Episode 21-The fall of France, Part 2.

[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.

[2] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[3] What do they know?

[4] What are their skills?

[5] And what would you do in their position?

[6] Vengeance felt good seeing these.

[7] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.

[8] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.

[9] Hello, and thank you for listening to a History of World War II podcast, The Long Delayed Episode 21, The Fall of France, Part 2.

[10] So first of all, I'd like to apologize to everyone who's been waiting.

[11] I listen to a lot of podcasts myself, and I know what it's like to wait.

[12] It's very frustrating.

[13] But what happened was I had everything ready to go, everything ready to record.

[14] I had 14 pages worth of notes, and then my computer got a virus and I lost everything.

[15] So I did what I had to do.

[16] I ran to my room, threw myself on my Hello Kitty pillow, and cried through the night.

[17] The next day, I got up, started researching everything again.

[18] But in order to bring this podcast to you as quickly as I could, this episode will cover the fall of Holland and Belgium.

[19] Next time we'll finish off France, but I promise you it will not take two weeks to get it out because I've already got a lot of notes, and so that should be coming out soon.

[20] Holland.

[21] Fall Gelb, or Case White, Hitler's much -delayed attack against the West, started at 5 a .m. on May 10, 1940.

[22] The initial phase of the Blitzkrieg method called for the German bombers to subject numerous air bases and communication centers to bombing by hundreds of Luftwaffe planes in northern France.

[23] Their job was to soften up the defenses and make way for the two million German troops participating in this latest struggle between the two great rivals of Germany and France.

[24] Although Germany and France were already at war, there was no declaration made on Luxembourg, the Netherlands, or Belgium before hostilities began.

[25] Without knowing it, Holland's fate for World War II had flip -flopped several times during the Nazi planning, only to end up back on Falgelb's itinerary.

[26] It was the Luftwaffe's need of its proximity to London that doomed this small, civilized land.

[27] To make sure that Fortress Holland would be the latest victim of Germany's blitzkrieg tactics, General George von Kugler's 18th Army, assigned to capture in Holland, would consist of one armored division, one motorized SS infantry division, one cavalry division, the only one in the German army, six ordinary divisions, one hand -picked airborne division consisting of 12 ,000 men to be supported by two regiments of paratroopers of 4 ,000 men trained in taking bridges, highways, and airfields.

[28] The main goal of the airborne troops would be the bridges at Mordech, Dordech, gaining access to Rotterdam and the airfields at The Hague where the government was seated.

[29] General Kugler's 18th Army was only a small part of the 136 German divisions invading the four countries that Hitler wanted to incorporate into the Reich.

[30] And although only 10 of the 136 divisions were armored, the one armored division allocated to the Holland attack would unfortunately be enough.

[31] Man for man, the Allies matched the Germans, and exhaustive research carried out after the war by French and German historians alike showed that in tanks, the French and Germans were close to equal, though the French had a better design for their bigger tanks, but unfortunately, not enough of them to make a difference in the outcome.

[32] Both sides had roughly the same number of fighter planes, but the Germans did have more bombers, and they used them effectively in coordination with their ground troops.

[33] And of course, how these weapons were used and their dispositions went a long way to determining the victor.

[34] The Dutch plan of defense had taken into consideration what happened in Poland and Norway.

[35] It was assumed that the German armor would attack in their front, the German paratroopers would land in their rear.

[36] So they could guess at the broad strokes of the attack, but not the details.

[37] In reaction to this knowledge, their plan was to cut off and neutralize any paratroopers, then deal with the German tanks by slowly retreating while blowing up bridges after they crossed them, and if need be, to blow certain dams upriver and flood the countryside.

[38] The Dutch also had destroyers and smaller craft in the larger waterways, but the German bombers soon negated this defensive tactic.

[39] The Dutch hope was to cut off the German armor on the far side of the many larger lakes, and so Fortress Holland would remain defiant and intact.

[40] This would also protect the majority of the Dutch people.

[41] At that point, it would come down to surviving a German siege, but that concerned a later plan.

