Written by Mr. Mouseburger 25th Feb 2006
Kindly submitted by Roadkill
Robert Shaw's job as the fanatical Colonel Hessler in this film was amazing, and his death evokes no remorse from the audience. The Germans, at this stage of the war, find themselves low on petrol and oil and Hessler finds himself in command of a King Tiger tank unit heading for a fuel depot that is under American control.
Taking control of the depot is a necessary factor for German success and so to increase their chances, a squad of American speaking Germans have taken over the depot but need the fuel trucks in Hessler's convoy. As Hessler continues his twelve kilometre journey, a rough band of Americans come in to the depot in a turretless tank.
Lt. Weaver notices the commander of the German squad as being the traffic director at a road sign that had been switched. The tank commander, Sgt. Guffy, fires a 0.50 calibre at the German and kills the others. The subsequent fire awakes Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley, who is recovering from wounds received in a plane crash.
Hessler spots the fuel dump and orders no shooting to take place. Kiley on the other hand tells his men that they must burn the dump. Weaver has other plans. As Hessler approaches, Weaver opens the fuel barrels and rolls them down the hill. He then grabs a grenade and rolls it down with the petrol.
The resultant explosion sets all the tanks caught in petrol slick ablaze. What happens next is carnage; Germans abandon their tanks, only to be shot or burned to death.
Hessler's tank has also taken a beating from the barrels exploding near the tank, and the driver abandons the tank and runs for his life. Hessler is made of sterner stuff though and decides to take control of the tank. He tries to steer it to the dump but his tracks embed in the dirt. Even though it is hopeless task, Hessler increases the speed.
Kiley rolls one last barrel down. It barely misses a fence and slams into the tank. Fire baths the inside of the tank and Hessler. Suddenly the turret explodes and Hessler is blasted into a million pieces.
if Martin Hassler had lived he would have allowed Hitler to move even faster towards Antwerp.
First of all, its HESSLER not Hassler. Secondly, he was not a real person, in the movie he was representing several non-fictional characters all in one.
Of course he's not a real person. Because this charts deaths in films, not in history. And the write-up doesn't mention he's a real person either.