Major Jottrand stares at the map of the greatest fortress in the world.
Gliders have landed. His men are dying.
His bunkers - overrun.
Jottrand attempts to piece together the battle that’s raging above his head.
Every second counts
as the attack on Fort Eben Emael begins.
Belgian soldiers watch as several unmarked planes appear above Fort Eben Emael in the
pre-dawn light.
One Belgian officer thinks they’re British reconnaissance planes. They’re not. Guns
open fire. The wing of the first glider smashes a machine gun position before sliding to a
halt. And Trupp 5 climb out onto Belgian soil.
The first 8 gliders of “Sturmgruppe Granit” land within seconds of each other. Wenzel’s
Trupp 4 suffers an awkward landing and slides to a halt 80 meters from gun position, Mi-Nord.
Wenzel is second in command of the assault force. And unbeknownst to him, his commander
doesn’t make it to the fort in the initial landing, meaning it’s now down to him to
lead the Germans to victory. Almost a thousand Belgians face him and his small force of Fallschirmjager.
It’s almost impossible odds.
But he is helped by the Belgians. One of Major Jottrand’s officers raises the wrong alert,
telling the Belgian soldiers that Wenzel’s force are attacking from the countryside and
not from within. As the defenders scramble to the outskirts of the fort, another glider
hits the ground 20 meters from Coupole Nord. Otto Unger’s Trupp 8 emerge and advance
towards Coupole Nord, taking fire from the MICA anti-aircraft hut.
At the same time, Wenzel’s Trupp are hit by intense machine-gun fire coming from gun
position, Mi-Nord. Mi-Nord’s vision slits dominate the landing ground, threatening to
wipe out Wenzel’s Fallschirmjager force. Wenzel grabs some explosives and rushes the
position, followed by two men carrying a 50kg shaped charge. As Wenzel approaches, the Belgian
machine gun fire becomes sporadic and then goes silent. He arrives to see the shutters
are now closed. The Belgians are artillery men, and aren’t willing to fight the Fallschirmjager
up close. Wenzel and the two Fallschirmjager with the 50kg charge climb on top of Mi-Nord. To
disrupt the Belgians inside, Wenzel pushes a charge into the open periscope in the EBEN
2 dome. The detonation wounds a Belgian soldier inside. The Belgians drop the shutters and
respond with machine gun fire. But it’s ineffectual. So Wenzel orders his men to detonate
the 50kg charge on top of the EBEN 2 dome. The blast kills two and wounds several occupants,
and dents and jams the dome. After further explosives, the defenders seal off the position
and retreat into the bowels of the fort. A telephone rings. Wenzel is scared. Placing
the phone to his ear, he hears someone speaking in a language he can’t understand. Knowing
English, he says “Here are the Germans.” “Mon Dieu!” Is the reply. Despite the
fear, Wenzel has overcome the first major obstacle on Fort Eben Emael, barely minutes
after landing.
The MICA anti-aircraft building has four machine guns, but two jammed before firing a single
shot, one was knocked out by Trupp 5’s glider, and the last one’s just run out of ammunition
after only 50 rounds fired. The Belgian ammunition containers are still sealed and take time
to open. Trupp 5‘s commander Erwin Haug gives them no time. He leads his men over
to the MICA building and quickly overwhelms the Belgians outside with grenades and submachine
gun fire. Four Belgians surrender to Erwin Haug. Thanks to this effort, Trupp 8 can now
focus on their primary objective, Coupole Nord.
Coupole Nord is a retractable armoured emplacement with twin 75mm guns, capable of rotating 360-degrees
and firing both high explosive as well as canister rounds. Coupole Nord’s commander
orders the gunners to load canister rounds, hoping to devastate Wenzel’s men on top
of the fort. Trupp 8 reach it just before the guns are loaded and plant a 50kg charge on
top of the armour shell. It fails to damage Coupole Nord but shock waves shake the crew
inside. Seconds later, Trupp 8 place a 12.5 charge on the door to the Bloc house. And
smash it in. A Belgian Brigadier is killed and four of his men are wounded. Then another
charge detonates, sending shock waves through the cupola, damaging the electricity supply
and the rotation mechanism. The surviving Belgians seal the position and retreat into
the maze of underground passageways below. With Coupole Nord out of action, Trupp 8 and
5 unite and take on the remaining Belgians in the MICA hut. Two Germans are cut down
in the advance. The first German casualties of the battle. One of the dead is Trupp 8’s
commander, Otto Unger. Unwilling to take such casualties again, the Germans decide to walk
behind Belgian prisoners and advanced towards Bloc 4. It’s an illegal move, but it proves
effective. They’re able to detonate a hollow charge which destroys the observation dome,
rendering Bloc 4 useless.
