Clint Eastwood film prop turned in at British gun amnesty
The film featured a group of Allied commandos who, disguised as Germans, were sent behind enemy lines to rescue a captured general. (Photo: IMFDB)
It turns out that one of the guns handed over to police in a national amnesty this month in the UK had some screen time back in its prime.
As reported by Metro News, a former film worker turned in deactivated German MP40 submachine gun at Bridgwater police station in Somerset. Besides its military use, the demilled 9mm burp gun had a starring role in a 1968 MGM film shot in Europe, Where Eagles Dare, based on the Alistair MacLean war novel of the same name.
In the film, Allied commandos infiltrate a German base, disguised at one point as German soldiers. One of the commandos? Army Ranger Lt. Morris Schaffer, played by Clint Eastwood, who deftly used a pair of MP40s in the film to mow down ‘nassis as needed.
Avon and Somerset Police’s evidence manager, Richard Vise, said they confirmed the gun was a prop and it will be transferred to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.
Somerset constabulary’s high mileage MP40 prop gun, now destined for the Royal Museum. (Photo: Southwest News Service)
In all, the agency pulled in 210 guns and gunlike objects including a 1918 Enfield, two rifles made into lamps, a dozen WWII-era handguns, and a 1907 Dreyse pistol.
The two-week amnesty, which wrapped up Sunday, was the first national firearms surrender in England and Wales since 2014
Just gonna drop this Where Eagles Dare death count highlight reel right here.
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