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146-537: The fort was neutralized by glider-borne German troops (85 men) on 10–11 May 1940 during the Second World War . This was the first strategic airborne operation using paratroopers ever attempted in military history. The action cleared the way for German ground forces to enter Belgium, unhindered by fire from Eben-Emael. While still the property of the Belgian Army, the fort however has been preserved as

292-639: A military alliance with the United Kingdom and with France , believing that Polish independence and territorial integrity would be defended with their support if it were to be threatened by Germany. On the other hand, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his Foreign Secretary , Lord Halifax , still hoped to strike a deal with Hitler regarding Danzig (and possibly the Polish Corridor). Chamberlain and his supporters believed war could be avoided and hoped Germany would agree to leave

438-536: A "last minute" order in the summer of 1939, Poland bought 160 French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters and 111 English airplanes (100 light bombers Fairey Battle , 10 Hurricanes and 1 Supermarine Spitfire ; the sale of 150 Spitfires asked by the Polish government was rejected by the Air Ministry). Despite the fact that some of the airplanes had been shipped to Poland (the first transport of purchased aircraft on

584-531: A 'Bomber Brigade', 'Pursuit Brigade' and aircraft assigned to the various ground armies. The Polish fighters were older than their German counterparts; the PZL P.11 fighter—produced in the early 1930s—had a top speed of only 365 km/h (227 mph), far less than German bombers. To compensate, the pilots relied on its maneuverability and high diving speed. The Polish Air Force's decisions to strengthen its resources came too late, mostly due to budget limitations. As

730-574: A German sabotage group which had not heard anything about a delay of the invasion made an attack on the Jablunkov Pass and Mosty railway station in Silesia . On the morning of 26 August, this group was repelled by Polish troops. The German side described all this as an incident "caused by an insane individual" (see Jabłonków incident ). On 26 August, Hitler tried to dissuade the British and

876-527: A Polish majority and had been disputed between Czechoslovakia and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The Polish annexation of Slovak territory (several villages in the regions of Čadca , Orava and Spiš ) later served as the justification for the Slovak state to join the German invasion. By 1937, Germany began to increase its demands for Danzig, while proposing that an extraterritorial roadway, part of

1022-407: A cupola was disabled, as was a barracks known to house Belgian troops. However, attempts to destroy Objective No. 24 proved to be less successful; the objective, twin turrets with heavy-calibre guns mounted on a rotating cupola, was too large for airborne troops from a single glider to destroy on their own, forcing troops from two gliders to be used. Primitive unlined shaped charges were affixed to

1168-446: A firing mechanism situated in the anti-tank bunkers. Fort Ében-Émael, which measured 200 by 400 yards (180 by 370 m), had been built during the 1930s, and completed by 1935, by blasting the required space out of marl . It possessed walls and roofs composed of 5 feet (1.5 m) thick reinforced concrete, as well as four retractable casemates and sixty-four strongpoints. The fort was equipped with six 120mm artillery pieces with

1314-555: A gliderborne assault force. Hauptmann Koch was promoted to the rank of Major for his part in the operation and assumed command of the 1st Battalion. Due to the destroyed bridges, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion built a new bridge over the canal on the 15 September 1944. Invasion of Poland German–Soviet–Slovak victory Baltic coast 4–10 September Northern Front Southern Front Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Invasion of Poland , also known as

1460-561: A great power, prove that the Poles no longer are willing to respect the German frontier." Poland participated with Germany in the partition of Czechoslovakia that followed the Munich Agreement , although they were not part of the agreement. It coerced Czechoslovakia to surrender the region of Český Těšín by issuing an ultimatum to that effect on 30 September 1938, which was accepted by Czechoslovakia on 1 October. This region had

1606-632: A large hill just to the east of Eben-Emael village (now part of Bassenge ) and bordering the Albert Canal. The irregularly-shaped fort is about 600 metres (2,000 ft) in the east-west dimension, and about 750 metres (2,460 ft) in the north-south dimension. It was more heavily armed than any other in the PFL I. In contrast to the other forts whose main weapons were in turrets, Eben-Emael's main weapons were divided between turrets and casemates . The 60 mm, 75 mm and 120 mm guns were made by

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1752-543: A lesson learned from the experiences of French and Belgian forts in World War I. The new Belgian forts, while more conservative in design than the French ouvrages , included several new features as a result of World War I experience. The gun turrets were less closely grouped. Reinforced concrete was used in place of plain mass concrete, and its placement was done with greater care to avoid weak joints between pours. Ventilation

1898-608: A museum and may be visited. The fort is located along the Albert Canal where it runs through a deep cutting at the junction of the Belgian and Dutch borders, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Liège and about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Maastricht . A huge excavation project was carried out in the 1920s to create the Caster cutting through Mount Saint Peter to keep the canal in Belgian territory. This created

2044-556: A natural defensive barrier that was augmented by the fort, at a location that had been recommended by Brialmont in the 19th century. Eben-Emael was the largest of four forts built in the 1930s as the Fortified Position of Liège I ( Position Fortifiée de Liège I (PFL I)). From north to south, the new forts were Eben-Emael, Fort d'Aubin-Neufchâteau , Fort de Battice and Fort de Tancrémont . Tancrémont and Aubin-Neufchâteau are smaller than Eben-Emael and Battice. Several of

2190-426: A noiseless approach by the gliders used by the assault force, and the lack of a declaration of war by the German government, would give the attackers the element of surprise. However, German estimates were that this would last, at the most, for sixty minutes, after which the superior numbers of the Belgian forces defending the fort and the bridges, as well as any reinforcements sent to the area, would come to bear against

2336-517: A part of Poland after the Treaty of Versailles . Many Germans also wanted the urban port city of Danzig and its environs (comprising the Free City of Danzig) to be reincorporated into Germany. Danzig city had a German majority, and had been separated from Germany after Versailles and made into the nominally independent Free City. Hitler sought to use this as casus belli , a reason for war, reverse

2482-403: A post-war publication, General Kurt Student wrote of the operation, and the efforts of Group Granite in particular, that "It was a deed of exemplary daring and decisive significance [...] I have studied the history of the last war and the battles on all fronts. But I have not been able to find anything among the host of brilliant actions—undertaken by friend or foe—that could be said to compare with

2628-446: A range of ten miles, two of which could traverse 360 degrees; sixteen 75mm artillery pieces; twelve 60mm high-velocity anti-tank guns; twenty-five twin-mounted machine-guns; and some anti-aircraft guns. One side of the fort faced the canal, whilst the other three faced land and were defended by minefields; deep ditches; a 20 feet (6.1 m) high wall; concrete pillboxes fitted with machine-guns; fifteen searchlights were emplaced on top of