Trupp 9 land at Mi-Sud, close to the barbed wire. Rushing towards their objective, they
have to cut through the wire that’s in their way. A flamethrower prepares to take out Mi-Sud,
but when they reach the bunker, the shutters of the position are closed. Once again, the
Belgian artillerymen are unwilling to fight the Fallschirmjager. Trupp 9 try to place
a 12. charge on top of the embrasure, but it won’t fit right. So instead, they fit
a charge against the machine-gun point - destroying it completely. Peering into the hole left
by the explosives, it’s then that the Fallschirmjager realise the Belgian defenders have fled. And
the position is secured by the Germans.
Trupp 7 lands heavily, injuring two paras. Darting out of their glider, Fritz Heinemann
realises he’s wasting his time as the northern cupolas are fake. He orders his men to destroy
them anyway, to indicate they aren’t operational. He’s soon joined by Trupp 6, who struggle
to get out of a tangle of barbed wire their glider crashes into. Unable to move across
the earth ramparts running between Mi-Sud and Mi-Nord, the two Trupp dig in to defend
their position in the north.
Trupp 3 circles the fort three times before finally sliding gracefully to a halt just
25 meters from Maastricht 1. Swarming the position, Arendt and his men find it impossible
to place a 50kg charge on the curved concrete. Instead, they detonate a 12.5kg charge under
the left-hand 75mm gun. The blast smashes a hole in the concrete and smoke chokes the
Belgians inside.
With one man dead, and several wounded (including their commander), the Belgians
offer little resistance as Arendt leads the way through the hole with sub machine gun
fire. And grenades. Some Belgians surrender. Others retreat down stairs.
Despite destroying
the electrical supply and plunging the bunker into darkness, Arendt isn’t dissuade. He
follows them down the stairs, and manages to reach the locked reinforced door at the
bottom, but can go no further. Instead, he instructs his trupp to to defend their newly
conquered position.
Trupp 1’s glider is forced to hit the ground hard and spins as it slides across the grass,
damaging it’s wing. But all the occupants survive and race towards Maastrict 2. Their
commander, Niedermeier, gets atop the EBEN 3 observation dome and detonates a 50kg charge
- killing two of the Belgians inside. Another 12.5kg charge is placed on the left-hand 75mm
gun, and the blast destroys both the gun and two more Belgian defenders. Niedermeier and
his Trupp make their way inside wearing gas masks. But just like with Arendt, a door blocks
their way. However, Maastrict 2 is secured by the Fallschirmjager.
20 minutes in and five of the fort’s gun emplacements as well as it’s anti-aircraft
battery are destroyed or captured, for only 2 dead and 12 wounded Germans. Victory is
a distinct possibility for Wenzel and his men. However, now they have to try and keep
the Belgian garrison inside whilst also taking out the remaining positions. And Jottrand
is desperately trying to hurt the Fallschirmjager. He radioes the forts at Pontisse and Barchon,
who begin to shell the top of the Fort. Coupole Sud also fires shots which land near Maastricht
2. But all this fire is ineffective as most of the Fallshirmjager are in cover or inside
the bunkers of the fort.
At this point, another glider sails into view. Trupp 10 arrives in the middle of the fort,
providing Sturmgruppe Granit’s reserve - and more importantly - it’s radio. It’s now
that Wenzel discovers that their commander - Rudolf Witzig - hasn’t made it to the
fort. Wenzel doesn’t hesitate. German “Auftragstaktik” - mission tactics doctrine - allows Wenzel
to operate without orders from superiors, so he simply assumes command. Setting up his
HQ inside Mi-Nord, he radioes Major Koch at 0442hrs - “Target reached.” he says, “Everything
in order.” At 0450hrs, Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers spot several swastikas over positions on the
fort. They decide to pound the outer defences rather than risk hurting their own men. But
despite the efforts of the Fallschirmjager, Coupole Sud, Vise 1, Vise 2 and Coupole are
still in Belgian hands. It is now down to Wenzel to deal with the remaining defences
and keep the fort subdued.
Wenzel’s paras engage Vise 1. A 12.5kg hollow charge destroys the gun position and the Belgians
retreat below. At 0535hrs, Trupp 5 assaults Coupole Sud, and detonates a 50kg charge on the
position. Believing they’ve done their job, Trupp 5 leaves, and the Belgians attempt to
repair the damage. As the Germans regroup, bombers fly low over the fortress and drop
two badly needed ammunition containers. Wenzel sends Belgian prisoners out into the hail
of Belgian artillery fire to retrieve them.
Trupp 2 never make it to the fortress. During the flight, a confused Ju 52 pilot forces
them to release their glider too soon and they land in Germany. Their objective was
Coupole 120, the most powerful gun emplacement on Fort Eben Emael. and because there’d
been no fire from Coupole 120 the Germans hadn’t realised that Coupole 120 was still active. From
inside Coupole 120, Commander Marechal des logis Cremers, sees a group of Germans and opens
fire with his rifle, wounding one Fallschirmjager and a Belgian prisoner. Placing 1kg charges down
the 120mm barrels, the Fallschirmjager pop open the breeches of the guns and cause the
Belgians to retreat into the fortress.
The only active gun emplacement now is Vise 2, but it’s ineffectively firing random
rounds to the south. At 0630hrs, Trupp 3 sets a 50kg charge ready to blow Bloc 2 to pieces.
Suddenly
a Belgian counter-attack appears from Bloc 1. One Belgian officer leads a dozen riflemen
out of Bloc 1… and as Bloc 2 explodes, the men turned tail and flee back inside Bloc
1. Jottrand orders a second counter-attack, but that also amounts to nothing, much to
his frustration.
Cremers hasn’t given up. Inside Coupole 120, his men are trying to repair the gun emplacement.
Coupole 120 turns once more! And sat atop is Oberjager Grechza of Trupp 5… drunk. He’s filled
his canteen with rum instead of water... for the wounded. He isn’t wounded, but has consumed
the rum. The Belgians inside Coupole 120 have repaired the right-hand 120mm gun and are
turning the coupole to fire. But Major Jottrand is unable to get permission from his superiors
and so doesn’t order the gun to fire. German troops across the Meuse River are sitting
ducks, but Cremers does nothing.
At 0830hrs another glider lands near the northern rampart. Commander Witzig and Trupp 11 have
finally arrived after being forced to land in Germany due to a snapped tow-rope. Now
Witzig is back in command of his unit and quickly orders the entire Sturmgruppe to destroy
Coupole 120. At 0930hrs the Germans put 120 out of action for good.
It's almost midday now and all the main objectives for Sturmgruppe Granit are either
destroyed or in German hands. The batteries of Fort Eben Emael are out of commission and
Wenzel has done his job spectacularly.
But ammunition and water supplies are short. Nobody knows when they’ll be relieved, as
1100hrs comes and goes. 1100hrs is the planned time that Pionier Bataillon 51 and Infanterie
Regiment are to reach the fort. But because of the destroyed Meuse bridges, they don’t
arrive in time.
Belgian reinforcements however, do arrive from Wonck, although they’re exhausted from
constant shelling and strafing on the 4 kilometre journey. Many of them have deserted. In the
end, only 15 men make it to the fort. Belgian counter-attacks by units untrained in the
art of infantry assaults are beaten back several times throughout the day.
Witzig sees Pionier Bataillon 51 of the 4th Panzer Division attempting to cross the Albert
Canal in the afternoon. They’re stopped by heavy Belgian fire coming from Canal Nord.
To assist the relieving forces, Trupp 6 assaults the blockhouse covering the canal. Lowering
50kg charges on rope, explosions blast the outside of the blockhouse, but do little to the concrete
or the defenders inside.
Bataillon 51 waits for nightfall and makes it across to join the Fallschirmjagers at
Eben Emael.
Choked inside their fortress by smoke and chlorine fumes from smashed disinfectant containers,
the defenders lose hope. Coupole Sud continues to resist, as do other areas of the fort.
But the Belgians soon begin to run out of ammunition. Gathering a council of the most
senior officers, Jottrand reads the fort’s official policy on surrender and asks them
which policy they favour. Despite their efforts, all of the officers realise the fight is over
and choose surrender. After detonating every gun and destroying every electrical component,
a bugle sounds the surrender of Fort Eben Emael at 1215hrs. May 11th 1940.
Sturmgruppe Granit has suffered 6 dead and 18 wounded out of 90 men who made it to the
fort. The Belgians lose 23 dead and 59 wounded out of 989. The rest surrender. The Germans
have won. The door to Belgium is smashed open. And the first glider-borne assault in history
is over.