The US soldiers take shelter from a heavy snowstorm in a house with a German half track in front of it. The rear of the half track has no roof. In the morning we see inside the rear of the vehicle, filled with guns and other equipment but absolutely no snow.
There are several problems with the Malmedy massacre scene. First, there was no snow on the ground when it took place; it snowed afterwards and covered up the bodies. Second, the film shows the massacre beginning when an American prisoner seizes a rifle from a German guard and shoots him, causing the Germans to open fire on everyone; that did not happen. Third, the massacre is shown being committed by Wehrhacht--regular German army--troops. In fact, it was committed by an SS unit under the command of the notorious Col. Joachim Peiper, and it was not, as claimed in the film, a "tragic accident"--Peiper's intention all along was to kill the prisoners, and he had them transported to that open field for precisely that purpose (Peiper served 12 years in prison after the war for his involvement in the crime. In 1976 he was living in France when he was shot to death in his home, which was then burned to the ground, in what many believe was revenge for the Malmedy massacre).
Yes and no - The German version of events unsurprisingly maintains the prisoners were trying to escape when the shooting started and there is a suggestion from some of the survivors that men were moving away from the main group before, or immediately after the first shots were fired, however this is also described by other survivors as men from the front rank pushing backwards to get out of the firing line. The first shots were fired by Romanian SS tanker George Fleps acting on the orders of his tank commander Staff Sergeant Hans Siptrott who believed he was compliant with order issued that prisoners were to be shot if they interfered with the main objective which was to get to the Meuse bridges. At the time of the shootings Peiper was much further back with the HQ group; he did not have the prisoners transported to the field, that's where they were assembled after being captured at the crossroads a few yards north. The battle group was responsible for other shootings along their line of advance particularly Stavelot where Belgian civilians were shot in their homes. It's worth noting that on January 1st 1945, 14 days after Malmedy, 60 German PoWs were murdered at Chenogne as the Americans went on the counter offensive. No-one was ever brought to justice and it was acknowledged that many units were instructed to kill SS troops and paratroopers out of hand.
Yes and no - The German version of events unsurprisingly maintains the prisoners were trying to escape when the shooting started and there is a suggestion from some of the survivors that men were moving away from the main group before, or immediately after the first shots were fired, however this is also described by other survivors as men from the front rank pushing backwards to get out of the firing line. The first shots were fired by Romanian SS tanker George Fleps acting on the orders of his tank commander Staff Sergeant Hans Siptrott who believed he was compliant with order issued that prisoners were to be shot if they interfered with the main objective which was to get to the Meuse bridges. At the time of the shootings Peiper was much further back with the HQ group; he did not have the prisoners transported to the field, that's where they were assembled after being captured at the crossroads a few yards north. The battle group was responsible for other shootings along their line of advance particularly Stavelot where Belgian civilians were shot in their homes. It's worth noting that on January 1st 1945, 14 days after Malmedy, 60 German PoWs were murdered at Chenogne as the Americans went on the counter offensive. No-one was ever brought to justice and it was acknowledged that many units were instructed to kill SS troops and paratroopers out of hand.
Two of the main characters are from the 101st Airborne Division, and were supposed to have been fighting on the Elsenborn Ridge, which is on the north edge of the Bulge. In fact, the 101st was a couple of hundred miles to the rear on 16 December 1944, the day the German attack began, and was never near Elsenborn. The Malmedy Massacre took place on 17 or 18 December 1944, long before the 101st got to Bastogne.
At the end of the film we see a German soldier fire a Panzerfaust (anti-tank weapon) at a tent. The "bomb" launches like a rocket in a straight line and blows the tent to smithereens. This would not happen. The Panzerfaust is not a rocket launcher; it is effectively a big gun. There's a charge in the tube that explodes and "lobs" the charge towards its target. It does not fly under its own power and certainly does not travel in a straight line. The shaped charge is encased in metal and the front needs to deform to set off the detonator. This would require striking a hard target such as a tank. If a panzerfaust was fired at a tent it would merely bounce off.
When the German halftrack shows up at Catrine's, the German soldier she offers the bread to is carrying a pistol that is later referred to as a "Luger". It is not a Luger but is in fact a Walther P-38.
The battle took place during one of Europe's coldest winters, yet no one's breath is visible when they exhale.
The Belgian woman is seen making WHITE flour bread: this is almost impossible as in war time Europe it was quite a luxury, found only on the black market in the big cities, or on the desks of high officials, and for certain not in the poor house in the middle of the Ardennes forest.
The German POW is given a sweet wrapped in an aluminum foil, which he later uses to create a silver angel. Aluminum foils for food, like the white bread, was another luxury quite unlikely found in a forest dwelling in the Ardennes. During the war all the metal objects of common use were forcefully collected and taken out from the market to build weapons.
At the end, as the boys try to break through the American lines, they say, "Foxtrot." This phonetic alphabet terminology was not in use until 1956. They should have said, "Fox."
Early on, before the Malmedy massacre (which took place in December 1944), a German solder relieves Kendrick of two packs of Lucky Strikes in green packaging. In reality, Lucky Strikes switched to white packaging in 1942, alleging that the green dyes were needed for the war effort. Oberon, the British flier, correctly carries a white pack of Lucy Strikes.
The German commandeered MB/GPW Jeep is correct for the period, up till the moment it is blown up near the climatic solution. It then changes to a post-war Korean-era Willys M38 (larger headlights are the first giveaway) - would have been more criminal to destroy an MB/GPW(!).
When the British pilot tries to make it through the snowstorm, we hear strong wind but the snow is falling peacefully downwards.