American Military Cemetery, Normandy, France (Present Day)
On Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944 -- 0630 Hours
At the Farm House
In the Countryside
In A Village
In the Town
 
 

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General Comments

Comments on Tanks

• There were only about 1400 Tiger 1's ever produced during the war and at most 700 were used at one time (about 600 of which were being used by the SS). I find it very unlikely that they would have encountered them. On the other hand I don't believe they were Russian T-34's however, I could be mistaken. Hocobothehobo
• It's true that the Tiger in the film is built on a T-34 Chassis. But that isn't wrong. When the Tigers were used in Russia they found out that the chassis wasn't working on that sort of landscape, the wheels came full with mud and snow and the tracks got stuck. But the T-34 chassis was perfectly suitable for the Russian landscape. So some in mobile Tiger were placed on the T-34 chassis. Especially later on in the war, when resources were poor, Tigers were built on T-34 chassis. So it isn't a mistake. RJ Albrink
• In the town at the end, one of the Americans sticks a machine gun through the tank's eye-slit and fires. The only problem is that those eye-slits had about six inches of bullet-proof glass in them. A piece of one was a paper weight for a WWII Vet my dad worked for. Darryl X. 
  • [Reply to Darryl X: That would be fine...... if the glass was not UP as it was clearly in the film. Neil HOLMES]
• What I think people watching this film ought to remember is that none, other than Captain Miller and Sgt. Horvaths characters, are combat veterans. So calling a German Tank a Panzer isn't inaccurate, in fact it was commonplace. The "Tigers" depicted are indeed Russian T34/85's weather or not they were also used in Kelly's Heroes, I don't know. But they too were T34's. Just look at the running gear. This story takes place on D-Day and picks up again on D+3 when Miller gets the orders to find Ryan. Assuming it takes a few days for Miller and his squad to get to Remel, we can safely say it would be around D+5 or D+6 when they finally find him. My biggest problem is using a unit from the Omaha Beach area when Utah Beach was closer to where Ryan was supposed to be in the first place. With the airborne mis-drops occurring it wouldn't be difficult to place a trooper from the 101st in an area where the 82nd was supposed to be. And everything I've read concerning Operation Overlord tells me the airborne aspect as well as the waterborne aspects were a total fiasco. But having a unit from the Omaha area sounds totally unrealistic to me. Thom Sutherland
  • [Reply to Thom Sutherland: Are you aware that not many units of rangers were taken to Utah beach? Neil HOLMES]
• The Germans had excellent radio communication in their tanks. Why are the commanders hanging out of the cupolas pointing & giving directional orders? How is the driver "seeing" where he's pointing? In the middle of a tight little combat area like that with all that small arms fire, etc., they would have been all buttoned up. Also, I agree they barely use the machine guns, why? Ranan White
  • [Reply to Ranan White: This was common place amongst WWII commanders as visibility was almost nil inside a tank. Besides that, why might he be not referring to his gunner sitting near him? Neil HOLMES]
• When the sniper (Jackson) was in the tower during the last combat fight, the tank couldn't have shot the tower. The tower was at least 20 stories high .(If you don't beleive me, look at the part when Tom Hanks tells Jackson to go in the bell tower.) temcgallagher
• Watch 'Battle of the Bulge' to see what the Tigers could have looked like if T-34's where used. The Tigers portrayed in this look absolutely nothing like a real Tiger and I think that SPR has come the closest to showing the real thing. Matthew Palin
• The introduction of the PzKpfw VI Tiger I heavy tank provided a dramatic improvement in the power of German armored formations. Both because of the real technical advantages of the Tiger I, and the propaganda advantages of creating "elite" units in the Panzertruppen, the Tiger was assigned to special heavy tank battalions (schwerer Panzer Abteilungen - sPzAbt.) These were to be held at army or corps level and assigned as needed to reinforce other units during a campaign. Only a few divisions ever received organic Tiger battalions. These included Panzergrenadier Division Grossdeutschland and Panzer Lehr Division. Buddy R
