# "The Desert Rats" (1953): What did the German sentry say? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710 "2018-01-29T05:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/1 "2018-01-29T05:40:59Z")
The Desert Rats have employed some Italian-speaking chaps to drive trucks thru the German line to blow up an underground ammunition depot. A German soldier stops them, and the driver \*chatters non-stop, and the Germans soldier just lets them pass, muttering. . . . [something]. I’m inferring it’s something like ‘Crazy-ass Italian soldiers,’ but I have no idea. \*Bonus points for translating what the driver is saying. Sorry, no film clip available. I’ve already deleted it. Edit: Richard Burton was probably 27 when this was being filmed. I thought he looked mid 40s. And hard-living, hard-living Robert Newton, best remembered for giving us the archetypical ‘pirate accent’, played. . . a boozing solider! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/2 "2018-01-29T05:52:44Z")
Here’s the movie. What’s the time signature? [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkL1J2Bw3ZU) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/3 "2018-01-29T06:20:04Z")
[quote=“terentii, post:2, topic:807710”] Here’s the movie. What’s the time signature? [/QUOTE] Never mind, I found it. 40:15. He’s kind of hard to understand. Aside from wanting to see their identification and marching orders, the only thing I really got was “Ah, crazy Italians!” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/4 "2018-01-29T06:28:55Z")
Listening to it for the umpteenth time, it sounds something like “They don’t know where they want to go. Ah, let them go to [?],” as in “Who cares where they want to go?” Or something like that. I’m pretty sure he’s not a native German speaker, the way he rolls his “r” in “Verruchte.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/5 "2018-01-29T06:41:31Z")
Aha! Found this on line: > **[Desert Rats, The (1953) Movie Script | SS](https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=desert-rats-the)** > > Desert Rats, The (1953) Movie Script | SS _(in German) Roadblock. Travel orders._ - (in ltalian) We’re going to the front. - (in German) Your travel orders. Keep talking. (in ltalian) We have travel orders. Understand? Orders from General Rommel. (in German) Wait. You can’t… Stop! (man) What happened, Mller? Crazy ltalians. They don’t even know where they want to go. May the devil take them.\* Not too bad on my part, considering I haven’t used my German since 2005! 🆒 \*This one is actually incorrect. He asks the driver for his _Ausweise_, or ID papers. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/6 "2018-01-29T07:03:01Z")
Some additional information: _Sperre_ is roadblock, and it sounds like he says “das Datsche,” which to my knowledge is neither the Devil nor Hell. This one has me stumped. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/7 "2018-01-29T07:11:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “das Datsche” Or maybe “das Datscher.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/8 "2018-01-29T08:30:47Z")
“Sperre. Ausweise.” Italian “Ihr Marschbefehl, bitte.” Italian “Ja, warten Sie doch. Sie können doch nicht, halt!” “Was ist los, Müller?” “Verrückte Italiener. Die wissen gar nicht einmal, wohin sie wollen. Ah, der Teufel soll sie holen.” The translation upthread is accurate. I can’t hear “Datsche” or whatever you think they are saying. Müller is definitively a native German speaker. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/9 "2018-01-29T10:59:35Z")
I think there’s a regional accent there, but I’m not up on all of them - maybe Bavarian or Austrian? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/10 "2018-01-29T12:59:44Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > “Sperre. Ausweise.” > Italian > “Ihr Marschbefehl, bitte.” > Italian > “Ja, warten Sie doch. Sie können doch nicht, halt!” > “Was ist los, Müller?” > “Verrückte Italiener. Die wissen gar nicht einmal, wohin sie wollen. Ah, der Teufel soll sie holen.” > > The translation upthread is accurate. I can’t hear “Datsche” or whatever you think they are saying. Müller is definitively a native German speaker. I was listening for “Teufel,” but damned if I could hear it. I thought maybe he was using a dialect word. Or maybe my hearing just isn’t what it used to be. ☹ As for the accent, I’m pretty sure it’s not Hochdeutsch. It does sound more southern, maybe Bavarian. I’ve known Bavarians and Swiss who rolled their "r"s like that. It seems to me he also stretches out the “e” in “Italiener” more than is standard. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/11 "2018-01-29T14:31:53Z")
Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/12 "2018-01-29T16:09:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Or maybe “das Datscher.” 😕 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/13 "2018-01-29T20:16:49Z")
I \*\*STILL \*\*can’t hear “Teufel” in there! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/14 "2018-01-29T20:44:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I \*\*STILL \*\*can’t hear “Teufel” in there! :mad: Well, he says it with a (Bavarian?) accent, so it comes out like “Deufel” or “Doifel”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-rats-1953-what-did-the-german-sentry-say/807710/15 "2018-01-29T21:08:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I \*\*STILL \*\*can’t hear “Teufel” in there! :mad: Ironically, that was one of the two words _I_ could pick out, the other obviously being ‘Italiener.’