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40 Fascinating But Lesser Known Facts About WWII

Khalid Elhassan January 5, 2019 25 min

World War II - European theatre of World War II — Raising the Red Banner over the Reichstag. Anarkismo

German paratroopers exiting a glider. Defense Media Network

39. The Germans Landed On Top of the Fortress

In the wee hours of May 10th, 1940, a company of 80 German paratroopers, commanded by a captain Walter Koch, boarded gliders tethered to Ju 52 transport airplanes, which towed them, then released them on an approach path to the fortress. The gliders landed atop the fortress, which had been built to thwart attacks from land, but whose designers had not contemplated a direct assault from above by airborne soldiers. Exiting the gliders and quickly forming into assault teams, the paratroopers threw explosives down Eben-Emael’s ventilation shafts, to explode within the fortress’ vitals.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.