• There were no Tiger tanks in the American Sector during the first week of the invasion. They were in the British sector around Caen. DobyDarnel
• In Remel, when the sniper dude is giving Miller hand signs, he informs him that there are two Tigers, about forty troops and two Panzers. Later they successfully knock out one Tiger and one of two Marders, there are no Panzers. Thad Fuller
  • [Reply to Thad Fuller: Read some of the other replies - to any allied soldier, an AFV such as a marder or any tank is a panzer (unless it's a tiger. Neil HOLMES]
• I wonder if anyone noticed the doubtfulness of 56-ton Tiger tanks, shown storming a small canal bridge. Bridges like that, that I have seen, often have signs warning that the bridge won't hold more than a few tons of vehicle weight. J Khalili
• US troops and Tigers did not meet in combat until the 16th June 1944. Mark Mitchell
• My understanding from the Tank Museum in Bovington,Dorset, UK, is that the tanks used to portray the Pzkfw VI ausf I "Tiger" tanks in the street fighting scene were designed and constructed by them expressly for the movie after it was found that existing Tiger tanks were too fragile or valuable to go through the rigors of Hollywood special effects. Read about it at: 

http://www.tankmuseum.co.uk/pr-art/pr140998.htmlor read the below text from the website - D. Rowden: 
[Come to Bovington Tank Museum and see the replica Tiger tank that was used in the Steven Spielberg film 'saving private ryan' which stars Tom Hanks and had its premier showing the weekend of Friday 11th September. After a worldwide search showed that of the 8 Tiger tanks left, only one was still running, and this would not have withstood the vigorous and demanding role it would have to play in the film, it was decided that a replica would be constructed. With the help and assistance of Bovington Tank Museum, two fully functional replica Tiger tanks were designed and constructed. Both of which were armored to sustain the heavy action and battle impacts in the realistic action sequences of the film. http://www.tankmuseum.co.uk/pr-art/pr140998.html] 
• So obviously all of you who insist the Tigers were modified T-34s are mistaken. The replicas weren't perfect, but not bad considering the relatively modest budget of the film compared to Titanic or other shows. The lack of defensive machine guns on the Tigers was very disappointing, however. And of course portraying the Self-propelled artillery as "Panzers" was equally disappointing. Impressive, however was the replica? Sd Kfz 250 half-track in the field combat scene- nicely done. Also the so-called "rabbit" (actually an Sd Kfz 2 "Kettenrad" which must have been the real thing) was a nice touch. I get so tired of seeing  surplus US Army tanks dressed up as Tigers and Panthers in Hollywood films. See the photo of one of the replica Tigers at the Tank Museum. D. Rowden. 
• [Reply to D. Rowden:] Since much of the filming was done in Ireland, it didn't have far to go to return home to Bovington. I saw one of the 'Tigers' in action at Bovingdon before the filming in Ireland was completed.  The Tigers are not the ones from 'Kellys Heroes', one was constructed specifically for 'Private Ryan.' When Steven Speilberg saw it he was so impressed that he re-wrote the village battle scene around it  and asked for a second one to be produced. They are indeed constructed on top of a T34 chassis hence the distinctive running gear. The smaller gun barrel (a sleeve on top of a 76mm) is also a result of this as the T34 is a much smaller tank than the Tiger and a proper 88mm gun barrel would have looked horribly oversized. M Ellson 
• Reply to D. Rowden:] One of the Tiger tanks DOES briefly use it's machine gun. When Upham runs down the stairs of the building where he has just left ammo with Mellish, he has to duck into the cover of the building because the Tiger fires 3 or 4 bursts from its machine gun. It's hard to see, but in slow motion it is clear. R. Smith

 
