Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Granit, The assault on Fort Eben Emael, Part 1

On May 10th, 1940, 86 Fallschirmjäger combat engineers of Sturmgruppe Granit board eleven DFS 230 assault gliders at Köln-Ostheim and turn west toward the most powerful fortress in Belgium. Their target is Fort Eben-Emael, a self-contained underground city of 1,200 men whose guns dominate every Albert Canal crossing from Maastricht to the south. Without the fort, Fall Gelb stalls. Without the bridges, the fort cannot be bypassed. Unternehmen Danzig must achieve both objectives simultaneously, in darkness, and in complete surprise.This episode covers the full story of part one. It begins with the fort itself, its construction, its garrison, its command structure, and the serious deficiencies that its commanders know about but cannot correct in time. It then moves to Hildesheim in the autumn of 1939, where General der Flieger Kurt Student and Hauptmann Walter Koch begin assembling Sturmabteilung Koch under conditions of absolute secrecy. It covers the formation of all four Sturmgruppen, the extreme security measures, the months of rehearsal on Czech fortifications, the two secret weapons at the heart of the assault, and the alert issued on the afternoon of May 9th, 1940. It then follows the gliders from Köln-Ostheim into the pre-dawn darkness, through the tow rope failure that strands Oberleutnant Witzig six kilometres outside Cologne, and on to the moment the first DFS 230 begins its landing run on the roof of Eben-Emael.For more on Fort Eben-Emael, the Albert Canal crossings, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#FortEbenEmael #SturmgruppeGranit #UnternehmenDanzig #SturmabteilungKoch #Fallschirmjäger #AlbertCanal #FallGelb #DFS230 #GliderAssault #RudolfWitzig #WalterKoch #BelgianCampaign1940 #AirborneWarfare #May1940 #SpecialForces #WorldWarII #WWII #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast #SpecialForcesWW2 #GermanAirborne #Belgium1940 #Blitzkrieg #Hollowcharge #Pioniertruppe🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof