While Adolf Hitler may have been living in a fantasy world from around mid-1943 onward, early in the war he was able to come up with some pretty good tactical and strategic ideas. One of these was the attack on the fortress of Eban Emael.

It was imperative that this fortress be neutralized or the Germans would have a terrible time getting into Belgium in the Liege area. The fortress was very potent on paper with long range guns in what was considered impenetrable steel turrets. It also had guns guarding the bridges over the Meuse River as well as the recently completed Albert Canal, a true wonder of early 20th century engineering.

However, the Germans had two aces in their hand that they hoped would be the key to success. One was a highly trained and motivated paratrooper corps. The Germans quickly build up this elite force after seeing the Soviets use them in mass training exercises. What's more, these troops practiced their assault, even without knowing just where they would be using it. Rather than jumping from planes, the assault on Eban Emael would be done with gliders. These had been specially equipped with brakes that dug into the earth so that pilots could get to within 20 meters or so of their objective. While the Belgians had the horizontal approaches well guarded, the roof was not an area they considered to be an issue.

The other ace was the development of the shaped charge. These charges were able to produce a hot jet of molten explosives that could easily penetrate the armored cupolas that held both guns and observation posts. Several sizes were developed and it was key that these charges be placed directly on the surface that was to be penetrated. It turned out that the large 50kg charges were not as effective as hoped, but the smaller ones were very effective.

As with all plans, there were a few glitches. One was the commanding officer of the wave to neutralize the fort had his glider break a tow rope so was not able to make the initial wave. So well trained were his subordinates that his absence was not a hindrance to the plan. There were several different groups. One to land on the fort proper and take out the observation posts and upper side gun emplacements while the other groups were to concentrate on taking the bridges.

The group landing on the roof never had more than 60 men while there were well over a thousand Belgian soldiers in the fort. However, the plan was for containment, not taking the fort. This was accomplished by not only destroying the various emplacements, but also by sealing the entrances with explosives.

It did not hurt that the Belgian chain of command was slow in reacting and was so convoluted that the obvious was never done for lack of timely orders. Had the Belgians been more alert, there was the high probability that the Germans would not have succeeded. However, within two days the fort was neutralized and the Germans were able to move into the heart of Belgium.

The book is a super story of this event including what lead up to it and the results of the experience. It gave the German paratroop corps a feeling of near invincibility, a feeling that faded after the near debacle at Crete, but not completely as these men, while never doing a large scale drop again, were quite successful in other smaller actions during the war.

It makes for a riveting story of an event for which we all know the outcome, but is told here in the sort of detail we have not often had. A great read and one that I can most highly recommend.

March 2103

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