Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.
Please see the reasons for this title in the "Behind the scenes" section below, and/or the relevant discussion on the talk page.
- "No trace yet, sir!"
- ―German soldier on Indiana Jones[src]
A Nazi soldier was part of the German boarding party stationed aboard the U-boat Wurrfler when Nazis intercepted the Bantu Wind in the Aegean Sea to reclaim the Ark of the Covenant, the Biblical relic captured out from under them at their 1936 dig at Tanis, Egypt by Indiana Jones.
Biography[]
In 1936, a Nazi soldier was part of the German forces stationed aboard the U-boat Wurrfler acting under Colonel Dietrich, French archaeologist René Belloq and Gestapo agent Major Toht following the Nazi excavation of the Ark of the Covenant at Tanis, Egypt.[1]
After American archaeologist Indiana Jones and bar owner Marion Ravenwood interfered and captured the Ark themselves, the two intended to carry it to England on board the Bantu Wind, a pirate ship captained by a man named Katanga, but the Nazis intercepted them in the Aegean Sea and sent a boarding party onto the ship, the soldier among them.[1]
The soldier updated Colonel Dietrich.
The Nazis held Captain Katanga and his crew at gun-point as they sought out the Ark as well as Jones and Ravenwood. While a sergeant found Ravenwood and others retrieved the Ark, the Nazis were unable to find any trace of the archaeologist. After Ravenwood was brought to the main deck, Dietrich and Belloq demanded the presence of Jones but the soldier informed them that their search was fruitless.[1]
Unbeknownst to them, as Katanga convinced Dietrich that he had killed Jones, the man in question was actually hiding in a funnel nearby. After taking Marion and the Ark, the Germans, including the soldier, accompanied their superiors back to their vessel and on to Geheimhaven.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The Wurrfler boarding party soldier was portrayed uncredited by stuntman Nick Gillard in Raiders of the Lost Ark.[1] Gillard later provided stunts and played the Periscope Soldier in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.[2]
In the Marvel Comics' comic book adaptation, the soldier is absent and another soldier is the one who says the line.[3] In Ryder Windham's junior novelization, the soldier's line is slightly altered to "There's no trace yet, sir!".[4]