Fort Eben-Emael

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Map of the area between Belgium and the Netherlands near Fort Eben-Emael

Fort Eben-Emael's cupola penetrated by a shaped charge

Eben-Emael was a Belgian fortress in between Liège and Maastricht, near the Albert Canal, defending the Belgian-German border. Constructed in 1931-1935, it was reputed to be impregnable. But on 10 May 1940, 85 paratroopers of the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division landed in the fortress with gliders (type DFS 230). One day later, they were reinforced by the German 151st Infantry Regiment. At 13:30 h on 11 May, the fortress surrendered. 1200 Belgian soldiers were captured.

Eben-Emael, a diamond-shaped fort, was Belgium's hope to defend the eastern side from invasion, charged with defending or destroying three key bridges. It also gave protection to the south what was called the Gap of Vise. A fortress to protect this approach to Liège had been conceived in the latter 19th century, but only became politically convincing after the Albert Canal was dug (to provide a route for Belgian river transport that did not require entering Dutch territory). Thus the fortress was only completed in 1935, being sited between the river and the canal that bypassed it. With its steel and concrete cupolas, Fort Eben-Emael was thought to be impenetrable.

However, the Germans had planned the capture of the fort well in advance. In preparation they had practiced assaulting forts in occupied Czechoslovakia similar to Eben-Emael. [1] Adolf Hitler himself conceived of a plan to take over the fort by getting men on the fort by using gliders (it would have been difficult and messy to parachute a large number of men into the small area) and utilizing top secret new shaped charge (also called "hollow charge") bombs to penetrate the cupolas.

Good espionage and superior planning, combined with bad luck and unpreparedness on the Belgian side, helped make the May 10, 1940 execution of Hitler's top secret plan a swift and overwhelming success. The capture of Eben-Emael involved the first utilization of gliders for the initial attack and the first use of hollow charge devices in war. The gliders led by First Lieutenant Witzig landed on the "roof" of the fortress. There they were able to use the hollow charges to destroy or disable the gun cupolas. They also used a flamethrower against machine guns. The Belgians did destroy one of the key bridges, preventing it from being used by the Germans but also preventing a relieving force from aiding the fortress.

After its capture, the fort was evaluated for use as an underground factory for the V-1 rocket, but production was never undertaken.

Later in the war, British forces would use gliders to capture the Pegasus Bridge in the opening attack of D-Day.

Fort Eben-Emael is now open for the public to visit.