[42] But the immediate result of the German attack on May 10, 1940, was that French Premier Renaud, who had resigned, and General Gamla, who was removed from his position by Renaud before he resigned, got to keep their positions a little while longer.

[43] Their resignations would have to wait.

[44] Together, they determined to put all other issues aside and that only victory mattered.

[45] The lack of a German declaration of war, combined with the Blitzkrieg tactics, allowed for many of the Dutch fighter planes to be destroyed while still on the ground.

[46] However, some did manage to take off, and they soon inflicted a degree of damage on the German fighter planes, but had more success in taking out the German Junkers U -52 transport planes.

[47] But again, due to the surprise attacks, the transport planes were mostly shot down after they had delivered their troops.

[48] After the bombing of the air bases and communication centers, which would hopefully, for the Germans, induce panic and a lack of coordination for the Allies, the next part of the Manstein plan called for the German paratroopers of General Spohnnick's 22nd Airborne Division, supported by 4 ,000 of Kurtz's students' 7th Parachute Division, to descend from their planes at dawn and secure the bridges over the Neue Maas River leading to Rotterdam, the three airfields around the Hague, as well as the bridges further to the southeast over the two estuaries of the Maas at Dortret and Mordech.

[49] Once these were secured, the German armor and mechanized infantry could head almost in a straight line for Rotterdam and The Hague from their starting point at Cologne, Germany.

[50] The Germans, thinking of a quick victory, thought through and planned the invasion of Holland backwards.

[51] But in the interest of this making sense, I'll describe the route as the German armor would have to travel it.

[52] First, once in Dutch territory, the initial line of defense, the Greb -Piel line, which was a fortified front in eastern Holland, strengthened by a number of water barriers, would have to be broken through.

[53] Then after crossing open territory, the bridges further to the northwest, or behind the Greb -Piel line, would have to be taken and crossed.

[54] There would be no way the Germans could capture all of the bridges, but then again, they didn't need to.

[55] But the more they had, the faster their forces could spread across Holland.

[56] Still moving west, the Germans would then come to the bridges of Dordret and Mordek.

[57] This would lead the invaders to cross the last waterways of the Newmas River to reach Rotterdam and The Hague.

[58] The Greve -Peel line was expected to hold out for at least a few weeks, giving the Allies time, and with time, options.

[59] But it collapsed quickly, as the Germans were able to get an armored train followed by a troop train across and through the line.

[60] They then stopped, quickly unloaded, and attacked the line from behind.

[61] Then the German armor and mechanized infantry were able to pass through the line and travel 100 miles or so, taking the bridges that the German airborne troops were able to capture intact.

[62] Most of the bridges the Germans used were taken by noon on the first day of the war.

[63] Since the Germans mostly controlled the skies, the Dutch main defenses of pillboxes were taken out by German bombers.

[64] After those were silenced, the Germans were able to advance steadily towards Rotterdam and The Hague.

[65] German armor and mechanized infantry were able to reach the main bridges in only two days.

[66] The only thing slowing them down was the lack of intact bridges.

[67] The Dutch, like the Belgians, had managed to blow up hundreds of their own bridges.

[68] The minute details of the German plan changed many times, but the basics remained and so could be practiced during the months before the assault, and that's what happened.

[69] Taking bridges, airfields, and fortifications was rehearsed, improved, and rehearsed again.

[70] The German attention to detail was paying off.

[71] When the attack began, the Dutch managed to blow up the bridges at the Edgissel River to the north and some of the bridges over the Moss River.

[72] but the Germans took most of the other bridges.

[73] Parachute troops overtook the guard stations at bridges by using air -transported troops, and in a few cases, by landing by the bridges in gliders or on the water with antiquated seaplanes.

[74] This allowed the German armor to cross the initial bridges as planned.

[75] The Germans also used subterfuge.

[76] In a few situations, bridges were taken because German troops dressed as Dutch soldiers pretending.

[77] to have German prisoners, as they walked up to the bridges guard and then overpowered them.

