Two Nazis for the Price of One - S3-E17
Corrected entry: When Hogan is bending the antennae into a swastika, there are no extra pieces; all the bends are smooth. When it's on the flagpole/antennae, there is a short, extra piece under it to attach it to the mast.
German Bridge Is Falling Down - S1-E7
Corrected entry: In the very beginning, the prisoners are all in formation for a count. Shultz completes the count at 15, reports it, and Klink calls Hogan over to talk. This leaves 14 in formation. Hogan says "Smoke if you have them". Unbeknownst to Klink, the men are in an arrow formation to point the way to the bridge for the bombers. The aerial shot from the planes shows at least 25 lighters lit. Where did the other 11 guys come from? With Hogan, his barracks only had 15 men who would've been in on it.
Correction: First, it's not true that only the men from Hogan's barracks are in on their operations. It's mentioned in several episodes that they've used other men during their missions. During S1E22 Hogan sends his people out to find a pizza recipe which is hardly the most inconspicuous thing to ask in a POW camp. During S1E27 Hogan asks Kinch if there's a Safe cracker among the prisoners in the camp, so he obviously has no problem recruiting people from outside his barracks. Second, the moment Hogan steps towards Klink, the prisoners break ranks and start to mingle. We simply have to assume that not only Hogan's barracks were ordered to fall out, but other barracks as well, (which would only be logical) even though it happens out of frame. The reason is obvious as well - it's hardly news that the producers of Hogan's Heroes were kept on a pretty tight leash budget-wise. Last but not least, it's true that Schultz counts to 15, but if you count yourself, you will find that not 15 but 19 people are in formation in front of the barracks in the first place. In conclusion, there is a valid mistake right there, but it's not the fact that the arrow consists of more than 15 people.
I stand corrected.
The Informer - S1-E1
Corrected entry: In this episode, the German spy Hogan conducts around the Underground tunnels sees things (i.e., steam room, weapon manufacturing line, barber shop, etc.) that are never seen in the series again.
Correction: It is never made quite clear whether those were really supposed to be a thing or just part of an extremely elaborate plot to throw off the spy. Admittedly, if they were supposed to be part of the plot, the question how Hogan's men managed to set up such a complicated system in the time available would be a mistake in its own right.
Corrected entry: On the cover of the plan for Operation Hannibal, the top line says. "SEHR GEHEIM" (Top Secret). But the plan is called Operation Hannibal (translated as "betrieb hannibal"). The title says "unternehmen hannibal (translation: Companies Hannibal).
Corrected entry: When Major Hagel is going down the list of his knowledge of Hogan's Heroes, he mentions that their code name is Goldilocks. Throughout the series, the code was also Mama Bear, but the most used code name was Papa Bear.
Correction: The Heroes used all of these codenames. Papa Bear is the codename of Hogan himself, Goldilocks is the codename of the whole team around Hogan, and Mama Bear is the codename of the U-Boat they're in contact with.
Corrected entry: As the scene fades to the Höf Brau (with lighting that would violate black out rules in wartime Germany) passing vehicles can be seen to be modern (mid-1960's) cars rather than the more appropriate early 1940's German vehicles. And they're travelling at 1960's standards speeds.
Correction: Only the headlights of the cars are visible for less than a second, plus, the reporter presumes to accurately judge speeds of cars in a movie scene, which would be difficult at best. Furthermore the mistake depends on the assumption that speeds were significantly different inside closed settlements between 1940 and 1960, which they were not. Legally, in Germany, 40 km/h would be permissible in 1942 whereas 50km/h would be permissible in 1960. In California, the speed limit would have been between 25 and 30 mph, or 40-48 km/h respectively. Even in real life, accurately judging a speed difference of 8km/h would be almost impossible except in direct comparison. This mistake should probably be upheld in part, but either it must be rewritten without the speed stuff, or a comprehensible explanation must be given how the difference in speed is to be explained and judged.
Corrected entry: Several times in the series, maps purporting to show Russia have the title "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (USSR). This name existed only after the war ended, before that, they were independent countries until they were annexed by the then Soviets.
Correction: The USSR was created in 1922, two decades before World War 2.
