Where Eagles Dare characters

Also known as Major Smith

Appears from the start

The British officer commanding a small airborne mission into the Bavarian Alps. Calm, secretive, and fluent in German, he carries orders to recover a captured American general from the nearly inaccessible Schloss Adler before the Germans can extract Allied plans from him.

Also known as Lieutenant Schaffer

Appears from the start

An American Ranger assigned to Smith's otherwise British team. An expert climber and exceptionally capable combat soldier, he has not been told why an American was included and quickly realizes that his commander knows more than the briefing disclosed.

Also known as Colonel Turner

Appears from the start

A senior British intelligence officer involved in briefing Smith's rescue party. He explains that the captive general knows the planning for the coming second front and therefore must be recovered before interrogation compromises it.

Appears from the start

The naval intelligence chief who helps direct the mission from Britain. He emphasizes the urgency of rescuing Carnaby and entrusts Smith with instructions that are not shared with the rest of the team.

Also known as General Carnaby

Appears from the start

An American brigadier general captured after his aircraft comes down on a flight to the Middle East. The Germans take him to Schloss Adler for questioning because the British briefing says he has full knowledge of plans for the Allied invasion of Europe.

Appears from the start

One of the British operatives selected for Smith's airborne rescue team. He enters enemy territory under the same orders as the others, but the unexplained deaths within the party place every member under suspicion.

Appears from the start

A member of the British commando group parachuted near Schloss Adler. Like the other operatives, he has been chosen for experience behind enemy lines and is told that the mission is a direct attempt to recover General Carnaby.

Appears from the start

A British operative in Smith's rescue party. He takes part in the hazardous approach to the castle while Smith and Schaffer try to determine why members of their small team are being killed.

First appears in chapter 3

A British agent who secretly parachutes from the team's aircraft although she was omitted from the men's briefing. Smith knows her assignment, but her unexpected presence deepens Schaffer's doubts about the mission's stated purpose.

First appears in chapter 5

A British agent established in the Alpine village below Schloss Adler under the cover of working at an inn. She provides Mary with local clothing and helps Smith's party move through the heavily guarded area without exposing the larger plan.

First appears in chapter 9

The German commandant at Schloss Adler, responsible for the fortress and for the high-value prisoner brought there. He participates in the effort to identify Carnaby's military knowledge and the people sent to recover him.

First appears in chapter 11

A Gestapo officer who arrives at Schloss Adler during the interrogation. Suspicious, observant, and unwilling to accept convenient explanations, he is a threat to every disguise and competing intelligence claim in the room.