Prince Bernhard, Prince Consort to the Dutch Queen Juliana, who was Inspector General of the Dutch armed forces, was a personal friend of Erik Hazelhof Roelfsma, and served as protector of this movie. He arranged, amongst other things, for the support of the Dutch Marines of the production. However, during shooting, it was revealed that Prince Bernhard had accepted a one million one hundred thousand dollar bribe from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Corporation to influence the Dutch government's purchase of fighter aircraft. The Prince was forced to resign his position as Inspector General as a result of this.