• An important 'remark' is that the "Tigertanks" used in the movie are modified T-34's. If you look at the tracks and the driving wheels, it's obvious. And it gets even more obvious when you look at the proportions. It's not broad enough and the turret is out of place. You may also question the frequent use of the Tiger in war movies because of it's limited numbers (only aprox. 1500 units where produced). If you study the Tigers used in "Kelly's Heroes" you will find out that it looks like the same Tigers used in Private Ryan. Not because of its fulfillment but because of its shortcomings and because it's obvious that these modified Russian T-34/85 are identical (almost) to those used in Private Ryan. Excuse my poor English writing, I am Swedish.  - D.M.S. Pino
• This film is great, but I've noticed an error that seemed shocking to me; indeed the Tiger tanks in the last battle scene are just modified Russian T34 tank chassis. The modification was really good and I've noticed it after viewing several times the scene. I think the did it very well. It changes others film where American tanks were featuring German ones, (a.g; Patton.) Jamil Mourad
 
• The "Tigers" WERE T-34s. Read about it in the special issue of After the Battle magazine which explains all this. L. Bishop
• The tiger tanks are converted from T-34s; the small front "non-driving" road wheel is a dead give away. EAE630
• The Tiger tanks shown were both early production versions. There were no early production versions at any time in Normandy 1944. Mark Mitchell
• The planes that bombed the tank at the end of the movie where not tank busters. They were P-51 Mustangs. The tank busters were the P-47 Thunderbolt. States
• Reply to States: That  is partially true.  It happened in the first times of the invasion that P-51 were used as ground attack aircrafts, even if P-47 and British Typhoons were doing most of the job. Bruno Asselin
• Towards the end of the film, the tanks are attacked by aircraft that one of the men calls P-51 tank busters. The primary role of close air support for the ground troops was done by P-47 Thunderbolts of the 9th Air Force. While I'm sure that some P-51s did do some "angel zero" work, it was frowned upon due to the vulnerability of the liquid cooled engine to small arms fire. The P-47s of the IX TAC supporting the First Army and XIX TAC supporting the Third Army wrote the book on air ground cooperation that is still the model for such combat. The tanks should have been attacked by Thunderbolts carrying 500# GP bombs at a minimum, not Mustangs. As good as the .50 cal Browning MG was, it would just scratch the paint on a Tiger tank. Jeffrey Lucash
• The only SS unit Miller and his men would have been able to fight against is the 17 SS Mechanized Division (the only one in northwestern France).  At this time, order of battle of the SS was not including Tiger tanks anymore but the famous Panther G instead. Bruno Asselin
• [Reply to Bruno Asselin: That is Incorrect. SS Panzer Battalions would have been equipped with Mk IVs and Panthers, but there would also be a Heavy Tank Battalion equipped with Tiger I's. i.e. the 101st Heavy Panzer Battalion of the Ist SS Panzer corps. Mike B]
• [Reply to Mike B: No, Mike, it is you who are incorrectly informed. There were no Panzerbattalions in the 17.SS-Panzergrenadierdivision, only a battalion of Sturmgeschutz III G assault guns. The 2.SS-Panzerdivision 'Das Reich' wasn’t even in the area, it was fighting the British around Caen. Spielberg and Co wholly missed out on this one. The organization you refer to is the one of the Panzerregiment of a Panzerdivision (a Panzerdivision also had two motorized/mechanized regiments). The Panzerregiment had two tank battalions, by this time one of them Panzer IV:s and the other PanzerV:s. A Panzergrenadierdivision is not a Panzerdivision and it was meant to be equipped with only one tankbattalion (instead of two) and those were never Tigers. Later in the war, tanks of a Panzergrenadierdivision were generally substituted with assault guns for production reasons, like in the 17.SS-division 'Götz von Berlichingen' just referred to. Tigers were basically organized in independent heavy tank battalions. A handful of elite Panzerdivisons were directly issued an independent company of them however, and among those was the 2.SS. At full strength it operated 14 viechles. The reason Spielberg had to have Tigers in the film is probably due to their legendary status. Panzerkampwagen IV H-J and the superior Panzerkampwagen V ('Panther') were both about five times as common as the Panzerkampfwagen VI B, 'Tiger' I. Snafu] 
