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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On May 10th, 1940, in the opening minutes of Fall Gelb, the German offensive in the west, a handful of Fallschirmjäger from Sturmgruppe Beton land by glider on the banks of the Albert Canal at Vroenhoven, Belgium. Their objective is the road bridge. Their window is minutes. The Belgian garrison is armed, the demolition charges are primed, and the casemate line along the canal slope is manned and ready.

What follows is one of the most remarkable small-unit actions of the entire war. In this episode we follow Oberjäger Theo Schmitt and the men of Sturmgruppe Beton through the violent landing, the assault on Bunker M, the fight through the Belgian trench lines, and the race to neutralise the demolition charges before the bridge is lost. We examine the collapse of the Belgian chain of command, the failure of the casemate garrisons, and the desperate effort to hold the eastern bridgehead with just four men against a Dutch border unit of company strength. And we follow Gefreiter Stenzel into an orchard, armed with nothing but nerve and a white cloth, to negotiate the surrender of an enemy force that vastly outnumbers his own.

This is part two of our coverage of the Albert Canal bridge assaults, part of the broader series on Sturmgruppe Koch and Unternehmen Danzig.

For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.

#WorldWarII #SpecialForces #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #AlbertCanal #Vroenhoven #FallGelb #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeBeton #BelgiumCampaign #1940 #MilitaryHistory #WWIIPodcast #GermanAirborne #UnternehmenDanzig #Paratroopers #FortEbenEmael #SpecialOperations #WWII #WarHistory #MilitaryPodcast #BunkerM #TheoSchmitt #DFS230

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On the night of May 9th, 1940, a group of specially trained German Fallschirmjäger board DFS 230 assault gliders at Köln-Ostheim airfield and prepare for one of the most audacious airborne operations of the Second World War. Their objective is the bridge at Vroenhoven on the Albert Canal in Belgium, a reinforced concrete crossing guarded by bunkers, casemates, infantry trenches, anti-tank guns, and prepared demolition charges. If those charges detonate, the momentum of the entire German offensive in the west could stall in its opening hours.

In this first part of our coverage of Sturmgruppe Beton, we examine the Vroenhoven bridge and its formidable defensive system in detail, from Bunker M and the flanking casemates to the infantry positions of 18e Régiment de Ligne and the artillery of 20e Régiment d'Artillerie. We then follow the men of Sturmgruppe Beton through their final preparations, the silent pre-dawn launch from Köln-Ostheim, and the tense flight across western Germany and the Netherlands toward the Albert Canal. A tow rope snaps and Gruppe 2 is lost before the assault even begins. Anti-aircraft fire over Maastricht alerts the Belgian defenders. Gliders crash. Landing zones are missed. And as the remaining aircraft descend toward the bridge, machine-gun fire rises from the trenches below.

The assault itself is seconds away. That is where part two begins.

For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.

#WorldWarII #SpecialForces #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #AlbertCanal #Vroenhoven #FallGelb #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeBeton #BelgiumCampaign #1940 #MilitaryHistory #WWIIPodcast #GermanAirborne #UnternehmenDanzig #Paratroopers #FortEbenEmael #SpecialOperations #WWII #WarHistory #MilitaryPodcast #DFS230 #BunkerM #MaastrichtGateway #KölnOstheim

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