The Fall of Eben Emael: Belgium 1940 (Raid)
Language: English
Pages: 80
ISBN: 1780962614
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
In early May 1940, the fortress of Eben Emael was a potent sentinel over the Belgian-Dutch borderlands. A ferro-concrete monster built in the 1930s on the Albert Canal, the fortress covered 75 hectares on the surface, had 5km of tunnels underground and was studded with bunkers, gun turrets and casemates. Add a garrison of 1,200 men and the natural protection of 60m-high canal walls, and Eben Emael gave the impression of near-impregnability.
Yet on 10 May, in the very first hours of Hitler's campaign in Western Europe, just 78 elite airborne soldiers managed to defeat this fortress in an operation of unprecedented tactical skill. Deployed by glider onto the very top of the fortifications, they utilized elite training, fast movement and specialist explosives to destroy many of the gun positions and trap much of the garrison within the fortress. Simultaneously, three other assault detachments conducted high-risk glider operations to capture critical bridges over the Albert Canal. By the end of 11 May, following the arrival of German infantry reinforcements, Eben Emael was in German hands.
This Eben Emael RAID title tells the complete, fascinating story of this unique action. It sets the raid fully in context, explaining the development, training, skills and weaponry of Hitler's new Fallschirmjäger arm. It also describes in detail the physical structure and tactical challenges of the Eben Emael fortress, and gives a blow-by-blow account of how the operation unfolded from the first moment the German gliders lifted into the air until the last Belgian defender surrendered.
The text, including first-hand accounts of the battle, is brought to life by colour artworks, which provide clear graphic illustration of the battle site and dramatic depictions of key moments in the battle. Some 50 photographs include both powerful archive images and photographs from around the site today. All elements combined, this title forms an authoritative guide to this landmark airborne raid.
The Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food
The Perfect Nazi: Uncovering My Grandfather's Secret Past
American Volunteer Group Colours and Markings
bridges 56 Securing Eben Emael 63 Surrender 67 ANALYSIS 70 Lightning attack 73 The heroes 75 CONCLUSION 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FURTHER READING 79 INDEX 80 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com INTRODUCTION There are few better representations of elite soldiers or tactics in action than the raid on Eben Emael on 10 May 1940. Almost everything about the raid was cutting edge. The method of combat deployment – an airborne assault by glider-landed troops – was untested in
controller, Leutnant Egon Delica, was embedded with Sturmgruppe ‘Granit’ to co-ordinate Ju 87 strikes against Belgian forces moving against Eben Emael, plus supply drops to the German troops once they were dug in on the defence. Not that they were intended to hold on indefinitely. Generalmajor Johann Joachim Stever’s 4. Panzer-Division was intended to cross the Albert Canal shortly after the bridges had been secured. One of its attached units, Pionier-Bataillon 51, would then head up to
which had Coupole Nord as its objective. The respective glider was skilfully flown in by Unteroffizier Hans Distelmeier, who landed his aircraft within 20m of the target. The men emerged from their glider and immediately began to be hit by machine-gun fire from the MICA hut, which Lieutenant Longdoz was defending with a small group of men and two machine guns. Subduing this position with Trupp 5, after Trupp 8 had taken Coupole Nord, cost the Germans one wounded and two dead, the first German
fortification. The generators were destroyed with dynamite charges, and other electrical and mechanical components were smashed up by hand with iron bars and axes. Any guns that remained in action had explosive charges pushed into the breech and detonated. Finally, at about 1215hrs, a Belgian bugler sounded a surrender call on his instrument, the strange sound heard by Germans and Belgians alike. A Capitaine Vamecq, tasked with performing the formal surrender, emerged with another officer, who
Belgian Army in its entirety had surrendered, and the Germans surged onwards in their campaign to take Western Europe. 69 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com ANALYSIS Hindsight can make the German victory at Eben Emael appear almost inevitable. The sheer skill of the German attack force, plus the grave mistakes of the Belgian defence, make the victory appear like that of an eagle amid a flock of doves. Yet for those conducting the operation, without the clear view of the road ahead,