[78] Though some of the military police really were Dutch, they belonged to the Nazi party in the Netherlands.

[79] For the French, who received desperate calls from the Belgians and Dutch for assistance that morning, put the first part of their plan into action.

[80] At 6 .35 a .m., General Georges Gamla's next -in -command, who was in charge of conducting Gamla's plan, told General Billiot, who would not survive this war, to put the French 1st Army into motion, heading into Belgium and southern Holland.

[81] The Hague Most of the German airborne troops were used to take the airfields near the Hague.

[82] Their goals were not to allow any Allied airborne reinforcements to land and to make way for German reinforcements.

[83] The next part of their plan was to use motorcycles, go into the city, and capture the Queen and her government officials.

[84] This would paralyze the government and, hopefully, panicked the populace and the Dutch forces.

[85] For the Germans, everything went according to the book, and their troops landed at the three airfields as planned.

[86] But the Dutch troops stationed at the main airfield at Jepenberg were able to stop the German airborne troops from taking over.

[87] The other two airfields, however, Valkenberg and Aachenberg, were less defended and taken over by the invaders.

[88] But since they were still under construction, they were of little use to the Germans.

[89] But then the Dutch 1st Corps came up with overwhelming numbers, artillery, and counterattacked, driving the Germans away from the airfields and into the city that same evening.

[90] Furthermore, the Dutch Army managed to take about 1 ,000 German prisoners.

[91] The Hague, for now, was safe.

[92] The plans of the Dutch seemed to be unfolding as hoped, but the repulsed Germans took to the city and set up defensive positions.

[93] For them, their plans seemed to be falling apart, but the situation had an unexpected upside for the attackers.

[94] The Dutch leaders were so focused on pushing the Germans further away from the Queen, or on capturing them, that they neglected to send reinforcements to the borders and the bridges to help their countrymen keep the balance of the German military on the far side of their many rivers.

[95] With the Germans lodged in the city, fear and its offshoot, wild rumors, soon began to spread.

[96] The most predominant one was that the Germans were meeting with fifth colonists, or traders, who had supplies waiting and their own plans to attack.

[97] This meant that even more Dutch troops were deployed in the city to question every Dutch citizen patrolling soldiers came across.

[98] Rotterdam.

[99] The vital part of the plan, as far as the one German armored division for the Holland operation was concerned, was much more successful.

[100] Twelve Hinkle HE -59 seaplanes, loaded with two platoons, landed in the city, and the troops were able to take Willemsbrug, the bridge over the new Moss River that gave access to the city.

[101] They also managed to create a bridgehead.

[102] As stated earlier, the airborne troops were able to seize the bridges just south of Rotterdam, over the New Moss River, and also those further southeast, over the two estuaries.

[103] This gave General Kukler's troops and armor an almost direct route to their objectives, and they were moving fast.

[104] The needed bridges were taken on the morning of May 10th by airborne troops and by one company that landed on the river at Rotterdam Seaplanes.

[105] The attackers were able to seize control of the bridge before the Dutch realized what was happening and detonate the charges attached to the bridge.

[106] The Dutch, getting over their surprise, tried hard and almost drove the Germans away from the bridges.

[107] But the Germans knew that little else would matter if they failed, and so they held on until May 12th, when the one armored division allotted for this exercise arrived.

[108] Again.

[109] The speed at which the German armor was moving could not be imagined by the aging General Gamla.

[110] The Allies were hoping to stop the Germans from crossing the Mordech bridges by sending General Girard's French 7th Army to the far side of the bridge.

[111] This was as offensive as the Allies were thinking.

[112] Their plan in its entirety was to stop the German advance, let the Germans break themselves on the Allies' defensive lines, and then plan their own offensive, pushing the Germans back, start negotiations with Berlin, and basically have a repeat of the end of World War I. So, so far, so good.

[113] On May 11th, Girard made it to Tilburg, southwest of his goal, by that afternoon, but he would not make it much further.

