourg Leopold (which is the correct French name). Leopoldville was the capital of the Belgian Congo which is now called Kinshasa.
Factual error: In many of the scenes, German Mauser rifles do not have cleaning rods. However, judging from archive footage, almost all Mauser rifles used by the Germans during World War II had cleaning rods attached. Many weapons dealers sell World War II surplus rifles without cleaning rods because they are welded into the barrel as part of the deactivation process, hence why they're missing. Still a mistake though.
Factual error: The C-47s are shown with steel collapsible chocks that were in use in the RAF from about 1960 onwards. In WWII all chocks were made of wood.