2774-420: A retractable cupola housing two 75mm artillery pieces. It had been assumed that the weapons in this fortification could not stop the airborne assault, but this assumption was found to be false when the weapons opened fire, forcing the airborne troops in the area to go to cover. The rapid fire of the weapons led to air support being summoned, and a Stuka squadron bombed the cupola. Although the bombs did not destroy

2920-540: A week before the onset of war, Hitler delivered a speech to his military commanders at the Obersalzberg : The object of the war is … physically to destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need. With

3066-491: Is administered by the Association Fort Eben-Emael, which provides tours and activities. Battle of Fort Eben-Emael Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The Battle of Fort Ében-Émael was a battle between Belgian and German forces that took place between 10 May and 11 May 1940, and

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3212-480: The Dutch border and then release them, achieving a surprise attack as the Belgian defenders would not be able to detect them. Fifty DFS 230 transport gliders were supplied for use by the assault force, and then a period of intensive training began. A detailed study of the fort, the bridges and the local area was made, and a replica of the area was constructed for the airborne troops to train in. Joint exercises between

3358-725: The German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934. Earlier, Hitler's foreign policy worked to weaken ties between Poland and France and attempted to manoeuvre Poland into the Anti-Comintern Pact , forming a cooperative front against the Soviet Union . Poland would be granted territory to its northeast in Ukraine and Belarus if it agreed to wage war against the Soviet Union, but the concessions

3504-752: The Gleiwitz incident . Slovak military forces advanced alongside the Germans in northern Slovakia . As the Wehrmacht advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Germany–Poland border to more established defense lines to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura , the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then withdrew to

3650-790: The Polish Underground State within the territory of the former Polish state. Many of the military exiles who escaped Poland joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West , an armed force loyal to the Polish government-in-exile . On 30 January 1933, the National Socialist German Workers' Party , under its leader Adolf Hitler , came to power in Germany . While some dissident elements within

3796-700: The Reichsautobahn system, be built in order to connect East Prussia with Germany proper , running through the Polish Corridor. Poland rejected this proposal, fearing that after accepting these demands, it would become increasingly subject to the will of Germany and eventually lose its independence as the Czechs had. Polish leaders also distrusted Hitler. The British were also wary of Germany's increasing strength and assertiveness threatening its balance of power strategy. On 31 March 1939, Poland formed

3942-606: The Romanian Bridgehead could be created. The Polish General Staff had not begun elaborating the "West" defence plan until 4 March 1939. It was assumed that the Polish Army, fighting in the initial phase of the war alone, would have to defend the western regions of the country. The plan of operations took into account the numerical and material superiority of the enemy and, also assumed the defensive character of Polish operations. The Polish intentions were defending

4088-654: The September Campaign , Polish Campaign , and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany , the Slovak Republic , and the Soviet Union , which marked the beginning of World War II . The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and

4234-568: The Weimar Republic had long sought to annex territories belonging to Poland, it was Hitler's own idea and not a realization of any pre-1933 Weimar plans to invade and partition Poland, annex Bohemia and Austria, and create satellite or puppet states economically subordinate to Germany. As part of this long-term policy, Hitler at first pursued a policy of rapprochement with Poland, trying to improve opinion in Germany, culminating in

4380-475: The 1,009 cars and trucks and 4,842 horses in the average German infantry division, the average Polish infantry division had 76 cars and trucks and 6,939 horses. The Polish Air Force ( Lotnictwo Wojskowe ) was at a severe disadvantage against the German Luftwaffe due to inferiority in numbers and the obsolescence of its fighter planes. However, contrary to German propaganda, it was not destroyed on

4526-490: The 19th century forts designed by General Henri Alexis Brialmont that encircled Liège were reconstructed and designated PFL II. A great deal of the fort's excavation work was carried out on the canal side, sheltered from view and a convenient location to load excavated spoil into barges to be taken away economically. The fort's elevation above the canal also allowed for efficient interior drainage, making Eben-Emael drier than many of its sister fortifications. Fort Eben-Emael

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4672-532: The Belgian capital, Brussels . Between the K-W Line and the border was a delaying line along the Albert Canal. This delaying line was protected by forward positions manned by troops, except in a single area where the canal ran close to the Dutch border, which was known as the "Maastricht Appendix" due to the proximity of the Dutch city of Maastricht . There the Belgian military could not build forward positions due to

4818-435: 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

4964-570: The British merchant fleet and took part in wartime convoys . The September Campaign was devised by General Franz Halder , the chief of the general staff , and directed by General Walther von Brauchitsch the commander in chief of the German ground forces . It called for the start of hostilities before a declaration of war , and pursued a doctrine of mass encirclement and destruction of enemy forces. The infantry, far from completely mechanized but fitted with fast-moving artillery and logistic support,

5110-458: The Corridor broke down, and months passed without diplomatic interaction between Germany and Poland. During this interim period, the Germans learned that France and Britain had failed to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union against Germany, and that the Soviet Union was interested in an alliance with Germany against Poland. Hitler had already issued orders to prepare for a possible "solution of

5256-415: The Dutch defenders, and deny the use of airfields to Allied aircraft, all of which would aid a rapid advance by the 18th Army. 400 Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft would be used to deploy the parachute elements of the airborne troops, as well as transport the elements of the two airborne divisions not landing by parachute or glider. The force tasked with assaulting the fort and capturing the three bridges

5402-493: The Fonderie Royale des Canons de Belgique (F.R.C.) in the city of Liège. The artillery turrets were so well-designed and constructed the artillerists were not required to wear hearing protection when firing the guns. Underground galleries extend over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) beneath the hill, connecting the combat blocks and serving the underground barracks, power plant, ammunition magazines and other spaces. Fresh air

5548-522: The French from interfering in the upcoming conflict, even pledging that the Wehrmacht forces would be made available to Britain's empire in the future. The negotiations convinced Hitler that there was little chance the Western Allies would declare war on Germany, and even if they did, because of the lack of "territorial guarantees" to Poland, they would be willing to negotiate a compromise favourable to Germany after its conquest of Poland. Meanwhile,

5694-407: The German 18th Army . The battle was a strategic victory for the German forces, with the airborne troops landing on top of the fortress with gliders and using explosives and flamethrowers to disable the outer defences of the fortress. The Fallschirmjäger then entered the fortress , killing some defenders and containing the rest in the lower sections of the fortress. Simultaneously, the rest of

