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Inaccuracies and goofs. You have probably seen many of these before for "The Longest Day":

• Goofs
  • The shots that kill Private Martini occur too quickly in succession to have been fired from the indicated bolt-action rifle. (Already pointed out)
  • A compound fracture of the ankle indicates blood and/or protruding bones, of which Vandervoort's ankle had none. It also would have been impossible to put any weight on the ankle.
  • Shadow of the dolly against the smoke of battle during the invasion of Omaha Beach. The direction of the shadow and the geography of the beach indicate that this scene, while set at dawn, was filmed in the afternoon.
  • Features LCM-8s, which weren't built until 1954.
  • German general Max Pemsel says: "Wir haben starke RADAR-störungen" (We have strong radar interference). The word "radar" was not used, perhaps even not known in Germany in 1944. They used a somewhat similar system, but called it "Funkmeßgeräte" (radio measuring equipment).
  • During the final scenes of the movie, when an American general is taken up "Omaha" beach, it's actually Juno beach, where the Canadians landed.
  • When two German planes strafe Gold-Juno beaches, the airborne camera overruns the set exposing the empty beach ahead which has no obstacles, vehicles, or men.
  • Before Oberstleutnant Priller and Unteroffizer Wodarczyk attack the Allies there is some stock footage of weaponless BF-108 "Taifun" liason/observation aircraft. Priller and Wodarczyk flew FW-190s on that mission.
  • Most of the Americans armed with Thompson submachine guns are wearing M1 rifle clip ammo belts instead of Thompson magazine belts.
  • The German observer who first sees the invasion fleet does so with binoculars made in Germany. We know this because it is written so on the bottom of the binoculars, in English.
  • When Pvt. Schultz is lost and finds fellow soldiers across the wall from him, he crosses the wall by swinging his leg over it. When he does, it shakes.
  • There's a typo on the caption introducing General Pemsel. It says "Befehlssab 7. Armee" where has to be "Befehlsstab 7. Armee"
  • When the ships are about to begin bombarding the beaches you see a group of planes fly by the camera these are Douglas Sky Raiders which did not see service until the late 1940s.
  • During the British glider assault on the bridge, the same glider lands three times.
  • When LTC Vandervoort uses his flashlight to illuminate his map (while having his broken ankle taped), the flashlight illuminates the map, but displays a flashlight-shaped shadow in the center of the map (indicating the stage light used to "really" illuminate the map).
  • When the coded radio messages are read out in French, the awaited second line of the poem by Verlaine, "Blesse mon coeur d'une langueur monotone" ("Wounds my heart with a monotonous languor") sets the French resistance-group in motion. They leave the hiding Allied pilots and take up rifles. The next line heard on the radio before it is shut off is "J'aime les chats siamois" ("I like Siamese cats") But when the Germans hear and are recording the identical broadcast and hear the line of poetry, the coded message after that is a message heard before the French resistance-fighters heard the poetry line: "Daphné à Monique: Il y a le feu à l'agence de voyage. Inutile de s'y rendre." ("Daphne to Monique: There is a fire at the travel agency. It is no use to get there").
  • When the second line of the Verlaine poem is said ("Blessent mon coeur d'une langueur monotone"), the subtitle reads "Wounds [singular] my heart with a monotonous languor". It should say "Wound", plural, as the subject of the verse is the plural "sobs".
  • When we see Lovat's British commandos land, one of the men is carrying an M-3 "Grease Gun". That was an American weapon never given to the British.
  • When the two men are on the rocking boat in the beginning, the straps on their helmets remain at a 90 degree angle to the car they're sitting in despite the boat's drastic rocking back on forth, showing that it was the camera, not the boat wobbling.
  • When Lord Lovat leads his men to Pegasus Bridge, he can clearly be seen holding a Mannlicher Schoenauer Model 1903 carbine. One of the well-known eccentricities of Lord Lovat was that he always carried an old Winchester rifle in combat.
  • During the go/no go sequence, a jet can be heard flying overhead as the naval representative is speaking.
  • The real Ouistreham casino had been destroyed and replaced by a German bunker before the D-Day landings, rather than having a bunker built into its basement as shown. The casino seen in the film was a set built on the harbour at Port-en Bessin.
  • When the gliders land at Pegasus Bridge, the caption on screen states "Orne River" and the bridge can be seen below. Pegasus Bridge, where Major Howard's glider landed, is on the Caen Canal, not the Orne.
  • During a long continuous shot on the deck of a troop ship involving one soldier discussing his "Dear John" letter to another soldier, a young soldier playing a harmonica can be heard and seen in the background, playing a variant of the film's title score. In the middle of his playing, the musical key changes, and then returns to the original key. With a harmonica (capable of only playing one key), the soldier would have been required to change harmonicas, and never does.
  • During a very early scene in France, the back end of a Citroen 2CV can be seen parked at the side of the street as the German soldiers march down it.
  • When Lovat orders the piper to play "Blue Bonnets over the Border", the song he actually plays is "Black Bear".
  • When Lovat"s commandos land, the piper is playing "Black Bear"; however, when we see the piper he is still trying to inflate the bagpipe using one hand.
  • The British pathfinders land on the HQ of General Von Salmuth, commander of the 15th army. However, the pathfinders had actually landed on General Reichert's HQ (Reicher was commander of the 711 division in Normandy) and also, Von Salmuth and the 15th army were actually at the Pas De Calais.
  • On the British beaches, a British journalist is seen releasing a pigeon carrying a message and cursing it as it flies inland - "Damned Traitors". The actual journalist was Charles Lynch, a Canadian working for Reuters.
  • The movie shows that the German 155mm guns on Pointe du Hoc were gone when Colonel Rudder's Rangers got there. It doesn't show that the Rangers continued inland, found the guns and destroyed them.
  • In the film, the helmets worn by the 2nd Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc have no markings. In reality, Ranger helmets had an orange diamond on the back, with a number indicating battalion.
  • According to Schirer's book, far from being deafened by the church bell, John Steele said that he didn't notice it.
  • After the paratrooper clears the bird house he uses his cricket to check out the bushes. The German replies with two shots, however he is using a Mauser K98 bolt action rifle. In reality he could only shoot one bullet at a time.
  • During the shelling at the beginning of the invasion the French farmers mirror breaks and its position shifts. In doing so a stage light is clearly seen.