Plot hole: In several occasions throughout the story, e.g. S4E18, Hogan attends parties at Stalag 13 wearing an immaculate US dress uniform. Where did he get that? Dress uniforms are not part of the usual kit a bomber crew brings along with them on their missions.
Suggested correction: Considering they have a tailor (Newkirk) and are air dropped everything from explosives to penicillin, a Class A dress uniform would hardly be a challenge to make or receive.
Klink: "Hogan, where did you get that uniform?!" - Hogan: "Oh, I had OSS airdrop it together with our latest shipment of explosives and ammunition. We brought it in through our tunnel last night and stored it there."
I got it from the Red Cross.
Only a few high ranking intelligence officers are aware of Hogan's mission. Hogan's activities would under normal circumstances be considered fraternisation. While it might be true that he could theoretically obtain a class A uniform via the red cross, doing so would brand him as a collaborator and traitor.
I Look Better in Basic Black - S1-E28
Factual error: When the SS guard is calling Sergeant Shultz after seeing the burning fuse, he addresses Shultz as "Sergeant", rather than the proper German word for Shultz's rank, "Feldwebel."
Suggested correction: "Hogan's Heroes" is an American television show produced for an English speaking audience. The whole show is shot in English! Did you expect Schultz and Klink to speak German and LeBeau to speak French?
I have seen MANY instances in the show where German characters are speaking actual German phrases (many quite accurately, by the way) and ranks of fellow German soldiers. When the German characters are addressing English-speaking characters in this American-made show, you do expect them to speak German-accented English, however, when German-speaking characters speak German to each other, one expects them to use the proper address and vernacular Germans would use and not mix in other languages. In this case, the SS guard did not know a lick of English when he was questioning some prisoners who were out their barracks, but addresses Sergeant Schultz as "Sergeant" rather than "Feldwebel." Furthermore, why aren't little things like buckets of water used in the show are labeled, "Water" rather than the German "Wasser"? Why isn't the list of rules tacked onto the barracks say "Forbidden" rather than "Verboten"?
The point is that when German characters are speaking to each other, it is assumed by the audience that they are speaking German and we are hearing an English translation for our convenience. In the world of the show, they are using the German term, but we hear the English equivalent.
Factual error: While the barracks were reasonable replicas of the real POW barracks, there was one main difference. The original buildings were elevated to ensure any escape attempts could be stopped. In this series, the barracks are flush on the ground, which makes the tunnel access possible and easy.
Suggested correction: There are a plethora of actual photos freely available online of WWII German POW barracks, built either flush to the ground or on concrete slabs. This is just wrong.
Factual error: In several episodes, the fence around the cooler is visible, and hanging on it, a sign saying "Eingang verboten" meaning "no entry." The correct German term would be "Zutritt verboten." In German, "Eingang" is the opening where you enter a building, not the act of entering one.
Suggested correction: This is wrong. Translations all over show that the sign is not only correct, but images can be found of signs with the exact same wording in real places, with the English translation right under it.
Character mistake: In several scenes all over the show (though not always!), characters use the command "Raus!" to send somebody away from somewhere. Raus, short for "heraus" literally means "out" in the sense of "out of a building", which would be "aus einem Gebäude heraus" in German. Used as a command, it always means "get out", never "get away from there" or "get lost", in other words, the addressee must be inside of somewhere to be ordered "Raus." One example would be Schultz sending the prisoners away from general Burkhalter's car in S05E13.
Suggested correction: It doesn't take much research to debunk this claim. Also, John Banner, the actor that most often used the term in the show, was German-born and raised. I'm sure he would have spoken up if it were wrong.
Sorry, John Banner was born in Poland. He was not German.
He was born in 1910 in the city once known as Stanislau, prior to being annexed by Poland in 1919. At the time of his birth, it was part of Austria-Hungary, and one of the official languages was German.
You're correct. I didn't read the IMDb page enough.
Continuity mistake: After shooting the bridge with the tank, a cap at the end of the tank barrel is off.When carter says he is going to miss a captured film, the cap is on. In the next shot the cap is off again.
Suggested correction: There is no mistake. That was not the end of the gun barrel. Look closely.
