Factual error: In the hedgerow battle, the Fury tank platoon face off with a German MG 42 machine gun and two 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. Each of these guns opens fire only after the previous one gets knocked out. In a real combat situation, all of the guns would open fire at the same time and establish a cross fire, effectively suppressing the ground troops and tanks from advancing. (00:31:35 - 00:33:30)
Suggested correction: By the time the movie takes place (mid to late April 1945) the German army was mostly inexperienced troops with an incredibly small nucleus of veterans. Though the tactical use of weapon systems you mention is correct, I doubt most of the formations still putting up a fight in Germany proper would have had the knowledge/ability to carry it out.
With low experience I would expect the soldiers to open fire too soon and with no communication between guns to create the "talking gun" effect. The fact that the two guns opened fire separate of each other makes very little tactical sense regardless of skill or experience.
Factual error: When Fury enters a village and faces a field gun attack, Sgt. Collier orders through the tank radio "Throw some Willie Pete in that ground floor." While white phosphorus has been used for a century, Willie Pete as a slang term for it only dates from the Vietnam War. (00:48:05)
Factual error: One scene has Sgt. Collier having a conversation with Norman as they are riding on the turret of "Fury" without their tank intercom throat mikes and headphones. The noise of the moving tank alone would cause any conversation to be a shouting match between the two soldiers. Further, they are in column with three other noisy tanks, which would make a casual conversation even more difficult without utilizing their tank intercom system. (01:14:20)
Suggested correction: You can talk on a moving tank. It's not a 747.
Yes, unknown poster, you can talk on a moving tank, as I have done it many times. But on the old WW2 Shermans, talking at a conversation decibel level would be difficult without throat mikes and intercoms. They were not quiet like my old M1 Abrams tank.
Factual error: The film shows the American and German tanks firing at each other on the move. Tank warfare doctrine dictated that tanks must be stationary when shooting at a target, to ensure a hit. Some tanks were equipped with stabilizers on their guns to allow firing on the move. All the tanks in "Fury" (German and American) were not so equipped. (01:17:15)
Suggested correction: The Sherman was one of the first widely produced tanks to feature a gyroscopic stabilized gun and sight. The stabilization was only in the vertical plane, as the mechanism could not slew the turret. The stabilizer was sufficient to keep the gun within 1/8th of a degree, or 2 mils while crossing moderately rough terrain at 15 miles an hour. This gave a hit probability of 70% on enemy tanks at ranges of 300 to 1200 yards. Yes they did fire on the move, although very slowly.
Suggested correction: This entry is half right. German tank Doctrine dictated that vehicles come to a halt before firing. US Army manuals from the period state that if you are out ranged you charge while firing on the move. All of the M4 variants in the film have single axis stabilization systems and by the point in the war depicted in the film were trained to use it.
Factual error: Wardaddy orders Grady to load a smoke shell to blind the Tiger. But Grady takes a shell labelled "HVAP-T M93", which is a high-velocity armor-piecing round from the shelf. When the shell is fired and hit the Tiger, it shows a smoke effect rather than an AP effect. (01:19:20)
Factual error: In 1945 the Model 24 "potato mashers" thrown inside the tank in the end of the movie could not be blast effect grenades, but fragmentation ones used from 1942. Also the TNT used in them would have exploded at almost the same time and not in two separated booms as heard. And the devastation inside the tank would have been much worse. (01:59:00)
Factual error: During the final battle, Gordo the tank driver calls out, "Panzerfaust, four o'clock!", as he looks through his periscope. He could not have seen any targets at four o'clock, as the driver's periscope could barely rotate towards the eleven and one o'clock positions, close to the left and right front corners of the tank's hull. The four o'clock position would be near the right rear of the tank.
Factual error: In the final battle at the crossroads, Fury uses white phosphorus to burn the house. Phosphorus rounds were only supplied for the short barrel 75mm, not the high velocity 76mm, because they held too little phosphorus to be effective.