5840-414: The German 7th Flieger (later 1st Fallschirmjäger Division ) landed on the fortress with DFS 230 gliders , armed with special high explosives to attack the fortress and its guns. Most of the fort's defenders were taken by complete surprise. Eben-Emael's loss delivered a hard blow from which the Belgian Army could not recover. Fort Eben-Emael is now open to the public. While still military property, it

5986-400: The German assault force had landed near the three bridges over the canal, destroyed several pillboxes and defensive positions and defeated the Belgian forces guarding the bridges, capturing them and bringing them under German control. The airborne troops suffered heavy casualties during the operation, but succeeded in holding the bridges until the arrival of German ground forces, who then aided

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6132-428: The German puppet state of Slovakia meant that Poland's southern flank was also exposed. Hitler demanded that Poland be conquered in six weeks, but German planners thought that it would require three months. They intended to exploit their long border fully with the great enveloping manoeuver of Fall Weiss . German units were to invade Poland from three directions: All three assaults were to converge on Warsaw , and

6278-558: The Germans had seven Panzer divisions, with 2,009 tanks between them, using a new operational doctrine . It held that these divisions should act in coordination with other elements of the military, punching holes in the enemy line and isolating selected units, which would be encircled and destroyed. This would be followed up by less-mobile mechanized infantry and foot soldiers. The Luftwaffe (air force) provided both tactical and strategic air power , particularly dive bombers that disrupted lines of supply and communications. Together,

6424-557: The Germans, and these units, dispersed within the infantry, were unable to effectively engage the Germans. Experiences in the Polish–Soviet War shaped Polish Army organizational and operational doctrine. Unlike the trench warfare of World War I, the Polish–Soviet War was a conflict in which the cavalry 's mobility played a decisive role. Poland acknowledged the benefits of mobility but was unable to invest heavily in many of

6570-459: The Group was not actually relieved until 7:00 on 11 May. Heavy Belgian resistance, as well as several demolished bridges over the river Meuse , had forced the battalion to lay down new bridges, delaying it significantly. Once the airborne troops had been relieved, the battalion, in conjunction with an infantry regiment that arrived shortly after the engineers, mounted an attack on the main entrance to

6716-691: The Netherlands, which stretched from the southern shore of the Zuiderzee to the Belgian border near Weert , had many fortifications combined with natural obstacles, such as marsh-lands and the Geld Valley, which could easily be flooded to impede an attack. The main Belgian defensive line, the K-W Line (also known as the Dyle or Dijle Line), along the river Dyle , protected the port of Antwerp and

6862-450: The Poles were expected to make meant that their homeland would become largely dependent on Germany, functioning as little more than a client state . The Poles feared that their independence would eventually be threatened altogether; historically Hitler had already denounced the right of Poland to independence in 1930, writing that Poles and Czechs were a "rabble not worth a penny more than the inhabitants of Sudan or India. How can they demand

7008-541: The Polish Army by about 1/3. Germany had a substantial numeric advantage over Poland and had developed a significant military before the conflict. The Heer (army) had 3,472 tanks in its inventory, of which 2,859 were with the Field Army and 408 with the Replacement Army . 453 tanks were assigned into four light divisions, while another 225 tanks were in detached regiments and companies. Most notably,

7154-548: The Polish Army during the invasion of 1939 was the 7TP light tank. It was the first tank in the world to be equipped with a diesel engine and 360° Gundlach periscope . The 7TP was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and II , but only 140 tanks were produced between 1935 and the outbreak of the war. Poland had also a few relatively modern imported designs, such as 50 Renault R35 tanks and 38 Vickers E tanks. The Polish Navy

7300-838: The Polish army was effectively defeated even before the British Expeditionary Force could be transported to Europe, with the bulk of the BEF in France by the end of September. On 17 September, the Soviet Red Army invaded Eastern Poland , the territory beyond the Curzon Line that fell into the Soviet " sphere of influence " according to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact; this rendered

7446-730: The Polish plan of defence obsolete. Facing a second front, the Polish government concluded the defence of the Romanian Bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered an emergency evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania . On 6 October, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock , German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered. On 8 October, after an initial period of military administration , Germany directly annexed western Poland and

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7592-563: The Polish problem by military means" through the Case White scenario. In May, in a statement to his generals while they were in the midst of planning the invasion of Poland, Hitler made it clear that the invasion would not come without resistance as it had in Czechoslovakia: With minor exceptions German national unification has been achieved. Further successes cannot be achieved without bloodshed. Poland will always be on

7738-470: The Polish-German border and lacked compact defence lines and good defence positions along disadvantageous terrain. That strategy also left supply lines poorly protected. One-third of Poland's forces were massed in or near the Polish Corridor, making them vulnerable to a double envelopment from East Prussia and the west. Another third was concentrated in the north-central part of the country, between

7884-567: The September Campaign, not all of those aircraft were mobilized. By 1 September, out of about 120 heavy bombers PZL.37s produced, only 36 PZL.37s were deployed, the rest being mostly in training units. All those aircraft were of indigenous Polish design, with the bombers being more modern than the fighters, according to the Ludomił Rayski air force expansion plan, which relied on a strong bomber force. The Polish Air Force consisted of

8030-493: The Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. One of the aims of the invasion was to divide Polish territory at the end of the operation; Poland was to cease to exist as a country and all Poles ("inferior people") were to be exterminated. The Soviets invaded Poland on 17 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing

8176-658: The Soviets agreed to divide Eastern Europe, including Poland, into two spheres of influence ; the western one-third of the country was to go to Germany and the eastern two-thirds to the Soviet Union. The German assault was originally scheduled to begin at 4:00 a.m. on 26 August. However, on 25 August, the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed as an annex to the Franco-Polish alliance. In this accord, Britain committed itself to

8322-644: The Veldwezelt bridge; Group Concrete, commanded by Leutnant Gerhard Schacht and composed of ninety-six men in eleven gliders, would capture the Vroenhoven bridge; and Group Iron, under Leutnant Martin Schächter, composed of ninety men in ten gliders, who would capture the Kanne bridge. The crucial element for the assault force, particularly Group Granite, was time. It was believed that the combination of

8468-454: The airborne troops assigned to Group Granite successfully landed on the roof of Fort Ében-Émael, using arrester-parachutes to slow their descent and rapidly bring them to a halt. The airborne troops rapidly emerged from the gliders, Oberfeldwebel Helmut Wenzel assuming command in the absence of Witzig, and began attaching explosive charges to those emplacements on the top of the Fort which housed

