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

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In part two of our coverage of the battle for the bridge at Kanne, the fighting moves to the Opkanne heights, where the men of Sturmgruppe Eisen and the 2e Régiment de Grenadiers fight a brutal, fragmented battle across twelve strongpoints. The bridge is already gone. Leutnant Schächter is wounded within the first hour. The parachute reinforcement under Oberjäger Nollau is destroyed in the air above North Hill before it can fire a single shot. And Lieutenant Berlaimont's machine guns hold the canal crossing against everything Pionier-Bataillon 51 and Infanterie-Regiment 151 can bring to bear. This episode follows the strongpoint-by-strongpoint collapse of the Belgian defence, the personal account of Sergent Pirenne's capture near the destroyed bridge, and the final casualty count that places Kanne as the costliest of the three Albert Canal crossings for both sides.

For more on Fort Eben-Emael, the Albert Canal crossings, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.

#FallGelb #FortEbenEmael #AlbertCanal #Fallschirmjäger #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeEisen #Kanne #BelgianCampaign1940 #Blitzkrieg #AirborneWarfare #WorldWarII #SpecialForces #May1940 #GermanAirborne #OperationYellow #WWII #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast #SpecialForcesWW2 #2eRegimentdeGrenadiers

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In the third of Sturmgruppe Koch's Albert Canal objectives, Gruppe Eisen and its eighty-nine Fallschirmjäger under Leutnant Martin Schächter face a very different fight from the one at Veldwezelt and Vroenhoven. The bridge at Kanne sits in broken terrain on the edge of Fort Eben-Emael's defensive perimeter. The western bank offers no suitable landing ground. The Belgian garrison is alert. And the fifteen minutes lost during the glider approach will cost Gruppe Eisen everything.

This episode covers the bridge and its defences, the order of battle of the 2e Régiment de Grenadiers, the detailed assault plan, the Belgian response to the general alarm, and the opening minutes of the battle in which the bridge is destroyed before a single Fallschirmjäger reaches it.

For more on Fort Eben-Emael, the Albert Canal crossings, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.

#FallGelb #FortEbenEmael #AlbertCanal #Fallschirmjäger #SturmgruppeKoch #GruppeEisen #Kanne #BelgianCampaign1940 #Blitzkrieg #AirborneWarfare #WorldWarII #SpecialForces #May1940 #GermanAirborne #OperationYellow #WWII #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast #SpecialForcesWW2

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