The Fall Of Fort Eben Emael: The Effects Of Emerging Technologies On The Successful Completion Of Military Objectives by Thomas B. Gukeisen

Author:Thomas B. Gukeisen [Gukeisen, Thomas B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2015-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5 — ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS

Germany had clearly linked political attitudes, priorities, and constraints that exerted a dominating influence on the development of the country’s armed forces and strategic doctrine. The show of political and military might came to a climax on 10 May 1940 when Germany invaded France through the Low Countries and in a matter of weeks caused the surrender of France and departure of Britain, whose army fled the continent at Dunkirk. Not until June 1944 would ally soldiers regain French soil. The plan to seize Fort Eben Emael was a plan which incorporated the technological possibilities of the hollow charge and the use of gliders for vertical envelopment. Technological factors can never be ignored when analyzing a military operation, but this instance offers a classic example of how technology’s significance can be exaggerated to obscure the real reasons for a mission’s success. Technology is one factor that contributes to victory and in this case it has received an inflated importance. Historians do not adequately address the importance of morale, leadership, planning, and esprit de corps of a unit to that unit’s success. Quite simply, the seizure of Fort Eben Emael was “The best example in modern times of a well-defined plan thoroughly and flawlessly executed.”{41} Sun Tzu realized the importance of thoroughly studying the art of conflict and believed the only constant in war is change and change therefore is susceptible to rational analysis. Only those commanders who possess moral strength and intellectual faculty understand these changes and, after careful analysis, will strike only when the situation assures victory. The military genius of Hitler’s decision to attack Fort Eben Emael using the hollow charge and vertical envelopment is undeniable. General Student believed that

“The capture of Fort Eben Emael is the greatest military victory that man has ever won.”{42}

Neutralizing Fort Eben Emael was a shaping operation planned for the purpose of diverting the Allies’ attention from the main attack the Germans planned through the Ardennes. In order for the plan to work, two German corps would have to penetrate Belgium, and Supreme Commander of French Land Forces General Gamelin would have to respond by initiating the Dyle Plan. A successful mission would include crossing the Albert Canal through use of the three bridges at Canne, Veldwezelt, and Vroenhoven. Standing guard over these key elements of the mission was Fort Eben Emael. Speed was critical to the German plan because if Fort Eben Emael was not silenced quickly, the Belgians would have the opportunity to fire on and destroy the three bridges. Had the bridges been destroyed, the Allied forces would have been able to reposition against the German main effort going through the Ardennes.

The French command reacted cautiously to the reports of a German invasion and it was not until 0700 on 10 May 1940 that General Gamelin initiated the Dyle Plan. Allied troops began to move to their designated positions of defence as required by the plan, but the entry of Allied troops into Belgium had not been coordinated in detail.

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