Stupidity: A prisoner, Jack Williams, rats out Hogan and his team to the Germans, so they fake his death and smuggle him back to London for court-martial. What a stupid thing to do. They should just shoot him and be done with it. First, what if he escaped from captivity on the way through occupied Europe? Second, he has done nothing wrong. Being a grass isn't a crime. Third, Hogan and his men are the war criminals - they often engage in combat activities out of uniform. Williams is going to be acquitted.
Suggested correction: Not true. The crime he committed was treason, a capital offence under both civil and military law at the time. Being a partisan is not an offence under the Geneva Convention, as these were mainly captured flyers, led by a small team of specialists. To execute a prisoner, as you suggest Hogan's men should do, is murder, also a capital offence at the time.
Nobody from Stalag 13 accompanies Williams back to London - so where is the evidence of his "crime"? Hogan and his men often take part in combat activities both out of uniform and even wearing German uniforms, which is itself a one way ticket to a firing squad.
Plot hole: Hogan has his men play romantic music over the radio. Earlier they were afraid of the radio in the observation post being detected. Elsewhere in the series, they try to avoid sending too long to avoid being homed in on - which is correct. Now, if they were to play a whole record at once, wouldn't the homing devices pick up on the transmitter at the camp?
Suggested correction: It is shown several times in the series that the detectors are brought out at specific times / events. With how much control they have over the camp they would know when those times were / more than likely be able to tamper with them. The other times they were worried were simply because either A. They were close to the scanning times or B. New ones got shipped in that they didn't have time to tamper with yet.
Factual error: The tank used in the episode is not a tiger tank but an American M7.
Suggested correction: I think that the tank in question is actually an M3 Lee.
It is an M-7 Priest, armed with a 105mm howitzer, not an M-3 Lee.
Klink for the Defense - S6-E19
Factual error: About 8 minutes into show, Major Hochstetter asks Schultz how long Colonel Hogan (an American) has been running the camp, and Schultz says 3 years last November. This is impossible. The US didn't get into the war until December, 1941, He would have to have been captured November '42 or earlier but the war was over by November 1945.
Suggested correction: Not necessarily. Quite a few Americans served with the RAF before America declared war. The Eagle Squadron American volunteers fought at the Battle of Britain in 1940 for example.
Other mistake: Hogan is disarming a booby trap briefcase. The bomb expert tells him over the radio he has to decide to turn the handle clockwise or counterclockwise. The expert doesn't know which way to turn it. Hogan turns the handle counterclockwise and disarms the booby trap, and the expert says counterclockwise. There's no way the expert would have known which way Hogan turned the handle. (00:21:50 - 00:22:26)
Suggested correction: He didn't know, which is why he asked it as a question. He said "counter-clockwise?"
Suggested correction: Umm probably because he didn't hear a loud explosion.
Continuity mistake: Toward the end of the episode, Hogan turns Shultz around, grabs one of the grenades Shultz is carrying, and hands it off. The one grabbed was closest to Shultz's left side. A few moments later, Shultz turns his back briefly to the camera; there is now a space between the grenades, as if Hogan grabbed the middle one.
German Bridge Is Falling Down - S1-E7
Continuity mistake: During his experiments to create explosives in the tunnels, Carter has a pretty extensive set of glassware on his workbench. Necessarily he would have to replace (most of) that after each explosion - not to mention various light bulbs, furniture and other non-blast-proof stuff by the way. A lot of that glassware is specialty equipment, it would not be easy to come by even one set of in peacetime for a free civilian. In wartime, for an allied prisoner (even with the heroes' connections) it should be nigh impossible, and totally impossible to have an inexhaustible supply of the stuff. So we can either assume a giant plot hole, or treat it (as I did) as a big continuity mistake.
Suggested correction: Considering they regularly get equipment of all kind air dropped from "London", a few laboratory instruments and containers would hardly be challenge.
Firstly, considering the number of explosions, it's not "a few" but more like "QUITE a few." Secondly, if they had had the option to receive airdrops at the time, they would just as have had them airdrop the explosives instead of the glassware for carter to blow up, wouldn't they? Or are you suggesting they would have more spare laboratory equipment in store than a wholesale laboratory outfitter, "just in case"?
Correction: That is not a continuity mistake. The extra piece would have been affixed (glued) to the large swastika antenna before mounting, not when Hogan bent the poles into shape. Just because it wasn't shown as added does not make it a continuity mistake. It was added off camera and in another time frame.