Nights in Shining Armor - S3-E8
Factual error: When the prisoners are in the workshop to "fix" the plumbing, sergeant Shultz is armed with a krag Jorgensen rifle. German soldiers were armed with the k98 mauser, not the krag.
Factual error: While introducing himself to the downed Russian pilot, Hogan claims he is with the "US Air Force." He was actually with the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) as the US Air Force wasn't formed until 1947, 2 years after the war ended.
Factual error: On the map in Klink's office, the nearest town's name is Hamilburg. This a misspelling, as the real name is Hammelburg.
Factual error: The guard delivering the Russian captive in the tunnel at the start of the show has a paratrooper M1 carbine with a bayonet lug. Bayonet lugs were not attached to M1 carbines until after the war.
Factual error: Erica says she has a plane to take Klink and her to Argentina. The only transatlantic airplane in Germany at that time was the FW-200 Condor, whose military value would have made it hard to requisition even for an SS Gruppenführer (which would be the real rank a "General" would hold in the SS, different mistake), let alone for his wife. Plus, even the FW-200 could not have made it even to the Brazilian coast without a refueling stop somewhere along the African west coast, which would have been a problem, because Germany had no possessions there. Klink, being a Luftwaffe (Air Force) officer, should have at least been suspicious of that plan, even if he didn't know all the details off the top of his head.
Axis Annie - S3-E23
Factual error: After Carter realises Hogan got the envelope off so fast, Newkirk says "Speedy Gonzales." 'Hogan's Heroes' was supposed to take place from 1942 to the end of the war. Speedy Gonzales first appeared in "Cat Tails for Two" in 1953.
Factual error: Towards the end of the episode, Burkhalter gets a call from a General Seidenbaum. Anybody with such a "Jewish" name would have been weeded out of the officer corps by the Nazis. In fact, anyone of that name would have had great trouble even getting his Ariernachweis (proof or aryan ancestry), and without carrying a copy with him he could not have opened a charge account at the local bakery. Most people with such names (those who managed to pass the Nazi board of racial review) had them changed to more "German" ones like Müller or Schmidt to escape the constant bullying. A little bit of background on "jewish" names: At some time during the medieval period, Jews in the German Reich who traditionally didn't use last names were forced to have them. Many selected names like Gruenbaum, Cornfield, etc. Which over time were perceived as "typical Jewish" names, even though many bearers weren't even of Jewish faith any more.
Factual error: In this episode, the Royal Navy submarine that acts as a radio relay for Hogan's men is hunted by a destroyer. Like in most such Hollywood scenes, depth charges are seen exploding right next to the submarine, which just shrugs the blasts off. In reality, any depth charge that went off closer than 100 meters was instantly deadly to a submerged sub.
Factual error: In several episodes, Hogan's men communicate by radio with a British submarine, and the dialog hints that the sub is submerged at the time. During the WWII era, submarines could not communicate by radio without surfacing first. In most episodes one might argue that the sub could be running shallow with a mast up, which would perhaps be within the technical possibilities of the era, but in this episode, the sub is talking to Hogan's men while under attack by a destroyer. This pretty much rules out running at periscope depth, because ramming was regularly-used tactic for killing subs that were in the process of diving or surfacing. To avoid confusion: Nowadays, subs can communicate while running several hundred feet deep by using VLF and ELF. However, these are definitely not capable of transmitting voice, but are text-only.
Drums Along the Dusseldorf - S3-E30
Factual error: All through this episode, characters keep referring to the river the bridge *du jour* spans as "The Düsseldorf" or "Düsseldorf river." The city of Düsseldorf is situated on the river Rhine - there is no "Düsseldorf river." It's a well known fact that the producers were hardly geography whizzes, but not knowing the Rhine is bad even by their standards. Curiously enough, there kinda is a "Düsseldorf river" called the Düssel, and it meets the Rhine there. The Düssel however is a small streamlet that a well-trained man could probably jump over - so the mistake is still a valid one.
Klink vs. the Gonculator - S4-E2
Factual error: They would never use their real names and whereabouts when talking on the radio.
How to Catch a Papa Bear - S4-E3
Factual error: In the tunnel Hogan loads a magazine into a US issue .45 pistol and points it at Myra, but he never chambered a round and didn't cock the hammer on the pistol. The .45 pistol in WW2 was single action. For a single action pistol to fire, a round needs to be chambered and the hammer has to be cocked manually before the trigger is pulled and the pistol to fire. (00:22:00)
Man's Best Friend Is Not His Dog - S4-E6
Factual error: When Hogan heads into Klink's flower bed to get the dog, you can see a modern steel water tank in the distance.
Color the Luftwaffe Red - S4-E8
Factual error: The medal Newkirk steals from the German officer in the pub is a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. There were a total of 148 presentations, most of them 1943-45. By 1942 (where the series is apparently set), less than 25 had been presented. That Newkirk should actually stumble across a wearer by pure chance is highly unlikely, that the wearer should actually "never miss it" as Newkirk states, is plainly impossible. Being the fourth highest ranking military decoration of the Wehrmacht, it would have been missed almost immediately - if not by the wearer himself, then by his fellow officers. (00:22:35)
Guess Who Came to Dinner? - S4-E9
Factual error: Schultz says, Von Grubner has "a castle right next to the Führer's in Berchtesgaden." Hitler's famous real estate in Obersalzberg wasn't a castle but a mountain chalet based on a former farm estate called the "Steinhaus".
Factual error: Hogan and his men are in Berlin to capture a traitor. They arrive at the Hotel Berlin in an ambulance and park near a K2 phone booth, something only found in England and its colonies, certainly never in the heart of Nazi Germany. (00:13:55)
Factual error: The ambulance Major Teppel transports the prisoners in is a Dodge WC54, which is an American military ambulance, not a German one.
Will the Blue Baron Strike Again? - S4-E12
Factual error: The "Blue Baron" tells the dancer that the Kaiser gave him a certain medal. In fact, the medal he points to (and the girl fondles) is a WW2 repeat badge to the Iron Cross first class, instituted in 1939 to denote presentations of the Iron Cross first class to personnel who had already received it in WW1. He may have received the original Iron Cross from the Kaiser, but by the time he had a chance to receive that repeat badge, the Kaiser was long through handing out medals. (00:15:10)
Factual error: When the safe doors blow, we have another case of a fuse still burning after the charge blows. Since the charge blows when the fuse is burnt up, that's literally impossible. (00:20:00)
Factual error: The cover of the plan for Unternehmen Hannibal is marked "SEHR GEHEIM." That phrasing does not exist in German. The correct term would be "streng geheim".
Answer: It's a comedy, not a documentary.
stiiggy
Perhaps it was counterfeit. There are numerous episodes where they deal in counterfeit monies.