8614-450: The airborne troops in assaulting the fortress a second time and forcing the surrender of the remaining members of the garrison. German forces were then able to use two bridges over the canal to bypass Belgian defensive positions and advance into Belgium to aid in the invasion of the country. The bridge at Kanne was destroyed, forcing German engineers to construct a new bridge. On 10 May 1940, Germany launched Fall Gelb ("Plan Yellow"),

8760-533: The airborne troops prevented the Belgians from destroying the bridge, though they still faced the rest of the Belgian defenders. The defenders held on until a platoon of German reinforcements arrived and forced them to retire to a nearby village. However, the assaulting force's small-arms fire could not overcome two field-guns located five hundred metres from the bridge, thus forcing Altmann to call for air support. Several Junkers Ju 87 Stukas responded and knocked out

8906-463: The airborne troops to repel them with machine-gun fire. Artillery from several smaller Forts nearby and Belgian field artillery units also targeted the airborne troops, but this too was uncoordinated and achieved nothing and often aided the airborne troops in repelling counter-attacks by Belgian infantry units. Patrols were also used to ensure that the garrison stayed in the interior of the fort and did not attempt to emerge and mount an attempt to retake

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9052-457: The airborne troops would have to break out of their gliders, cover the distance to the guns, fix the explosive charges to the barrels of the guns and detonate them, all while under enemy fire. The finalized plan for the assault called for between nine and eleven gliders to land on the western bank of the Albert Canal by each of the three bridges just prior to 05:30 on 10 May, the time scheduled for Fall Gelb to begin. The groups assigned to assault

9198-603: The armed forces of the Low Countries and either bypass or neutralize several defensive positions, primarily in Belgium and the Netherlands. Some of these defensive positions were only lightly defended and intended more as delaying positions than true defensive lines designed to stop an enemy attack. However, some defences were of a more permanent nature, possessed considerable fortifications and were garrisoned by significant numbers of troops. The Grebbe and Peel Lines in

9344-404: The armed forces time to complete its mobilization and execute a general counteroffensive with the support of the Western Allies . In case of a failure to defend most of the territory, the army was to retreat to the south-east of the country, where the rough terrain, the Stryj and Dniestr rivers, valleys, hills and swamps would provide natural lines of defence against the German advance, and

9490-422: The arrival of German ground forces. For reasons of security, Sturmabteilung Koch was dispersed around several locations in the Rhineland until it received orders for the operation against Fort Ében-Émael and the three bridges to begin. Preliminary orders were received on 9 May, ordering the separated detachments to move to a pre-arranged concentration area, and shortly afterwards a second order arrived, informing

9636-418: The artillery pieces possessed by Fort Ében-Émael had been disabled, and two of the three bridges designated to be captured by the sub-units of Sturmabteilung Koch had been captured before they could be destroyed. The capture of the bridges, and the neutralization of the artillery pieces in the Fort allowed infantry and armour from the 18th Army to bypass other Belgian defences and enter the heart of Belgium. In

9782-448: The artillery pieces that could target the three captured bridges. In the southern part of the Fort, Objective No. 18, an artillery observation casemate housing three 75mm artillery pieces was damaged with a light demolition charge and then permanently destroyed with a heavier charge, which collapsed the casemate's observation dome and part of the roof of the Fort itself. Objective No. 12, a traversing turret holding two more artillery pieces

9928-490: The assault force that Fall Gelb was to begin at 05:25 on 10 May. The Fallschirmjäger filed onto a non-illuminated tarmac at 03:00, as the loudspeakers played Richard Wagner 's " Ride of the Valkyries ". At 04:30, forty-two gliders carrying the 493 airborne troops that formed the assault force were lifted off from two airfields in Cologne , the armada of gliders and transport aircraft turning south towards their objectives. The aircraft maintained strict radio silence, forcing

10074-430: The barbed-wire wrapped around the landing skids of the gliders succeeding in rapidly bringing them to a halt. The glider belonging to Leutnant Altmann had landed some distance from the bridge, and a second had landed directly in front of a Belgian pillbox, which began engaging both groups of airborne troops with small-arms fire. The non-commissioned officer in charge of the troops from the second glider hurled grenades at

10220-402: The bridge at Kanne. Due to a navigation error by the pilots of the transport aircraft towing the gliders, one of the gliders was dropped in the wrong area. The other nine gliders were towed through heavy anti-aircraft fire and released at 05:35. As the gliders began to descend towards their objective, the bridge was destroyed by several demolition explosions set off by the Belgian garrison. Unlike

10366-416: The bridge, with one machinegun-equipped bunker immediately behind the bridge and two others flanking the bridge a short distance either side. A company position existed on the western bank of the canal by each of the bridges, with a small observation post on the eastern side, which could be quickly recalled, and all three bridges could be destroyed with demolition charges set into their structures, triggered by

10512-432: The bridge. They were repelled with the aid of several machine-guns dropped by parachute to the airborne troops at 06:15. Constant Belgian attacks meant that Group Concrete were not withdrawn and relieved by an infantry battalion until 21:40. They suffered losses of seven dead and twenty-four wounded. All but one of the ten gliders carrying the airborne troops assigned to Group Iron were able to land next to their objective,

10658-412: The cupola, the explosions did force the Belgians to retract it throughout the rest of the fighting. Any exterior entrances and exits located by the airborne troops were destroyed with explosives to seal the garrison inside the Fort, giving the garrison few opportunities to attempt a counter-attack. The airborne troops had achieved their initial objective of destroying or disabling the artillery pieces that

10804-420: The defence of Poland, guaranteeing to preserve Polish independence. At the same time, the British and the Poles were hinting to Berlin that they were willing to resume discussions—not at all how Hitler hoped to frame the conflict. Thus, he wavered and postponed his attack until 1 September, managing to in effect halt the entire invasion "in mid-leap". However, there was one exception: on the night of 25–26 August,

10950-440: The delaying positions along the Albert Canal and then retreat to link up with British and French forces on the K-W Line. The Germans developed a strategy that would disrupt this plan, by seizing the three bridges in the "Maastricht Appendix", as well as other bridges in Belgium and the Netherlands. This would allow their own forces to breach the defensive positions and advance into the Netherlands. The Belgian 7th Infantry Division

