Fort Eben-Emaël

In the early dawn of May 10, 1940, nine DFS-230 gliders landed on the superstructure of the fort at Eben-Emaël, which protected the bridges across the Meuse in Maastricht. German sappers rushed out of the gliders and immediately attacked their …

1940-05-10

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In the early dawn of May 10, 1940, nine DFS-230 gliders landed on the superstructure of the fort at Eben-Emaël, which protected the bridges across the Meuse in Maastricht. German sappers rushed out of the gliders and immediately attacked their objectives - the cupolas, turrets and machine gun emplacements of the fort. After ten minutes, the fortress was practically under German control and useless as a defensive position because the sappers had blown up the main defense installations with explosive charges. Belgian soldiers, confused and demoralized, tried to counter-attack on the roof of the fortress, but the Germans had fortified their position and held it. By midday on May 11, the Belgian garrison surrendered to German troops. The fortress, previously thought impregnable, was taken: the path was clear for invading Belgium.

Eben-Emaël, Belgium

The Battle of Fort Eben-Emael was a battle between Belgian and German forces that took place between 10 May and 11 May 1940, and was part of the Battle of Belgium and Fall Gelb, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. An assault force of German paratroopers, Fallschirmjäger, was tasked with assaulting and capturing Fort Eben-Emael, a Belgian fortress whose strategic position and strong artillery emplacements dominated several important bridges over the Albert Canal. These carried roads which led into the Belgian heartland and were what the German forces intended to use to advance. As some of the German airborne forces assaulted the fortress and disabled the garrison and the artillery pieces inside it, others simultaneously captured three bridges over the Canal. Having disabled the fortress, the airborne troops were then ordered to protect the bridges against Belgian counter-attacks until they linked up with ground forces from the German 18th Army.

Wikipedia: Battle of Fort Eben-Emael

German

Belgian

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

Website Access: Classified