The headlight covers switch between the wartime "slit" to no covers and back again when the general is being abducted in his car.
The moon changes from nearly full to first quarter in the space of one day. Not only are the phases going backwards, it takes a week to change from full to last quarter.
General Brauer is shown in the film as wearing an army (Wehrmacht) uniform. As a paratrooper, he should be wearing an air force (Luftwaffe) uniform. Contemporary photographs show him doing so on Crete.
The fully illuminated side of the moon always points toward the sun and hence at night it must be closer to the horizon than the other side, but when we first see the moon at night the illuminated side is higher.
Throughout the film, Cretan partisans and British SOE officers are shown armed with the readily identifiable Thompson SMG (sub-machine gun), or one of its variants. Contemporary photographs, and historical documents, confirm that the group was armed with the United Defense (UD) M.'42. The UD M.'42 was used in place of the expensive "Tommy Gun," especially for overseas allies and resistance groups.
(Possibly deliberate mistake by the filmmakers) Among the possessions returned to General Kreipe at the end of the film is his Ritterkreutz, lost very early during the kidnapping. In reality, as far as we know, the decoration has remained lost for ever.
General Kreipe's Mercedes has French registration plates (The film, set in Crete, was shot on location in France).
When we see the crescent moon briefly (12'58'') the clouds pass behind it.
While waiting to ambush the General's car, another vehicle is heard approaching. Elias listens, the pronounces that it is a Volkswagen. While Volkswagen GmbH was technically in existence at the time, the vehicle in question wouldn't have been called a Volkswagen---it was known as a Kubelwagen (bucket-car), while the better-known Beetle was a KDF-wagen.
Not only does the General's car have French registration plates, but it's not a 1941 Mercedes-Benz, but one of early 1950s vintage.
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