11096-523: The development of industry, especially in the armaments industry in ethnically Polish areas. Moreover, Poland had to deal with damage caused by World War I . This resulted in the need to build a defense industry from scratch. Between 1936 and 1939, Poland invested heavily in the newly created Central Industrial Region . Preparations for a defensive war with Germany were ongoing for many years, but most plans assumed fighting would not begin before 1942. To raise funds for industrial development, Poland sold much of

11242-407: The expectation that the Western Allies would honor their treaty obligations and quickly start an offensive of their own, the French and the British expected the war to develop into trench warfare, much like World War I. The Polish government was not notified of the strategy and based all of its defence plans on promises of quick relief by the Western Allies. Polish forces were stretched thinly along

11388-462: The expensive, unproven inventions since then. In spite of this, Polish cavalry brigades were used as mobile mounted infantry and had some successes against both German infantry and cavalry. An average Polish infantry division consisted of 16,492 soldiers and was equipped with 326 light and medium machine guns, 132 heavy machine guns, 92 anti-tank rifles and several dozen light, medium, heavy, anti-tank and anti-airplane field artillery. Contrary to

11534-528: The field with a replacement glider. Once the airborne troops had broken down fences and hedges obstructing the aircraft, they boarded the new glider and were towed through anti-aircraft fire to the fort. Having achieved their primary objectives of disabling the artillery pieces possessed by the fort, the airborne troops then held it against Belgian counter-attacks, which began almost immediately. These counter-attacks were made by Belgian infantry formations without artillery support and were uncoordinated. This allowed

11680-495: The force was composed primarily of parachutists, it was decided that the first landings by the force should be by glider. Adolf Hitler , who had taken a personal interest in the arrangements for the assault force, had ordered that gliders be used after being told by his personal pilot, Hanna Reitsch , that gliders in flight were nearly silent; it was believed that, since Belgian anti-aircraft defences used sound-location arrays and not radar , it would be possible to tow gliders near to

11826-421: The former Free City of Danzig and placed the remaining block of territory under the administration of the newly established General Government . The Soviet Union incorporated its newly acquired areas into its constituent Byelorussian and Ukrainian republics , and immediately started a campaign of Sovietization . In the aftermath of the invasion, a collective of underground resistance organizations formed

11972-448: The fort could have used to bombard the captured bridges, but they still faced some small cupolas and emplacements that had to be disabled. These included anti-aircraft weapons and machine-guns. As these secondary objectives were attacked, a single glider landed on top of the Fort, from which emerged Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig. After his glider had unintentionally landed in German territory, he had radioed for another tug, and it landed in

12118-523: The fort for one week, and the other group would be in reserve at the village of Wonck, about 5 km (3 mi) away. These two groups would change places every week. Except for some of the officers and NCOs, most of the men were conscripts. The majority of these were reservists and were called up after the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Infantry training was poor, since the men were considered to be purely artillerists. On 10 May 1940, 78 paratroopers of

12264-468: The fort, and also maintain a steep dive angle to further ensure they landed correctly. After the Ju ;52's released the gliders and began turning away, Belgian anti-aircraft artillery positions detected them and opened fire. This alerted the defences in the area to the presence of the gliders. All nine gliders carrying the troops assigned to Group Steel landed next to the bridge at Veldwezelt at 05:20,

12410-408: The fort. Any attempt by the garrison to launch a counter-attack would have been stymied by the fact that the only possible route for such an attack was up a single, spiral staircase, and any embrasures looking out onto the Fort had either been captured or disabled. The plan for the assault had called for Group Granite to be relieved by 51st Engineer Battalion within a few hours of seizing the Fort, but

12556-502: The fort. Faced with this attack, the garrison (which had only numbered 750 present out of a regular force of 1,200) surrendered at 12:30, suffering 23 men killed and 59 wounded. The Germans captured more than a thousand Belgian soldiers. Group Granite suffered six killed and nineteen wounded. The airborne assault on the three bridges and Fort Ében-Émael had been an overall success for the Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch;

12702-411: The fort; and 60mm anti-tank guns. Many tunnels ran beneath the fort, connecting individual turrets to the command centre and the ammunition stores. The fort also possessed its own hospital and living quarters for the garrison, as well as a power station that provided electricity to power the guns, provide internal and external illumination, and to power the wireless network and air-purifying system used by

12848-419: The garrison. Belgian plans did not call for the garrison of the fort and the attached defending forces to fight a sustained battle against an attacking force; it was assumed that sufficient warning of an attack would be given so that the detachment on the eastern side of the canal could be withdrawn, the bridges destroyed and the garrison ready to fight a delaying action. The defending force would then retire to

12994-415: The garrisons of the other two bridges, the Belgian defenders at Kanne had been forewarned, as the German mechanized column heading for the bridge to reinforce Group Iron arrived twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Its appearance ruined any chance of a surprise assault and gave the defenders sufficient time to destroy the bridge. As the gliders came in to land, one was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed into

13140-544: The gliders to stall in mid-air. The resulting crash severely wounded three airborne troops. The rest of the gliders landed without damage. One of the gliders landed near to the fortification housing the bridge detonators. This allowed the airborne troops to rapidly assault the position. They killed the occupants and tore out the wires connecting the explosives to the detonator set, ensuring the bridge could not be destroyed. The remaining Belgian defenders resisted fiercely by mounting several counter-attacks in an attempt to recapture

13286-449: The ground killing most of the occupants. The remaining eight landed successfully, and the airborne troops stormed the Belgian positions and eliminated the defenders. By 05:50 the airborne troops had secured the area as well as the nearby village of Kanne, but they were then subjected to a strong counter-attack which was only repulsed with the aid of air support from Stuka divebombers. The defenders launched several more counter-attacks during

13432-590: The ground—in fact it was successfully dispersed before the conflict started and not a single one of its combat planes was destroyed on the ground in the first days of the conflict. In the era of fast progress in aviation the Polish Air Force lacked modern fighters, vastly due to the cancellation of many advanced projects, such as the PZL.38 Wilk and a delay in the introduction of a completely new modern Polish fighter PZL.50 Jastrząb . However, its pilots were among

13578-417: The group understrength; it also left it under the command of Oberleutnant Witzig's second-in-command - Oberfeldwebel Helmut Wenzel, as Witzig was in one of the gliders forced to land. The remaining gliders were released from their tow-ropes twenty miles away from their objectives at an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,100 m), which was deemed high enough for the gliders to land by the three bridges and on top of

