THE REAL GERMAN HELICOPTER

WHERE EAGLES DARE is arguably one of the best war movies ever made; written by the great action novelist Alistair MacLean. The action opens with a covert airborne infiltration into a high alpine pasture in the middle of winter - from a JU-88 in cool winter camo with a SWASTIKA on the tail, no less! This is the first unorthodox plot twist thrown out at the audience - before the movie even gets started - and the whole thing just gets better from there.





If you've got the time, watch all these clips.


The only aspect of this film bothered me is the German helicopter . . .






Even as a kid I knew the chopper featured in the castle scenes was a post-war Bell Bell 47 "whirlybird" (military nomenclature H-13):


Korean War-era Bell H-13 Souix performing medevac with 2 wounded UN troops.


It wasn't until later in life I discovered the Germans actually had helicopters during World War II, and not just experimental prototypes, either; they were operational!





This knowledge absolves Alistair MacLean and the film's producers of any wrongdoing and puts WHERE EAGLES DARE high up in the running for STORMBRINGER'S Best War Film of All Time.

Your comments are welcome, as always - particularly any nominations for Best War Films.


Enjoy,

Sean Linnane


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