• [Reply to Snafu: Whilst you may be right about the composition of the units and types of German armour Mike B is not wrong at all. At no point does he state that he believes that the 17th SS had Tiger tanks, nor does he disagree with the concept that Panzer divisions contained mostly Panzer IV's and Panthers. He does not even claim that the Heavy battalions were at any stage attached to divisions. He is merely disagreeing rightly with the idea that the SS contained no Tigers. Neil Holmes]
• [Reply to Snafu:  Actually, you're right about the SS divisions having Panthers (Mark V) and Mark IV H's as the main Panzers in there Pz Rgmts, but the "Tiger I" was the Tiger E, "Tiger B" was the Tiger II, the official designations Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B and Panzerbefehlswagen Tiger Ausf. B (for the command version). The official designation was frequently shortened to Tiger B. SdKfz182 Tiger II "B" or Royal or King Tiger (the suggestive name Königstiger (King Tiger) was an unofficial designation first used in early January 1945 in a monthly production report from the Speer Ministry. This was never an officially accepted designation during the war by either the Panzertruppen or the Waffenamt) was an updated design of the "Panther" because the decision was made at standardization of as many components as possible for use in both the Tiger II and the Panther II (which was never put into production). The only "relative" the Tiger I had was the PzJagd (tank hunter) Ferdinand or "Elephant", being constructed on the Tigers chassis and basically a Tiger w/o the movable turret (lack of ball bearings made that decision), the Elephant not being on scene long because of it's extreme use of armor and lack of secondary armament. Buddy R]
• Nobody in the history of war would have been stupid enough (maybe the Russians) to send the tanks at the same time as the grunts in an area such the street we see in the movie (in the final fight).  Aufklarers and Schutzens would have cleared the place long before and the tanks would have stayed far away enough from antitank weapons (except the weak baz, Americans had none) but close enough to provide very good fire support. Bruno Asselin
  • [Reply to Bruno Asselin: What about Michael Wittmann? He was a extremely experienced soldier and yet he went into a village that HE KNEW was occupied, without any accompanying infantry and it cost him his Tiger. K. Nault]
• In the scene where the American soldiers, about 6 of them, climb on top of the Tiger, and then they all get blown away by the 20 mm flak gun. They just tumble off, not visibly damaged! At any range, especially that close up, a 20 mm round would totally disintegrate you. They just fall dead, when in real life they would've been splattered all over the place. Not a pretty fate for a soldier, but that's what would've happened. Cyrus Clennon
• [Reply to Cyrus Clennon: I recall that one of the soldiers on the top of the tank was decapitated. J. McCarney]
• The American soldier that fires into the Drivers Port on the Tiger would have had the Bullets deflect off the Thick armored Glass. David Hughes
• [Reply to David Hughes: He's right about the tiger scene when a Thompson was fired into the drivers OB slot. The slot has a 3.7 inch multi layered glass visor, which in my opinion would be pretty much bullet proof. Greg & Katy]
• The diameters of the barrels on the Tigers 88mm Guns are too small. They are probably about 50 mm. David Hughes
• [Reply to David Hughes: Actually since the tank was built around the T34/85 the barrel is at least 85mm in diameter, surely we can forgive them 3mm! Neil Holmes]
• The movie takes place within the first two weeks of the Normandy invasion.  During that time the 2nd SS Panzer Division which attacks at the bridge in Remel (a town which is probably imaginary) in reality was no where near the front and was stuck far to the south fighting French partisans. Jeff Sherwin
• one of the Tiger tanks (Russian T-34 mockups used in Kelley's Heroes) bears insignia of the 1st SS Panzer Division (crossed skeleton keys on a shield) which also was no where near the American sector and didn't arrive on the front until well after this movie ends.  I don't even think either division fought against the Americans (only the British and Canadians) until well into the breakout. Jeff Sherwin