13724-545: The guns. Group Steel was to be relieved by 14:30, but Belgian resistance delayed their arrival in strength until 21:30. During the fighting, the attacking force left eight airborne troops dead and thirty wounded. Ten of the eleven gliders transporting Group Concrete landed next to the Vroenhoven bridge at 05:15, the eleventh glider having been hit by anti-aircraft fire en route to the bridge and being forced to land prematurely inside Dutch territory. The gliders were engaged by heavy anti-aircraft fire as they landed, causing one of

13870-486: The increased number of overflights by high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and cross-border troop movements signaled that war was imminent. On 29 August, prompted by the British, Germany issued one last diplomatic offer, with Fall Weiss yet to be rescheduled. That evening, the German government responded in a communication that it aimed not only for the restoration of Danzig but also the Polish Corridor (which had not previously been part of Hitler's demands) in addition to

14016-645: The invasion of the Low Countries and France. By attacking through the Netherlands , Luxembourg , and Belgium , the German Oberkommando der Wehrmacht planned to outflank the Maginot Line , and advance through southern Belgium and into northern France, cutting off the British Expeditionary Force and a large part of the French forces and forcing the French government to surrender. To gain access to northern France, German forces would have to defeat

14162-580: The invasion to commence soon afterwards. On 29 August, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Józef Beck ordered military mobilization , but under the pressure from Great Britain and France, the mobilization was cancelled. When the final mobilization started, it added to the confusion. On 30 August, the Polish Navy sent its destroyer flotilla to Britain, executing the Peking Plan . On the same day, Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły announced

14308-707: The main Polish army was to be encircled and destroyed west of the Vistula . Fall Weiss was initiated on 1 September 1939 and was the first operation of Second World War in Europe . The Polish determination to deploy forces directly at the German-Polish border, prompted by the Polish-British Common Defence Pact, shaped the country's defence plan, " Plan West ". Poland's most valuable natural resources, industry and population were along

14454-399: The main defensive positions along the river Dyle, where they would link up with other Allied forces. The airborne assault on Fort Ében-Émael, and the three bridges it helped protect, was part of a much larger German airborne operation that involved the 7th Air Division and the 22nd Airlanding Division . The 7th Air Division , comprising three parachute regiments and one infantry regiment,

14600-531: The mobilization of Polish troops. However, he was pressured into revoking the order by the French, who apparently still hoped for a diplomatic settlement, failing to realize that the Germans were fully mobilized and concentrated at the Polish border. During the night of 31 August, the Gleiwitz incident , a false flag attack on the radio station, was staged near the border city of Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia by German units posing as Polish troops, as part of

14746-517: The modern equipment it produced. In 1936, a National Defence Fund was set up to collect funds necessary for strengthening the Polish Armed forces. The Polish Army had approximately a million soldiers, but not all were mobilized by 1 September. Latecomers sustained significant casualties when public transport became targets of the Luftwaffe . The Polish military had fewer armored forces than

14892-766: The new methods were nicknamed " Blitzkrieg " (lightning war). While historian Basil Liddell Hart claimed "Poland was a full demonstration of the Blitzkrieg theory", some other historians disagree. Aircraft played a major role in the campaign. Bombers also attacked cities, causing huge losses amongst the civilian population through terror bombing and strafing. The Luftwaffe forces consisted of 1,180 fighters , 290 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 1,100 conventional bombers (mainly Heinkel He 111s and Dornier Do 17s ), and an assortment of 550 transport and 350 reconnaissance aircraft. In total, Germany had close to 4,000 aircraft, most of them modern. A force of 2,315 aircraft

15038-459: The night, ensuring that the airborne troops could not be relieved until the morning of 11 May. Group Iron suffered the heaviest casualties of all three assault groups assigned to capture the bridges with twenty-two dead and twenty-six wounded. One of the airborne troops assigned to the Group was taken prisoner by the Belgians. He was later freed by German forces at a British prisoner of war camp at Dunkirk . The nine remaining gliders transporting

15184-533: The parachute battalion, the rest of the division would land with the aim of occupying the Dutch capital of Amsterdam and capturing the entire Dutch government , the Dutch royal family , and high-ranking members of the Netherlands Armed Forces . The division would also interdict all roads and railway lines in the area to impede the movement of Dutch forces. The intention of the German OKW

15330-572: The parachutists and the glider pilots were carried out in early 1940, and refinements were made to the equipment and tactics to be used, such as barbed wire being added to the nose-skids of the gliders to reduce their landing run, and the airborne troops trained with flamethrowers and specialized shaped charge explosives, the latter of which were so secret that they were only used on fortifications in Gleiwitz , Germany and not on fortifications in Czechoslovakia similar to Fort Ében-Émael. Secrecy

15476-425: The pillbox whilst one of his men laid an explosive charge at the door and detonated it, allowing the bunker to be assaulted and removed as an obstacle. Simultaneously, Altmann gathered his troops and led them along a ditch running parallel to the bridge until two men were able to reach the canal bank and climb onto the girders of the bridge and disconnect the demolition charges placed there by the Belgian garrison. Thus

15622-500: The pilots to rely on a chain of signal fires that pointed towards Belgium; the radio silence also ensured that senior commanders of the assault force could not be informed that the tow-ropes on one of the gliders had snapped, forcing the glider to land inside Germany. The pilot of a second glider released his tow-rope prematurely, and was unable to land near its objective. Both gliders were carrying troops assigned to Group Granite and were destined to assault Fort Ében-Émael, thereby leaving

15768-539: The post-1918 territorial losses, and on many occasions had appealed to German nationalism , promising to "liberate" the German minority still in the Corridor, as well as Danzig. The invasion was referred to by Germany as the 1939 Defensive War ( Verteidigungskrieg ) since Hitler proclaimed that Poland had attacked Germany and that "Germans in Poland are persecuted with a bloody terror and are driven from their homes. The series of border violations, which are unbearable to

15914-449: The proximity of the border, and instead assigned an infantry division to guard the three bridges over the canal in the area, a brigade being assigned to each bridge. The bridges were defended by blockhouses equipped with machine-guns. Artillery support was provided by Fort Ében-Émael, whose artillery pieces covered two of the bridges. The German High Command became aware of the defensive plan, which called for Belgian forces to briefly hold

16060-420: The relatively small number of lightly armed airborne troops. The German plan, therefore, was to eliminate within those sixty minutes as many anti-aircraft positions and individual cupolas and casemates as was possible, and at all costs to put out of action the long-range artillery pieces which covered the three bridges. The destruction of these guns was expected to be completed within ten minutes; within this time