[114] Besides denying the Germans the bridges at Mordech, General Girard had orders only to seal the far -left flank, of the Allied defensive line, but even this small measure did not play out as hoped.

[115] He ended up being pushed back by Panzers and Stuka bombers to Brita.

[116] In his defense, Girard had no air support, no tanks, no anti -tank weapons, nor anti -aircraft guns.

[117] His was not a modern army.

[118] So the 9th Panzer Division crossed the bridges at Mordech and Dortrecht on the afternoon of May 12th.

[119] reached the southern bank of the new moss river across from rotterdam where the german airborne still held their end of the bridge but after coming all this way they were unable to cross they found themselves stymied by the determined dutch who held on to the northern end the dutch were holding on but just barely it had mostly to do with their overall commander general winkleman's desire to fight the germans He knew it was helping the Allied plan.

[120] He also knew that most of his country was already in enemy hands.

[121] But by the early morning of May 13th, General Winkleman advised the Dutch government that he consider the general situation to be critical.

[122] He told them he did have a plan to counterattack near Dordret, and so the cabinet decided to fight on.

[123] But they also gave General Winkleman the mandate to surrender the army if he saw fit.

[124] The government also was realistic enough to order him to avoid unnecessary sacrifices.

[125] Although the Dutch had the dubious honor of being the first country to be subjected to a large -scale airborne assault, they handled themselves respectively, but probably sensed the outcome.

[126] Too much territory had been lost already.

[127] The Allied plan, as far as Holland was concerned, was crumbling fast.

[128] On May 13th, the same day General Winkleman was given the responsibility of the Dutch armed forces and what government would be left behind, Queen Wilhelmina and her cabinet fled The Hague and raced to London, taken there by two British destroyers.

[129] May 13th would be the last day struggle would be in dispute.

[130] General Winkerman reinforced the troops on his end of the bridge, but spent the day reacting to the Germans' tactics, still trying to get into the city, after his attempt to blow up the bridge had failed.

[131] A Falker TV medium bomber dropped two bombs on the bridge.

[132] One hit the pillar, but didn't explode, and the other one missed.

[133] The bombers were shot down.

[134] He then tried to have artillery take out the bridge, but they only managed slight damage.

[135] The Germans hoped to spread out the eight Dutch battalions defending the city by attacking in different places simultaneously.

[136] The main attack would be the 9th Panzer Division still trying to cross the bridge, while the SS Mechanized Division, named after Adolf Hitler, would try to cross to the left of the bridge in boats.

[137] The entire day of May 13th saw intense fighting on both sides, fierce struggles, and the momentum changing hands many times.

[138] But the Dutch held that day.

[139] It had taken the Germans only two days to get from their border to this point, but the last two days had seen no advancement on the main cities.

[140] But events elsewhere would determine how this struggle ended.

[141] Word came from the German high command that they wanted to pull the one armored and mechanized division from here and move them to help with the battle in France.

[142] There, the Germans were having such success that they themselves could hardly believe it and wanted to exploit it.

[143] The OKW did not have time for the Dutch, who were making an impressive stand against amazing odds.

[144] They needed the war in the Netherlands over.

[145] The morning of May 14th probably felt like the previous one for the Dutch, critical but composed.

[146] That was about to change.

[147] Chancellor Hitler, like in the operations in Norway, flew into a rage as the opposing forces, this time the Dutch, made a defiant stand at Rotterdam's bridge.

[148] He also saw what was happening in France, and although their plans were exceeding their expectations, Hitler, in a highly nervous state, accused his generals of throwing away a relatively easy victory there.

[149] His panzers had punched a hole in the center of the Allied line, just above the Maginot line, and was heading west for the coast, with little opposition.

[150] But Hitler was sure that a French counterattack was coming from the south or from Paris, and was about to hit his advancing panzer's left flank.

[151] Therefore, he wanted every armored and mechanized unit available to support the breakthrough.

[152] He discussed the Rotterdam situation with Goering and decided it had to be resolved at once.

