The Belgian fortress Eben-Emael was considered impenetrable, with its heavy defences and a 1200 strong garrison. Yet on May 10th 1940, with the invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands and France, it merely took several dozen German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) to capture the fort.
This Blitzkrieg was meant to overpower Belgium, the Netherlands and France in a surprise attack, preventing their military from properly responding. The Belgian village Eben-Emael lies in the province of Luik, not far away from the Dutch border. Nearby this village lies the similarly named fortress. Completed in 1935, its goal was to guard the vital bridges at the junction of two crucial waterways: the Albert Canal and Maas River. Fortress Eben Emael was the stronghold that both the Germans targeted for capture, and the Belgians and French counted on to resist a German assault… The thing is, the German plan to capture the fortress relied on the use of Fallschirmjäger, or paratroopers. This new elite unit of soldiers dropped from gliders and had to wreak havoc behind enemy lines.
Yet when the unit that was meant to capture the fortress, Sturmgruppe Granit, started training, nobody had any idea what their mission or target was… for months. And the unit itself consisted of just 85 Fallschirmjäger, so any rumours that they were to capture the best-defended fortress of Belgium, manned by 1200 Belgian soldiers… well, it would be quite rich if that really was the case, considering they would be outnumbered 14:1… Yet that was the case, and the battle of Fort Eben Emael was one of the most spectacular missions of that fateful day Germany launched its offensive towards its Western neighbours.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:37 Fort Eben-Emael
4:12 Preparing the Assault
8:37 Assault on Eben-Emael
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