The Fall Of Fort Eben Emael (Part 1/5)

[egosoftmartin]

Just visited the fort and found the exhibition and guided tour very informative. This video series is an excellent report on what happened during the attack on the Fort of Eben-Emael (I'm still struggling to pronounce it correctly) to recall what I have learned at the fort.

[zulubro]

at 2:43 there are two guns firing simultaneously. what type of weapon is that?

[BPanther111]

There's a great new novel out about the Green Devils assault on Eben Emael, by Harvey Black

[TheAriellupu]

the german plan was very unusual and brilliant the belgiums had no idea what's coming but i am very dissapointed that the fort resistance was so weak

[BPanther111]

@TheAriellupu There is a great novel out about their assault on Eben Emael. Devils with Wings by Harvey Black. Really gritty.

[garden2010city]

I wonder why France did not dig the canal a few kilometers wide linking valley of the Rhein nearby Swiss border to the coast of the north sea . Properly dug and gradually lowering towards the sea could be filled up with water from Rhein could act as french equivalent of english channel . The soil from the canal could be used to lay man-made hills on the french side

[toonsis]

Reading a book on this now and was looking for some computer drawings. Nice find thanks for posting

[CSATexan]

@toonsis

can I guess the book you are reading is called Vertical Envelopment?

[watisna]

lol hwo knows the true...? the fort was "made" by germans civilians..ingeneers

and after soldiers play football ON the fort..so no mines sieeng by the germans..LOL

deutshland!

[Smalbop]

Wrong map in 2:10 . Alsace-Lorraine was German in 1914. South Tyrolia was Austrian then, and Czechoslovakia too.

[LightStijn]

I've been there today. The Fort is alot bigger than I expected. I'm not talking about "a little bit bigger". I'm talking about some massive size.

[MrAquafan]

Hitler was a gambler and not a very good one until 1941 he could do no wrong ,after it you know the rest

[hazemvirus]

@MrAquafan Hitler was a brilliant economical leader, and there is no reason to argue about that cuz its the truth, also he was a terrible military leader, if he listened to his generals they would have won the war

[MrAquafan]

@hazemvirus Ur right there pal, Hitler brought the german people out of the depression and gave them their respect back in projects such as the first Autobanns and got the mass unemployed back to work,But he was a flawed leader because of the way germany lost the Great war and the betrayal of the german army by left wing and jewish government who took over after the Kaisers Abdication.

[razzopardi1]

@hazemvirus

Hitler wasn't a brilliant economical leader. He began enacting policies which would slowly confiscate all Jewish assets and soon annexed territories were forced to give loads of supplies. Practically everything was stolen but you could say that pulling that off within itself is a genius, just a pure evil genius.

[bpiotrAgain]

(2)

Enemy:

-more than 700 german soldiers

-more than 30 guns,mortars and flamethrower

- 2 squadrons of Luftttwaffe

- battleship Schleswig Holstein

and few smaller ships

Capitulaion after 7 days

This small comparison, shows the style in which fighting took place in 1939 (Poland) and in 1940(Belgium,Holland,France)

[bpiotrAgain]

FORTRESS EBEN EMAEL 1940 Belgium: -strong fortifications -more than 700 belgian soldiers inside -artillery Enemy: 84 german paratroopers Capitulation after ONE day. WESTERPLATTE 1939 (Poland) -5 small buildings with basements -200 polish soldiers - 2 cannons, 4 mortars

[StaffanGoldschmidt]

Von Schleiffen? who is that? Maybe Von Schlieffen is ment? ignorant.

[tgv3000]

Il y aurait une version française sur You Tube ????

[bleushift]

wow cool!

I LIVE IN HOLLAND IN MAASTRICHT 5 KM FROM the fortes ive bin in it in the tunnels and on top the hill were the germans gliders landed

[elvee88]

@bleushift Ik woon in Heerlen en ben er een jaar of 4 geleden geweest. Ben je in de machine kamer geweest? Waar die steeksleutels van anderhalve meter ofzo hingen? gruwlijk grote dingen haha

[loppan109]

longe live fatherland ^^ and keep the white race on the top

[StaffanGoldschmidt]

on top on who?

[jakefree25]

Neocons love to mock the French, but in 1940 all the allies sucked compared to the Germans! Even the British Army hightailed it out France & Norway, barely even fighting the Germans. It was the French army who protected the British army when the Brits retreated out of Dunkirk.

[Voske2]

the french dith nothing the belgium soldiers protected the french and british at dunkirk

[spacesoviet59]

False, Belgium surrendered before Dunkirk (no offense, i don't think they could do better)

[Voske2]

thats treu but on some place's like dunkirk where alot of belgium soldiers still fighting agains the germans

[mrkaribikdomkee]

Do you know Napoleon? He did exactly what the Germans did. He was raping, slaughtering and murdering all his way through Germany and wide into Russian territory. Yea and why the fucking hell nobody of the allies or sowjets have tried to kill Hitler before he attacked Poland? From 1933-1939 every country of the world was looking to Germany but they did nothing. They have read Hitlers "Mein Kampf" and they had informations about Hitlers plan. Sometimes I think that they wanted war!

[wolfang111]

The first usage of Gliders EVER was in Eben Emael, so you can't blame the soldiers for not having heard the Paratroopers land it was night and the gliders came from the Belgian side, not german, the gliders had gone round belgium through holland and had thus attack the fort at the rear, it wasn't even officially war yet...

[waterslak1]

they thought that there whas gas (from the toilets) because they had chlorine for the smell.thats why they gived up so easly.

ps. im flemish

[sarg1988]

why are you guys talking about WW2 this is WW1 :P

[james331933]

Nope, it the second.

[justjustinme]

No. This is definitely WW2. It said May 10, 1940.

[justjustinme]

nvm that statement. The first 2 minutes is ww2 :P then it goes backto the first, lol.

[Americanmanthefirst]

i have not seen this show in so long they took i t off history channel and all the ww2 documentary's of history channels

[apocalypse1298]

history sucks now - they replaced interesting documentaries with brainless reality shows

[Mrarmageddon8]

Seriously, the whole channel was badass a couple of years ago. It was all about warfare, now its just modern marvels and axmen over and over again.

[azz578]

Haha.

[daltonagre]

With all his defects. Hitler was a military genius.He draw this amazing plan.I'm not a nazist.

[frank1320]

he stole the ideas from his generals the likes of manstein

[Birdiche]

Thats like saying Winston Churhcill or Stalin was a good general , he was not.

[MKWBSezai]

I disagree, Hitler was not a military genius. All military operations were planned and enforced by the German High Command. Hitler simply gave the orders. In fact if you see what decissions he made, ie USSR Stalingrad etc; you will see that he had a very basic knowledge of Military Warfare.

Regards

MKWB Sezai xD

[TheFirstApparition]

@MKWBSezai Skorzeny, who freed Mussolini, took the Burgberg and "Mickey" Horthy, and had US units paranoid looking for Nazis in American uniforms during the Bulge, writes in detail in his memoirs of Hitler's capability as a military leader -and planner. While I don't believe any true "geniuses" exist in this field, Skorzeny's assessment of Hitler is quite different than yours. But you need to read Skorzeny: "Meine Kommandounternehmen".  Moscow 1941, Stalingrad, etc- all in the book.

[MKWBSezai]

@TheFirstApparition Hitler was ready to take risks and he was able to think outside the box. Attacking France, Poland Benelux etc and being so extremely successful can be seen as Hitler's success. However Hitler was a megalomaniac and seriously underestimated his capability as a Military Expert. I am German so I might have a look at Meine Kommandounternehmen.

Thanks

MKWB Sezai

[TheFirstApparition]

@MKWBSezai If you are indeed German -and I'll take you at your word for now- then I completely understand your negative view of Hitler. You grew up in a still-not-free country under a regime that today (figuratively speaking) burns books, das heißt, jails people for "illegal" speech and extradites "thought criminals" who dare to oppose what YOU have been taught as "history". Like Germar Rudolf, for example. Read Skorzeny's memoirs. Perhaps then you'll have a different view. Wish you well.

[martynrobin121]

@MKWBSezai Adolf Hitler was one of the most stupid military leaders in history, Poland,France were victory for the German Army thanks to German great generals. After France Hitler took full control of the German and Axis military forces whitch ended in disaster, Battle of Britain the Axis humiliated, Battle of the Soviet Union the Axis humiliated, Battle of N.Africa the Axis humiliated and it was the same with Japan they failed. Hitler was an idiot who knew nothing about winning wars only losing

[MKWBSezai]

@martynrobin121 I absolutely agree. One must however not forget that Hitler did think outside the box and that he did take great risk. His aggression and megalomanic thinking were successful at the beginning. His mistake though was to think that he solemnly was responsible for these successes and this made him over selfconfident. Then he started thinking outside the box even more, e.g. we can beat the Soviet Union in 8 weeks xD which as we all know went terribly wrong...

Best wishes,

MKWB Sezai

[martynrobin121]

@MKWBSezai Hitler was a typical dictator who thought he knew best, When infact Hitler knew nothing. Hitler made too many stupid gambles and risks, Hitler invited the Communist Red army into Europe and that was his major gamble, Also when Hitler refused to leave Poland whitch started the war with the British Empire, It was just impossible for Axis to win.

[jakefree25]

True, the 1940 Blitz stands out as a model of diversion & mobile war. Hitler had good military instincts at least in the start. It took some genius to approve Manstein's, who was obscure then, plan when the bulk of Hitler's generals favored a more conventional assault ala WW l.

[bbenjoe]

In short, the mighty germans took Eben Emel in a short time. But this did not breake the belgians. They kept fighting for 18 days (while the plains of the Netherlands fell under 5 days). A bit strange but among the allies, Belgium was the most prepared for a war. Belgium is a small country -especially compared with the Third Reich, and still, it did not fall till the end of the month. They really took their part from the war.

[Jelle1880]

All too true, people forget but Belgium did not just surrender. They were constantly pushed back due to the vast amount of German soldiers, but didn't give up.

In World War I belgian soldiers held their line long enough to be reinforced by British and French soldiers.

[grimmpie85]

It's wrong to compare the Belgian war with the one fought in holland. Holland is completely flat: ideal for a blitzkrieg. Holland didn't recieve allied assistence due to it's bad stratigical location. The belgian army greatest weakness, ironicly, held the Germans of long enough for the French and Brittish to send aid. Belgian units often held their position for days because the order to redraw never reached them, this brought the German headquarters a confusing view over de battlefield.

[jakefree25]

The German plan was to fool the allies in thinking it was a repeat of WW l, where Belgium was the main path of the German assault. The Germans paced their advance through Belgium in WW ll as to encourage the Brits & French to come to Belgium's rescue. When it worked, the main German armored thrust across the Meuse near Sedan cut off all the Brits & French who went into Belgium. Almost all the armor was committed to the Blitzkrieg at Sedan, not in Holland or Belgium

[MaxRWF]

Only the forts of Liège resisted during WWI, the flemish surrendered and collabored with Germany. As usual.

[Jelle1880]

Maybe you should have paid more attention in history classes.

The Belgian army did all they could to stop the Germans but were outnumbered and outgunned.

The fact you claim the Walloons resisted and the Flemish collaborated shows that you know fuck all and are doing nothing more than bashing the Flemish. Flemish soldiers died in the mud while your French-talking officers held back and sat in their safe spots.

As for your 'as usual' comment: Rex, that is all.

[MaxRWF]

At least we don't amnesty Walloon collaborators in Wallonia. Unlike in Flanders (Irma Laplasse). "Flemish : nazis during wars, catholic between' Jacques Brel.

[Jelle1880]

In Flanders we acknowledge that there was a large part of the population who were collaborating, unlike you lot who just ignore it and act as if it's a Flemish thing.

Rex was bigger than the VNV and the Fkemish resistance was one of the most active in the whole of Europe. But we all know that you just love to call all Flemish people nazi's.

[FinalWar1444]

Why don't you Flemish like the Germans ? Germans treated Flemish nice ? Germans also gave you an entire division of SS soldiers with Leon Degrelle !

[Jelle1880]

Leon Degrelle was a Walloon collaborator, not Flemish.

[wolfang111]

he wasnt flemish -.-

[FinalWar1444]

Germany Liberated the Flemish speaking Belgians and united them with their Dutch brothers. Germany freed the opressed, just like Germany liberated the baltic states and Slovakia ! Germany also liberated Ukraine !

[ghostdivision7]

I hope they will 'liberate' you.

[FinalWar1444]

Walloons were liberated by Germany in WW1 and WW2

[somethingboring]

Even if that were true, they had good reasons, the Walloons discriminated against them, nearly all officers were French speaking, and tried to command Flemish who couldn't speak French, hell, even to this day the Walloons are discriminating against them, Walloons refuse to learn Dutch while the Flemish are forced to learn French.

[TimmieVD]

@somethingboring

This is not true. The Belgian regiments were all uno-lingual since the 1930's.

The use of french by some officers was not the reason of the defeat. All dutchspeaking units had dutchspeaking officers.

[transploft8]

@somethingboring

Ive been there a day ago for 5 days, and as fai i know/heard, the French speaking ppl there REALY know how to speak Flemish, just way toooooo boreddumb to speak out, i mean: they know how to speak,but too proud they can speak French.

[whitemen02]

@somethingboring because flemish is not a language

[rokarok7]

The funny thing about fort Eben Emael is that it was built by German contractors......after they were done building in 1935 they took the blue prints of the fort back to Germany with them. Who would have though 5 years later in 1940!

[frank1320]

where did you read about this info?

[beerdrinkinblues]

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but fort Eben-Emael was entirely built by Belgian contractors. Most of the steel and copulas were made by Cockerill in Liege, and the tunnels were dug out by 2000-3000 Belgian miners from 1932 till 1935. Among those miners were also inhabitants of the Belgian East Cantons, who spoke German, thus creating the rumours of the fort being built by Germans.

[SirOinkie]

Great upload!

I've been there 2 times allready!

You must visit this!

If you need more info, I would be glad to help! Contact me!

[Voske2]

i've been there just 1 time but yes, I cycled through there almost every weekend

[JLBrok]

Thanks for the vid. Wrote a term paper on Eben Emael many years ago and had been fascinated by the daring of this operation ever since.

[lectocom]

Regardless of who carried it out, this attack was a brilliant feat. Thanks for uploading this video.