[153] So Hitler issued Directive No. 11, quote, to facilitate the rapid conquest of Fortress Holland, unquote.

[154] He then ordered Goering, using parts of the 6th Army's Air Force, to bomb Rotterdam into submission, thus avoiding a drawn -out battle for a few yards at a time, like World War I. This type of aerial terror had gotten its practice on Warsaw the year before.

[155] On May 14th, the bombing began, one sortie after another, with 2 ,200 -pound delayed -action bombs in the heart of the city.

[156] A side note should be mentioned during this point.

[157] Right before the bombing started on May 14th, a German officer, General Schmidt, and a Dutch officer, Colonel Sciaro, who was in charge of the Rotterdam forces, met on the bridge to discuss Rotterdam's surrender.

[158] Staff Officer General Schmidt, the 309th Corps, was warning the Dutch officer that if they did not surrender, the city would be bombed.

[159] Though the Dutch were told...

[160] The bombing would begin at 1620 or 420 if the defenders did not surrender.

[161] It actually started around 1320, 120, when a second offer by Schmidt was about to be delivered.

[162] It was then that two formations of Hinkle's flew over and bombed the heart of the city.

[163] The best evidence points to Nazi duplicity, not miscommunication.

[164] Welcome to True Spies.

[165] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[166] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.

[167] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[168] What do they know?

[169] What are their skills?

[170] And what would you do in their position?

[171] Vengeance felt good.

[172] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[173] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.

[174] Wherever you get your podcasts.

[175] After the war, at the Nuremberg Trials, Goering and Kesselring of the Luftwaffe defended the action by saying that Rotterdam was not an open city, but defended.

[176] The area concentrated on by the Luftwaffe was about 642 acres, and by the end of the day, few buildings survived intact.

[177] Unfortunately, a margarine factory was hit, and burning fat was thrown out for blocks, spreading fire in all directions.

[178] About 800 people.

[179] Mostly civilians died that day, with 25 ,000 houses destroyed and about 78 ,000 people made homeless.

[180] But the rumors at the time were about 35 ,000 people had died due to the air assault.

[181] This was too much for the defenders, and they surrendered that afternoon.

[182] At 1550 -350, Colonel Scarrow capitulated to Schmidt in person.

[183] which was best because gehring had ordered a second bombardment of the city as well as threatening to bomb utrent if it did not surrender fortunately the bombers were recalled just in time keeping in mind his mandate to avoid unnecessary deaths that same evening general winkleman the commander -in -chief of the dutch forces ordered a ceasefire all units were ordered by sixteen fifty 450, by Telex to first destroy their weapons and then offer their surrender to German units.

[184] At 1720, 520, the German envoy in The Hague was informed.

[185] At 1900, 7 o 'clock, Winkleman gave a radio speech informing the Dutch people.

[186] This was how the German command became aware that the Dutch had surrendered.

[187] He signed the official capitulation at 11 a .m. the next day, on May 15th.

[188] With five days of fighting, Some 2 ,100 Dutch soldiers had died, with 2 ,700 wounded.

[189] The capitulation, and one cannot imagine any other outcome, opened the Dutch to five years of Nazi terror.

[190] But Hitler had opened Pandora's box with the bombing.

[191] On May 15th, British bombers, based in France, started bombing the industrial cities of Germany's Ruhr Valley.

[192] The war had come home to Germany.

[193] But Hitler got an unexpected bonus from the bombing of Rotterdam.

[194] The many civilians of Holland, Belgium, and France assumed their cities would be next and fled, which clogged up the roads, desperately needed by the Allied troops trying to catch up with or run away from the German advance.

[195] Belgium Belgium was between a rock and a hard place.

[196] Its government did not want too much contact with the Allies, at least the Nazis used it as an excuse to attack.

[197] but most in and outside Belgium thought the Germans would attack anyway, so coordination between Belgium and the Allied forces made good military sense.

[198] But it was this middle -of -the -road attitude that allowed disastrous results.

