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)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Richard Attenborough
Starring: Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Laurence Olivier
82nd Airborne go across the river in boats to capture the Nijmegan Bridge. General Ludwig has the bridge wired to blow up but the detonator fails to work. Meanwhile, the British at Arnhem are almost wiped out and are forced to surrender. A few escape across the river to Allied lines.
Nikki Williams
German Aide: Excuse me for interrupting, but ... British paratroopers have apparently landed. Three kilometers from here.
Field Marshal Model: Why should they do that? There's nothing valuable here. I! I am valuable here! They have all come to capture me!
Trivia: The character of umbrella wielding Major Harry Carlyle was inspired by real life Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter, who said that he 'carried the umbrella because he could never remember the password, and it would be quite obvious to anyone that the bloody fool carrying the umbrella could only be an Englishman'. Unlike Carlyle in the film, Major Tatham-Warter survived the battle and was captured by the Germans. He escaped, and in the weeks that followed, aided by Dutch Resistance, helped hundreds of other soldiers in similar situations to be evacuated to safety.
Question: In the scene where the American 82nd Airborne is storming the river bank at Nijmegen, there is a brief shot of one of the German defenders, who looks quite startingly like a puberescent boy. Anyone know whether this assumption is correct, and if so, what's the background to this story?
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Chosen answer: The Germans did use some Hitler youth movement in the war.