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Fort Eben Emael: The Key to Hitler's Victory in the West (Fortress)
 
 
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Fort Eben Emael: The Key to Hitler's Victory in the West (Fortress) [Illustrated] (Paperback)

by Simon Dunstan (Author), Hugh Johnson (Illustrator) "Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the Belgian government undertook a comprehensive review of the country's defences against the threats posed by both the German..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 64 pages
  • Publisher: Osprey Publishing (5 May 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841768219
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841768212
  • Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 18 x 0.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 367,097 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

The defences of Belgium that had proved easy prey to the German siege artillery of World War I were augmented in the post-war years by a massive fortress, constructed between 1932 and 1935, along the western bank of the Albert Canal - Fort Eben Emael. The fortress was considered to be the strongest in the world on completion yet its conquest took less than 48 hours to complete after a glorious coup de main by German glider-borne assault troops. This title considers the design, development and construction of this formidable bastion as well as covering the assault and the failure of the fort to offer any meaningful obstacle to the German invaders.


About the Author

Simon Dunstan is a well-established author, filmmaker and photographer in the field of military history, with several titles already published by Osprey. He specialises in the subject of armoured warfare, about which he has been writing for two decades. His books have covered such topics as helicopter and armoured warfare in Vietnam, the Challenger main battle tank, the British Guards and armoured warfare in Korea. Simon lives and works in London. Hugh Johnson is a highly-experienced and talented freelance digital illustrator who has recently completed exceptional work on NVG 102: T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944-2004 for Osprey.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the Belgian government undertook a comprehensive review of the country's defences against the threats posed by both the German Empire and the French Republic. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, 29 Dec 2006
By Thomas Raymann "thraymann" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Informative read, many good pics.
Introduction a bit lame but picks up with the description of the fort.
Good account of Nazi attack.
Simon Dunstan has delivered another good book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Get on the funk train, 11 Feb 2008
By Mr. A. Pomeroy (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This book was a big surprise, a pleasant surprise. The German assault on Eben Emael tends to be covered very briefly in general histories of the Second World War, although it is not exactly forgotten, because it was very novel. The Germans realised that the fort would be a tough nut to crack, so they landed gliders on the roof. It shouldn't have worked - the fort had plenty of weapons that could beat off close-range attacks - but it did work.

This book does a super job of describing the battle, in such a way that it would be entertaining and informative even if you were not interested in the topic. I have flicked through Osprey books that have made major battles seem dull, and it's ironic that this book makes such a small - but important - action seem intensely dramatic. I imagine the German paratroopers must have felt they were participating in the most incredible Boy's Own adventure, and afterwards I bet they walked tall, and got free drinks in pubs, or bierkellers, German isn't my strong point.

The book starts off by covering the strategic reasons for the fort (which dated back to the 19th Century), its construction, and its tactical layout. The fort was was supposed to be a kind of self-sufficient underground town, almost like a nuclear submarine, except that it was a static nuclear submarine that was visible to everyone. The book then covers the political situation leading up to the Second World War, and the German preparations for the attack. It explains why the Germans didn't simply go past the fort. The glider assault plan was complex, and might not have worked if Eben Emael had been running at peak efficiency, staffed with crack troops led by top officers, but the book makes clear that the fort was going through a bad patch. The officers in charge come across particularly badly. The book is so well-detailed that the individual Belgian casualties are named, and I hope the men who led them feel bad.

The assault took only a few minutes, and the book does a lot of cross-cutting, but it still makes sense. In theory the fort could have peppered the German gliders with anti-aircraft machineguns, and blasted the German paratroopers with canister rounds shot from its howitzers, but it was embroiled in administrative chaos. The Germans had their fair share of technical problems - a couple of the gliders fell short, several of the anti-bunker explosives had no effect, the troops attacked dummy bunkers - but overall the Germans made very few mistakes, and successfully improvised solutions to the problems they faced. The Belgians made lots of mistakes, small mistakes, big mistakes, institutional mistakes, and they flapped, and lost.

Overall this is a great read. The assault feels like an action film, a very short action film, one in which the Germans win. The level of detail is sufficient for picky people, and it does a good job of explaining that the victory wasn't a simple matter of flying some planes onto the fort and then jumping out, throwing grenades. By the end you'll find yourself cheering on the brave Germans and then feeling very guilty indeed.
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