[199] The Belgians, paranoid at provoking Germany, had not only troops and bridges connecting Belgium with Germany wired for detonation, they also had the same situation on their border with France.

[200] Untying this particular knot would cause at least an hour's delay once French assistance was officially requested.

[201] Belgium had King Leopold III as its monarch, but General Gamelin of the French was in charge of all Allied forces, including the Belgian military.

[202] The dial plan of defense was created by the French and explained to the British expeditionary force led by Lord Gort and the Belgian troops who would all face the German assault together.

[203] Although the most northern end of the defensive Dile Line did not protect most of Holland, it did cover a good part of Belgium.

[204] The Allied Line of Defense ran along the Dile River, hence its name, going north and south, starting at Antwerp, then south through Le Vang, to Weber, and then to Namur, and then it ran straight south until the Meuse was reached, and then along the Meuse to Sedan.

[205] Below that is where the Maginot Line started and protected the remainder of the French border with Germany, and the Allies felt confident that the Germans would not launch in a suicidal attack along this greatly fortified line.

[206] It was here in Belgium that General Gamla was convinced the main German attack would come, just like in 1914.

[207] Then, as in now, it was a good plan for the invaders, and he saw no reason for them to change their tactics.

[208] The main difference would be the planes and tanks.

[209] and the French had their own planes and tanks.

[210] But before the dial line could even be tested, the Germans would have to deal with a few aces of the Belgian sleeve, namely Fort Ibn Amal and the main bridges that allowed access to central Belgium.

[211] The ultra -modern fort even Amal, superior even to the Maginot Line and its ability to defend its surrounding area, bristled with 12 60mm high -velocity anti -tank guns, 16 75mm guns, and 6 120mm guns with a range of 10 miles, 25 twin -mounted machine guns, and a number of anti -aircraft guns.

[212] One side of the fort faced the Albert Canal while the other three faced land and were defended by minefields, deep ditches, a 20 -foot high wall, concrete pillboxes fitted with machine guns, and 15 searchlights and placed on top of the fort.

[213] This fort was not expected to fall to the Germans, no matter their number of panzers or bombers.

[214] If they decided to go around it, their columns of infantry and armor would be harassed by the amazing range of the fort's guns.

[215] And the three main bridges in the area were already wired to be destroyed, should the Germans come this way.

[216] General Gamla figured this could not only buy the French and British forces time to advance into position, but might end up being a headache that the Germans could not shake off.

[217] With the fort and bridges in the far eastern part of Belgium, they would be tested first, as well as giving the Allies plenty of notice of any German activity.

[218] And between Fort Ibn Amal and the dial line, another part of the Belgian defense plan was to destroy the lesser bridges in the Germans' path.

[219] The Belgian troops would then be able to fall back slowly in an organized fashion to the dial line and join the French and British forces there to repulse the German advance.

[220] Against this, the German plan was for General Reichenau's army of 20 divisions to attack through this very way and to make the Allies think this was the main point of Germany's attack against the West.

[221] General Walter von Reichenau's 6th Army the southern flank of General Bach's Army Group B, the north flank was in Holland, went across the Moss River near Maastricht and attacked the Belgian first line of defense fiercely, near the Albert Canal in eastern Belgium.

[222] Reichenau had 17 divisions in General Hoppner's 16th Armored Corps of two Panzer divisions and one motorized infantry division.

[223] The plan was to attack with such strength as to make the Allies think that, like 1914, this was the main point of attack in central Belgium.

[224] east of Brussels.

[225] It worked, and the Allies moved up the best of the French forces, nine British divisions, and joined up with the 22 Belgian divisions.

[226] The Allies took the bait, and Gamla, thinking he had guessed correctly, patted himself on the back for the first few days of the war.

[227] The German plan was set into motion on May 10th, but still, the Germans not only had to make a good show of it, but to take the needed bridges and take Fort Ibn Amal, for when the real offensive worked in the south, Rijkenau's forces were expected to push the Allies back and help encircle them.

[228] This would have the added advantage of preventing any Allied advance.

