Factual error: Midway through the film, the IRA flying column successfully ambushes a motorised British patrol. Immediately afterwards, when the column's survivors are milling about on the roadway, one IRA man is shown to be armed with a German Mauser Kar 98k bolt action rifle. This is historically incorrect, as this weapon did not go into production until after Hitler's assumption of power in the 1930's - at least thirteen years after the events depicted in the film.
Factual error: When John Belushi, Wendy-Jo Sperber and Treat Williams are on the stolen motorcycle, Belushi gets mad, pulls a pin, and disconnects the sidecar from the motorcycle. This is not how sidecars are actually attached or they wouldn't go the same direction as the bike.
Factual error: Just after the start of the Korean War, McArthur places a map of Korea on the hood of a jeep to explain to a subordinate general his plans to invade Inchon. The map shows the boundary of North and South Korea not along the 38th parallel, which was the border at the time (1950), but along today's DMZ - not established until the Korean armistice was signed in 1953.
Factual error: The German mine expert is working with his face shield open while he is trying to defuse the mine placed under Cera. (01:15:45)
Factual error: In a picture from the UN headquarters in New York in the year 2003 you see two German flags. The German Democrativ Republic hasn't existed since 1990. (01:16:04)
Factual error: When Fleming salutes Cholmondeley and Montague, they return the compliment whilst not wearing their headdress. Members of the British armed forces never salute if they are not wearing a hat, instead they would stand to attention.
Factual error: When Lt. Lee shoots down the second Messerschmidt in Italy, you can see it is a twin engine plane.
Factual error: Anne Frank received her diary on her birthday, and started writing on it 1 month before she went into hiding. In the movie however, she is presented with the diary on the first she arrives at the hiding place.
Suggested correction: Since this movie is based on actual events and not considered a documentary, then the film-makers are allowed to change things to their liking.
While I feel like this sort-of correction could apply to certain elements of movies based on true stories like dramatized scenes (since there has to be some condensation of time and some elements boosted for drama, which can be chalked up to filmmakers changing things), I think a film based on a true story contradicting a known hard fact like this should 100% count as a mistake. Otherwise, you could just as easily argue that any factual error in any film is invalid because the filmmakers are "allowed to change it."
Factual error: MacKenzie is referred to as "Gunnery Sergeant". This is not a rank used by British and Commonwealth forces. He actually wears the rank insignia of a Flight Sergeant.
Factual error: As Pellew and Hornblower return to the Indefatigable, they go aboard a ship's launch. In the Royal Navy, when boarding a small boat, the senior officer always boards last, so he can disembark first. Captain Pellew boards before Lieutenant Hornblower.
Factual error: In the nighttime hostage rescue scene, the rescue helicopter has its right and green navigation lights on, which are designed to show other aircraft where it is and which direction it is heading. This of course would not be the case while staging a clandestine operation in hostile territory.
Factual error: Company of Heroes is in the timeline of 1944-45. Soldiers are wearing the flag patch on their uniforms which have 50 stars on them, not 48. There were only 48 states in the U.S. back then.
Factual error: Sergeant Bostick tells Colonel Ryan he is from the 113th Armored Division. The U.S. Army never had a 113th Armored Division in WW2.
Suggested correction: Is this actually an error? I believe the British Regiment who feature in this film are The Ninth Fusiliers. Well, there never has been a Ninth Fusiliers in the British army, either! For that matter, there never was a Colonel Joseph L Ryan, or a Major Eric Fincham, or a Major Battaglia. While this film is set in the Second World War, it is openly admitted that it is a wholly fictional story. Some Second World War films (A Bridge Too Far; The Longest Day; The Battle Of the Bulge) were made to recreate historical events, and so refer to soldiers and military units who existed. Other Second World War films like this one (Sahara, Escape To Victory, Ice Cold In Alex) while referencing actual events, and, showing sequences of events that are not beyond probability, are still stories. Since this is a fictional, imagined story, is it acceptable for soldiers to serve with fictional regiments or imaginary fighting units?
While some fictional accounts can be taken for granted and not counted as errors (even films based on true stories can have fictional characters), there are limits when setting films in the past. To have a 113th Armored Division is a valid mistake as the highest number in WWII was the 20th Armored Division, unlike Infantry Divisions that went into the 100's. This could almost be the same as giving a character an 8 or 11 number phone number.
The anonymous drive by hit and run "contributor" (not referring to you, Bishop73) may not have seen another post I made about Sgt. Bostick wearing a 4th Armored Division patch on his uniform: he says he is from the 113th A.D. (which never existed) but wears the 4th A.D. patch, which did exist in WW2, but did not see service until France in 1944.
Factual error: When Pellew engages the first French warship, he gives the order to his helmsman, "Hard to Larboard". In the 18th century, helm orders were given in relation to the position of the tiller, rather than the rudder. A helmsman would push a tiller in the opposite direction he wanted the vessel to turn. This practice continued even when a ship was steered by a wheel, so the man at the wheel would have turned the wheel to starboard..except that he didn't.
Factual error: When the soldiers return to HQs, the American flag, hung vertically over the entrance, has the blue field with stars on the right. The flag, when hung vertically, is supposed to have the blue field on the left..
Factual error: Himmler incorrectly refers to the Nazi Party as the National Socialist Democratic Workers Party. The proper name is the National Socialist German Workers Party. (01:08:10)
Factual error: In the scenes of Ian Fleming in the Naval Intelligence HQ, there is a map of Scandinavia on the wall. The map already has the post-war borders of Finland on it.
Factual error: There is no way that Col.McNamara could allocate which hut men went into. The Germans controlled this. Also there is no way he could just turn up at the Camp Kommandant's office unannounced and talk to him.
Factual error: In the scene where the British soldiers form square, there is a drummer boy. The British army stopped using drummer boys after the battle of Isandhlwana in 1879.
Factual error: The Bielski brothers go on a raid of a German post to acquire some "Ampicillin" to treat members of their refugee band who have typhus. Ampicillin is a penicillin derivative that wasn't available until the early 1960's, and in any case, typhus is properly treated with chloramphenicol or tetracycline, antibiotics of different classes from penicillin. Besides, the German didn't have penicillin of any type during World War II.