The film is based on the historical fact of the founding of the Allied Special Forces, which fought many battles in WW2. The sight of the British Columbia Regiment of the Canadian Army marching in orderly formation while playing "Scotland the Brave," a song of the Scottish soul, on the bagpipes, was impressive. The American soldiers, who were joined by the Canadian troops with Scottish souls, were truly a regiment of fools. The two troops clashed at first, but through hard training and the superb command of the unit's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Frederick The unit grew to be feared by the Nazi Army as the "Devil's Brigade. This special forces unit became the foundation for the later reemergence of the Green Berets. At the time, WW2 U.S. war movies depicted German markings on the bodies of their own tanks, The meat-and-blood combat was not as gruesome, so it was easy to accept the film as a human drama. In the 1990s, I actually saw the military march of "Scotland the Brave" at the "Military Tattoo" held in Edinburgh Castle. I was impressed by the powerful expressions on the faces of each member of the military band as well as the bagpipe tunes that inspired the war spirit.
スコットランド国歌とも言える「Scotland the Brave/勇敢なるスコットランド」をバグパイプ演奏しながら整然と隊列を組んで行進してくるカナダ軍ブリティッシュコロンビア連隊の姿が印象的でした。WW2で数多くの戦績を残した連合軍特殊部隊の創設期の史実を基にした映画です。スコットランド魂を持つカナダ隊が合流したアメリカ軍兵士たちは、まさに愚連隊。最初は衝突を繰り返しましたが、過酷な訓練と部隊指令官ロバート・フレデリック中佐の秀逸な指揮によって、ナチスドイツ軍に「悪魔の旅団」と恐れられる存在となり、後のグリーン・ベレー再興の礎となりました。 当時のWW2米国戦争映画は自国軍戦車の車体にドイツ軍マーキングを描いたもので、肉弾戦も凄惨な演出は無かったので、ヒューマンドラマとして受け留め易かったと思います。 「Scotland the Brave/勇敢なるスコットランド」の軍楽行進は1990年代に「Military Tattoo/ミリタリータトゥー」(エジンバラ城内で毎夏開催されるイベント)で実際に観ましたが、戦意を鼓舞するバグパイプの曲想と併せ、軍楽隊一人ひとりの力強い表情が印象的でした。