Character stereotypes of WWII?

[turgid]

Oddball from Kellys Heroes.

Perhaps not a sterotype but certainly should be, every war movie could be improved by adding an Oddball.

[Trencher]

Definitely Swabians!  According to my Berlin friends they have a reputation for financial accumen similar to the Scots over here (i.e. tight).  Also, they have a dialect which is difficult for other Germans to understand (Schwabisch).

That said I have stayed in the Swabisch area quite a few times and found them quite charming hosts.

This reminds me about a British documentation about the Somme, where a Swabian officer was reporting the enemys progress to the German GHQ. It was interesting to hear a rather distinctive German accent in a British documentation, which makes it even more authentical to me.

Oh, and even the Swabians say about themselves "Being economical is not the same thing as being stingy." :wink:

Well, when it comes to stereotypes, most of them were already mentioned.

[Howard Whitehouse]

If I put together a notional German squad and an American squad, would everyone be willing to have a look at it?

Note that, as an Anglo, I may choose German names that don't sound quite right  --- oh, alright, I'll just mix up the names of German footballers of the last 40 years.  ::

[Plynkes]

You must go back a little further and have a Trautmann, then. He was the man.

[Lowtardog]

The best accents (a bit of local prejudice here) I heard on a documentary  (I think a Richard Holmes series)  was about Monte Casino. Well the Grman discussing the siege was an ex Falschirmjaeger who had settled in the north east and his accent was awesome, Geordie with a touch of German.

I often pondered what it would have been like had he met an old Polish guy who drank in my local Pub, he had been a Polish Para during the war and if he imbibed too much would get all punchy and chat away about the war :mrgreen: