On the morning of May 10th, 1940, sixty-two Fallschirmjäger of Sturmgruppe Granit hold the roof of the most modern fortress in Europe. Below them, around twelve hundred Belgian soldiers of Fort Eben Emael are sealed in the tunnels under steel doors and sandbags. Between them, in the stairwells and ascent shafts, a silent division of the battlefield is in place. Their commander, Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig, is still trying to reach his fort.
In this final episode of our series on Unternehmen Danzig, we close the story of Sturmgruppe Granit and the assault on Fort Eben Emael. At 08:30 a glider circles over the fort, and the long contest for the fortress begins in earnest. We follow the afternoon on the superstructure under hollow-charge attack, the air resupply by Heinkel He 111, and the Belgian counterattacks that move out from the tunnels into the woods and onto the slopes. We descend into the fort with Chaplain Meesen, Major Van der Auwera, and the wounded. We follow Feldwebel Portsteffen and the 51. Pionier-Bataillon as they fight west to the Albert Canal under fire from Casemate 17, and we wait with them on the dark bank for a chance to cross.
What happens in the tunnels, on the canal, and at the gate of Fort Eben Emael in the hours that follow brings the operation, and the series, to its close.
For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.
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