• The Panthers or panzers identified by the man in the tower were not supposed to be Wespes (Wasps) since Wasps were mobile artillery units with 105mm guns.  They were supposed to be Panzerjagers IIIs (Marders) which were built on Czech tank chassis'.  I think they did a reasonably good job with those exception that I don't think professional soldiers would ride an open top vehicle down the middle of an unsecured street where they would be vulnerable to small arms fire from above.  Then again by that time many of the German soldiers were pretty substandard. Jeff Sherwin
• [Reply toJeff Sherwin: In the movie it is stated that the Panthers didn't 'take the bait' and were therefore not part of the fight. The Wespe was apparently in support of the Tigers. Mike B]
• When the 20mm gun is spraying the tiger with the U.S. soldiers on it the 20mm gun itself does not traverse back and forth at all just points straight ahead yet the bullets spray all over the tank hitting all the soldiers. Andrew Ferguson
• Why were there only 2 crew members in the Wespe, before it was destroyed? Greg Way
  • [Reply to Greg Way: Nope. Some others would be out of site - like the driver. Neil HOLMES]
• Why do the Tiger tanks sound like dinosaurs? He made them sound like living breathing animals. W1037
• RE: Two Tigers & one Panther. I am sure that he said two Tigers and one Panzer. He was wrong anyway as there was a Wespe and a Jagdpanzer (Guderians Duck), as you so rightly mentioned (Wespe). I also heard that the Tiger was made from the chassis of a T-34, but I don't believe that at all. Whatever, It was a fairly accurate copy except for the road wheels, commanders cupola, track links etc). Greg Way
• No machine gun fire from Tigers. Anonymous
  • [Reply to Anonymous: Moving vehicle or stationary unable to traverse would cause the hull mg problems. Firing mg and the main gun would be pointless because the Main gun's recoil would spoil the aim. Neil HOLMES]
• The soldiers defend the bridge against German Tiger tanks. According to a reliable source, there were no Tiger tanks in the American sector during the D-Day Invasion time frame. Anonymous
• Although most people probably wouldn't notice this, the mock-up tiger tank actually depicts an early production version with air cleaner hoses on the rear deck and drum-like commander's cupola, which were long gone by 1944. Anonymous
• And isn't it a little strange that a German tank equipped with anti-personnel bomb throwers in its roof managed not to use it while being swarmed over by American troops? J. Warwick 
• A sticky bomb may have damaged the Tigers tracks but there is no way it would have penetrated its side armour and caused the damage seen. J. Warwick 
• A "sticky bomb" would not penetrate the side armor of a tiger tank because the armor is to thick. Yes, it will effect a track to be thrown - which is what happens in the movie. Jeremy Waters
• Panzer in German means "Armor" not a particular type of tank or armored vehicle. All vehicles or tanks are considered Panzers. Jeremy Waters
• [Reply to Jeremy Waters: I beg to differ, but the term "Panzer" means "Tank" in English. Miguel Bravo]
• [Reply to Jeremy Waters: Yes this may be true, but the Germans rarely referred to such vehicles as half tracks or Panzers. Such vehicles were usually referred to with the prefix SDKFZ then their number which means special purpose vehicle. Even tanks and armoured cars contained this number - e.g. the Panther G's full title was "Sonderkraftfahrzeug 171 Panzerkampfwagen V Ausf G Panther". This designation applied to many different types of vehicle and was certainly more widespread amongst the Germans than the term "Panzer." Neil Holmes]
• This was still one hell of a movie and we must remember that all the events happened over 50 years ago and there just isn't the original equipment to be had. My dad was in the 16th rgt. 1st Div. and I am very proud of him and all of the others of his generation for what they sacrificed! God bless America. DocBob39
• On a Tiger Tank the tracks got blown off, but it's still going. Weird, considering Tigers used their front sprocket... says the book of the Tiger Tank!! SmthBrnd