MovieChat Forums > Where Eagles Dare (1969) Discussion > Talking in code over the radio to HQ?

Talking in code over the radio to HQ?

posted 13 years ago by jh66
4 replies | jump to latest

The Eagle's Nest castle is a German intelligence centre, so why are British secret agents using words over the radio back to England (even in German) like 'castle' and mentioning slain agents?

Even in occupied France and Belgium, SOE and OSS agents never dared stay on the radio for long due to the Abwehr locating their location with sophisticated equipment (and the Gestapo did catch and torture/execute agents) let alone blurting out geographical words and stating agents were dead?

Wouldn't it be safe practice to use coded references for the castle, operatives, times and rendez-vous etc?

[–] screenman 13 years ago

Yes, I thought that was a bit sloppy as well.

[–] acombe 12 years ago

Broadsword calling Danny boy

[–] spookyrat1 12 years ago

You're very likely correct, but most messages were quite short. The producers also had to balance realism, with letting the audience know what the state of play was IMO.

[–] jh66 12 years ago

True, but surely some literary device could have been used (commander at HQ in England explaining the message to a junior officer, as Hollywood films do!) to avoid this dangerous practice?