16206-428: The requested Polish representative had failed to arrive by midnight. When Polish Ambassador Lipski went to see Ribbentrop later on 31 August to indicate that Poland was favorably disposed to negotiations, he announced that he did not have the full power to sign, and Ribbentrop dismissed him. It was then broadcast that Poland had rejected Germany's offer, and negotiations with Poland came to an end. Hitler issued orders for

16352-408: The requirement for an immediate arrival of a Polish representative with full signing powers as an unacceptable ultimatum . On the night of 30/31 August, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop read a 16-point German proposal to ambassador Nevile Henderson . When the ambassador requested a copy of the proposals for transmission to the Polish government, Ribbentrop refused, on the grounds that

16498-671: The rest of Poland alone. German hegemony over Central Europe was also at stake. In private, Hitler said in May that Danzig was not the important issue to him, but the creation of Lebensraum for Germany. With tensions mounting, Germany turned to aggressive diplomacy. On 28 April 1939, Hitler unilaterally withdrew from both the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934 and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935. Talks over Danzig and

16644-533: The rights of independent states?" The population of the Free City of Danzig was strongly in favour of annexation by Germany, as were many of the ethnic German inhabitants of the Polish territory that separated the German exclave of East Prussia from the rest of the Reich. The Polish Corridor constituted land long disputed by Poland and Germany, and was inhabited by a Polish majority. The Corridor had become

16790-537: The safeguarding of the German minority in Poland. It said that they were willing to commence negotiations, but indicated that a Polish representative with the power to sign an agreement had to arrive in Berlin the next day while in the meantime it would draw up a set of proposals. The British Cabinet was pleased that negotiations had been agreed to but, mindful of how Emil Hácha had been forced to sign his country away under similar circumstances just months earlier, regarded

16936-410: The ship "Lassel" sailed from Liverpool on 28 August ), none of them would take part in combat. In late 1938, the Polish Air Force also ordered 300 advanced PZL.46 Sum light bombers, but due to a delay in starting mass production, none of them were delivered before 1 September. When in the spring of 1939 it turned out that there were problems with the implementation of the new PZL.50 Jastrząb fighter, it

17082-532: The side of our adversaries... Danzig is not the objective. It is a matter of expanding our living space in the east, of making our food supply secure, and solving the problem of the Baltic states. To provide sufficient food you must have sparsely settled areas. There is therefore no question of sparing Poland, and the decision remains to attack Poland at the first opportunity. We cannot expect a repetition of Czechoslovakia. There will be fighting. On 22 August, just over

17228-527: The southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France and the United Kingdom . On 3 September, based on their alliance agreements with Poland, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany; in the end their aid to Poland was very limited . France invaded a small part of Germany in the Saar Offensive , and

17374-480: The success achieved by Koch's Assault Group." The successful completion of the attack despite the designated commander not present in the first and crucial hours is seen as one of the finest examples of Auftragstaktik even in publications of the 21st century. Sturmabteilung Koch was promoted after the end of Fall Gelb to become 1st Battalion of the newly formed 1st Airlanding Assault Regiment, which itself consisted of four battalions of Fallschirmjaeger trained as

17520-504: The surprise signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August, the result of secret Nazi–Soviet talks held in Moscow , Germany neutralized the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and war became imminent. In fact, the Soviets agreed not to aid France or the UK in the event of their going to war with Germany over Poland and, in a secret protocol of the pact, the Germans and

17666-441: The three bridges would overwhelm the defending Belgian troops, remove any demolition charges and then prepare to defend the bridges against an expected counter-attack. Forty minutes later, three Ju 52 transport aircraft would fly over each position, dropping a further twenty-four airborne troops as reinforcements as well as machine-guns and significant amounts of ammunition. Simultaneously, the force assigned to assault Fort Ében-Émael

17812-443: The turrets and detonated, but whilst they shook the turrets they did not destroy them, and other airborne troops were forced to climb the turrets and smash the gun barrels. In the northern section of the fort, similar actions were taking place, as the airborne troops raced to destroy or otherwise disable the fortifications housing artillery pieces. Objective No. 13 was a casemate housing multiple machine-guns whose arcs of fire covered

17958-517: The western border in Eastern Upper Silesia . Polish policy centred on their protection, especially since many politicians feared that if Poland retreated from the regions disputed by Germany, Britain and France would sign a separate peace treaty with Germany like the 1938 Munich Agreement and allow Germany to stay in those regions. The fact that none of Poland's allies had specifically guaranteed Polish borders or territorial integrity

18104-643: The western regions that were judged as indispensable for waging the war, taking advantage of the propitious conditions for counterattacks by reserve units and avoiding it from being smashed before the beginning of Franco-British operations in Western Europe. The operation plan had not been elaborated in detail and concerned only the first stage of operations. The British and the French estimated that Poland would be able to defend itself for two to three months, and Poland estimated it could do so for at least six months. While Poland drafted its estimates based upon

18250-452: The western side of the Fort; to destroy the casemate, the airborne troops used a flamethrower to force the Belgian soldiers manning the weapons to retreat, and then detonated shaped charges against the fortification to disable it. Another observation cupola fitted with machine-guns, Objective No. 19, was destroyed, but two further objectives, Nos. 15 and 16 were found to be dummy installations. Unexpected complications came from Objective No. 23,

18396-539: The whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty . The invasion is also known in Poland as the September campaign ( Polish : kampania wrześniowa ) or 1939 defensive war (Polish: wojna obronna 1939 roku ) and known in Germany as the Poland campaign ( German : Überfall auf Polen, Polenfeldzug ). German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west the morning after

18542-474: The wider Operation Himmler . On 31 August, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. However, partly because of the earlier stoppage, Poland finally managed to mobilize only about 70% of its planned forces (only about 900,000 of 1,350,000 soldiers planned to mobilize in first order), and because of that many units were still forming or moving to their designated frontline positions. The late mobilization reduced combat capability of

18688-480: The world's best trained, as proven a year later in the Battle of Britain , in which the Poles played a notable part. Overall, the Germans enjoyed numerical and qualitative aircraft superiority. Poland had only about 600 aircraft, of which only PZL.37 Łoś heavy bombers were modern and comparable to their German counterparts. The Polish Air Force had roughly 185 PZL P.11 and some 95 PZL P.7 fighters, 175 PZL.23 Karaś Bs, 35 Karaś as light bombers. However, for

