List some innacuracies you've seen in military documentaries?

[panther3485]

Originally Posted by redcoat

I was watching a BBC documentary on Dunkirk when they showed a group of Soviet Ilyushin Il-2's attacking the Dunkirk pocket

Incorrect footage (and I mean blatantly incorrect such as the example you have given here) would have to be about the most common kind of inaccuracy I've seen in TV documentaries.

[Pruitt]

I am reading a good looking new book by Stephen Bull called: Second World War Infantry Tactics, The European Theater". I am on page 15 and they mention a Private Eddie Slovik of the 109th Division. That is a bit confusing because his Division was the Hard Luck 28th "Bucket of Blood" Infantry Division. I believe the author got the Regiment he was in (109th INFREG) confused. No telling what next jumps out at me.

Pruitt

[PhilipLaos]

Not inaccuracies in the technical military sense, but I'm watching a really well researched, Spanish documentary series on World War II called 'World War II: Diaries'. It goes through the war outlining, with rare footage, the conflict on a day by day basis covering each of the 2,190 days of the war.

Problem is, the excellent English language script is narrated by an American who obviously has no idea what he is reading about since every sentence contains mispronunciations of words that are well known to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject.

It's so annoying!


Philip

[Nebfer]

Well I get a kick out of seeing footage that dates to ~1940 when their dealing with events of 1944 or even 1945.

For example their talking about the Battle of the Bulge, and they show footage of Panzer IVs with the short 75mm (coming out of a bush or tree...).

[panther3485]

Originally Posted by Nebfer

"Well I get a kick out of seeing footage that dates to ~1940 when their dealing with events of 1944 or even 1945. ... "

That's pretty bad but what I think could be even worse, is when they are supposedly showing us events of the 1939-41 period and the footage they use is of tanks, planes etc that simply did not exist until the 1943-45 period.

Originally Posted by Nebfer

"For example their talking about the Battle of the Bulge, and they show footage of Panzer IVs with the short 75mm (coming out of a bush or tree...)."

Did you know there were still a few of the older short-barrel PzKpfw IV in field service during 1944; i.e. Normandy? I doubt that they would have still been runners by the time of the Bulge, though.

[the ace]

Originally Posted by Tuck's Luck

The scary thing is there's a load of Scots all set to sign up for independence on the basis of that movie

Not this one.

I walked out of that piece of cr*p halfway through - but I know as much of the real story as anyone.

Mind you, it's nothing new. I'd still like a little, quiet word with a certain playwright over his treatment of King MacBeth - and as for that Victorian propagandist Scott.....

[Acheron]

Originally Posted by panther3485

Incorrect footage (and I mean blatantly incorrect such as the example you have given here) would have to be about the most common kind of inaccuracy I've seen in TV documentaries.

Quick OOT note: there was a documentary in Germany about the dangers of video games. When they talked about World of Warcraft, they showed footage from Battlefield 1942. Would be akin to talking about Lord of the Ring and showing Star Trek.

[calger14]

There was a good one a few years back when the BBC used footage from the game Arma II to show IRA using anti-aircraft guns. They did later make an apology but its still quite funny

Another one was on Andrew Marrs history of the world which is on at the moment. In the first episode he claims that we completely wiped out Neanderthals when this argument is challenge by many other better arguments in my opinion.

[triggerjockey]

Pretty much every documentary involving WWII and armor has had deficiencies while they are narrating and showing film footage.

[Post Captain]

Many years ago i started to watch a documentary on Hitler and the Night of the Long Knives...It began with the date... 31st June 1934...Turn over.