Luftwaffe soldiers at the camp are seen armed with Karabiner 98k rifles, although like many WWII films between 1960-1980, the MP40 is innaccurately portrayed as the main weapon of the German Army.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingKarabiner 98k - 7.92x57mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA Luftwaffe soldier armed with a Karabiner 98k holds back a mob trying to watch a fake fight between two POWs, intended to distract the guards from other POWs escaping in the trucks. Note the center man pushing the gun barrel into a POW's stomach with his finger on the trigger.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA Luftwaffe soldier with a Karabiner 98k puts Capt. Hilts (Steve McQueen) in the cooler, hence his name "The Cooler King".Error creating thumbnail: File missingTwo Luftwaffe soldiers with Kar98k rifles put Hilts in the cooler once again for another escape attempt.Error creating thumbnail: File missingFlight Lt. Hendley "The Scrounger" (James Garner) helps guide the blind Flight Lt. Colin Blythe "The Forger" (Donald Pleasence) to one of the German planes in an airfield, armed with captured Kar98k taken from a sentry. The planes in the airfield are American AT-6 Texan trainers mocked up with German paint, although the plane they steal is an authentic German Bucker Bu 181 "Bestmann".Error creating thumbnail: File missingWehrmacht soldiers armed with Kar98k rifles capture Hendley after the plane crashes and Blythe is shot. Notice how the rifle closest to the camera lacks hooded sights and cleaning rod, which usually indicates Russian captures.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA Spanish tracker guides Sedgewick from France to Spain with a Kar98k slung over his back.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA Luftwaffe soldier locks Hilts in the cooler at the end of the film with a KAr98k slung on his back. This gun has a straight bolt, which isn't correct for the era as the German issued models had turned bolts. This implies this is a Kar98k stock and barrel with an older 1920s straight bolt action reciever.
MP40
The MP40 submachine gun is the most commonly seen weapon in the hands of German soldiers. Popular culture has portrayed the MP40 as the most common weapon in the hands of German soldiers during World War II. This is incorrect, as the bolt-action Kar 98k was more common, but in films, television, and especially in video games, the MP40 will be seen issued on at least a one-to-one basis with the Kar 98k, and is often more common than it.
All high ranking officers and soldiers at the camp keep Luger P08 pistols as their sidearms. After the escape, Cpt. Hilts (Steve McQueen) plants clear wire on a road way and causes a German soldier on a bike (secretivly played by Steve McQueen) to crash. He steals the soldier's uniform and Luger before eventually being captured.
Luftwaffe guards man MG42 machine guns in the camp perimeter towers. One of the French resistance soldiers is also seen mowing down Germans with one during a drive by shooting. The final time one is used by the SS to massacre the 50 excaped POWs, even though in actually history, they were executed at different times.
A German officer stops Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett "Big X" (Richard Attenborough) on the street and holds a Mauser 1934 "Humpback" pistol on him before being convinced he is a citizen by his fluent German and authentic papers. While it could be a Mauser 1910 or 1914 pistol, it is likely a 1934 since this is a WWII film.
A Wehrmacht soldier is seen using an unknown sniper rifle to shoot Flight Lt. Colin Blythe "The Forger" (Donald Pleasence). It would appear to be a sporterized Kar98k with a scope, although an actually Kar98k sniper rifle issued at the time was not sporterized.