18834-466: Was a greatly enlarged development of the original Belgian defence works designed by General Henri Alexis Brialmont before World War I . Even in its larger form, the fort comprised a relatively compact ensemble of gun turrets and observation posts, surrounded by a defended ditch. This was in contrast with French thinking for the contemporary Maginot Line fortifications, which were based on the dispersed fort palmé concept, with no clearly defined perimeter,

18980-697: Was a small fleet of destroyers , submarines and smaller support vessels. Most Polish surface units followed Operation Peking, leaving Polish ports on 20 August and escaping by way of the North Sea to join with the British Royal Navy . Submarine forces participated in Operation Worek , with the goal of engaging and damaging German shipping in the Baltic Sea , but they had much less success. In addition, many merchant marine ships joined

19126-506: Was advocated by some generals, including Heinz Guderian , would have had the armour punching holes in the enemy's front and ranging deep into rear areas, but the campaign in Poland would be fought along more traditional lines. That stemmed from conservatism on the part of the German High Command, which mainly restricted the role of armour and mechanized forces to supporting the conventional infantry divisions. Poland's terrain

19272-416: Was also destroyed by airborne troops, who then moved to Objective No. 26, a turret holding another three 75mm weapons; although explosives were detonated against this and the airborne troops assigned to destroy it moved off, this proved to be premature as one of the guns was rapidly brought to bear against the attackers, who were forced to assault it for a second time to destroy it. Another pair of 75mm guns in

19418-701: Was also maintained in other ways. When exercises were completed gliders and equipment would be broken down and taken away in furniture vans, the sub-units of the force were frequently renamed and moved from one location to another, unit badges and insignia were removed, and the airborne troops were not permitted to leave their barracks or to take leave. Hauptmann Koch divided his force into four assault groups. Group Granite, under Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig , composed of eighty-five men in eleven gliders whose task would be to assault and capture Fort Ében-Émael; Group Steel, commanded by Oberleutnant Gustav Altmann , and formed of ninety-two men and nine gliders, would capture

19564-474: Was another Polish concern. These reasons made the Polish government disregard French advice to deploy the bulk of its forces behind natural barriers, such as the Vistula and San Rivers, despite some Polish generals supporting the idea to be a better strategy. The West Plan allowed the Polish armies to retreat inside the country, but that was supposed to be a slow retreat behind prepared positions intended to give

19710-687: Was assigned to Weiss . Due to its earlier participation in the Spanish Civil War , the Luftwaffe was probably the most experienced, best-trained and best-equipped air force in the world in 1939. Emerging in 1918 as an independent country after 123 years of the Partitions of Poland , the Second Polish Republic , when compared with countries such as United Kingdom or Germany, was a relatively indigent and mostly agricultural country. The partitioning powers did not invest in

19856-400: Was assigned to guard the three bridges over the canal, supplementing the troops who garrisoned Fort Ében-Émael at the time of the battle. The defences for each bridge consisted of four large concrete pillboxes on the western side of the canal, three equipped with machine-guns and a fourth with an anti-tank gun; the bunker containing the anti-tank gun was positioned close to the road leading from

20002-406: Was decided to temporarily implement the production of the fighter PZL P 11.G Kobuz. Nevertheless, due to the outbreak of the war, not one of the ordered 90 aircraft of this type were delivered to the army. The tank force consisted of two armored brigades, four independent tank battalions and some 30 companies of TKS tankettes attached to infantry divisions and cavalry brigades. A standard tank of

20148-485: Was formed from elements of the 7th Air Division and the 22nd Airlanding Division, and was named Sturmabteilung Koch (Assault Detachment Koch) after the leader of the force, Hauptmann Walter Koch . The force, which had been assembled in November 1939, was primarily composed of parachutists from the 1st Parachute Regiment and engineers from the 7th Air Division, as well as a small group of Luftwaffe pilots. Although

20294-423: Was greatly improved, including an air filtration system for protection against gas attack, magazines were deeply buried and protected, and sanitary facilities and general living arrangements for the troops were given careful attention. Eben-Emael and Battice featured 120 mm and 75 mm guns, giving the fort the ability to bombard targets across a wide area of the eastern Liège region. Fort Eben-Emael occupies

20440-470: Was obtained from intake vents over the canal. In 1940, Fort Eben-Emael was commanded by Major Jottrand. There were around 1,200 Belgian troops stationed at the fort, divided into three groups. The first group was permanently stationed at the fort and consisted of 200 technical personnel (e.g. doctors, cooks, weapon maintenance technicians, administration staff). The two other groups consisted of 500 artillerists each. In peacetime, one group would be stationed at

20586-469: 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 Ében-Émael , a Belgian fortress whose strategic position and strong artillery emplacements dominated several important bridges over the Albert Canal . These carried roads which led into

20732-519: Was tasked with capturing river and canal bridges that led to the Royal Netherlands Army defensive positions centered around Rotterdam , as well as an airfield at Waalhaven . The 22nd Airlanding Division, which was composed of two infantry regiments and a reinforced parachute battalion, was tasked with capturing airfields in the vicinity of The Hague at Valkenburg , Ockenburg and Ypenburg . Once these airfields had been secured by

20878-467: Was to be supported by Panzers and small numbers of truck-mounted infantry (the Schützen regiments, forerunners of the panzergrenadiers ) to assist the rapid movement of troops and concentrate on localized parts of the enemy front , eventually isolating segments of the enemy, surrounding, and destroying them. The prewar "armoured idea", which an American journalist in 1939 dubbed Blitzkrieg , which

21024-461: Was to land on top of the Fort in eleven gliders, eliminate any defenders attempting to repel them, cripple what artillery they could with explosive charges, and then prevent the Garrison from dislodging them. Having achieved their initial objectives of seizing the bridges and eliminating the long-range artillery pieces possessed by the Fort, the airborne troops would then defend their positions until

21170-439: Was to use the two airborne divisions to create a corridor, along which the 18th Army could advance into the Netherlands without being impeded by destroyed bridges. General Kurt Student , who proposed the deployment of the two airborne divisions, argued that their presence would hold open the southern approaches to Rotterdam, prevent the movement of Dutch reserves based in north-west Holland and any French Army forces sent to aid

21316-478: Was well suited for mobile operations when the weather co-operated; the country had flat plains , with long frontiers totalling almost 5,600 km (3,500 mi). Poland's long border with Germany on the west and north, facing East Prussia, extended 2,000 km (1,200 mi). It had been lengthened by another 300 km (190 mi) on the southern side in the aftermath of the 1938 Munich Agreement. The German incorporation of Bohemia and Moravia and creation of

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