[229] This was made more complicated by the fact that the Allies actually outnumbered the Germans by 36 divisions to 20 between Antwerp and Namur.

[230] Again, the waterways of the German adversaries in Belgium were of primary concern.

[231] Again, 400 specially trained glider troops practiced during the winter of 1939 -40 at Heidelsham, where they built replicas of the Fort Ibn Amal and the three bridges.

[232] The training paid off, and they were able to take most of the needed lesser bridges by landing at dawn in gliders.

[233] Their surprise attack was also successful at two of the three main bridges needed over the Albert Canal, behind Maastricht.

[234] So, for all of the amazing firepower of the fort, it proved nothing more than a speed bump to the Werkmarkt.

[235] Its location on the junction of the Maas River and Albert Canal made its capture a military necessity.

[236] It was constructed in a series of steel and concrete galleries, deep underground, and its gun turrets protected by heavy armor and manned by 1 ,200 men.

[237] It was assumed it would hold up to anything the Germans had in the way of bombs and artillery shells.

[238] If all else failed in Belgium, it was looked on as a starting point to retake captured territory.

[239] But it fell in 30 hours to 80 German soldiers led by a sergeant, who only suffered 6 killed and 19 wounded.

[240] After it was taken, Dr. Goebbels addressed his radio listeners about the amazing news and hinted at special weapons, such as a nerve gas that temporarily paralyzed people, was used during the assault.

[241] The force tasked with assaulting the fort and capturing the three bridges was named Sturmabteilung Koch, or Assault Detachment Koch, after the leader of the force, Hauptmann Walter Koch.

[242] Hitler had taken a personal interest in this critical part of the invasion.

[243] After being told by his personal pilot that he believed the Belgian anti -aircraft defenses used sound location arrays instead of radar, it would be best to use gliders to approach the fort and the bridges.

[244] With the near silence while flying gliders, hopefully the assault forces would be able to achieve total surprise and greatly increase their chances of success for this critical operation.

[245] So 50 DFS -230 transport gliders were supplied to the assault force, and their period of intensive training began.

[246] Hauptman Koch divided his force into four assault groups.

[247] Group Granite, under Ober Lieutenant or Senior Lieutenant Rudolf Witzig, composed of 85 men and 11 gliders, whose task would be to assault and capture Fort Ibn Amal.

[248] Group Steel, commanded by Sr. Lt. Gustav Altman, and formed of 92 men and 9 gliders, would capture the Veldwitzelt Bridge.

[249] Group Concrete, commanded by Sr. Lt. Gerhard Schott, and composed of 96 men and 11 gliders, would capture the Verhoeven Bridge.

[250] And Group Iron, under Sr. Lt. Martin Schachter, composed of 90 men and 10 gliders, would capture the Kahn Bridge.

[251] At 4 .30 a .m. on May 10th, the 42 gliders carrying the 493 airborne troops that formed the assault force were lifted off from two airfields in Cologne.

[252] The armada of gliders and transport aircraft pulling them on tow ropes turned south towards their objectives.

[253] Radio silence was demanded for this flight, but that worked against the invaders when a tow rope snapped from a glider and it never made it out of Germany.

[254] Another glider had its tow rope released too early, forcing it to land far away from its objective.

[255] Since these two unlucky gliders carried men for the assault on Fort Ibn Amal, it jeopardized the operation even before the gliders landed.

[256] Also, one of the downed gliders had the commander of Group Granite in it.

[257] The operation would have to be taken over by Witzig's second in command, a sergeant.

[258] The remaining gliders were released from their tow ropes 20 miles away from their objectives at an altitude of 7 ,000 feet.

[259] This was deemed high enough for the gliders to land by the three bridges and on top of the fort.

[260] All nine gliders carrying the troops assigned to group steel landed near the bridge at Velwieselt at 5 .20 a .m. But even with all their practice, not everything went perfectly, and they had to improvise from the start.

[261] The glider belonging to Lieutenant Altman had landed some distance from the bridge, and a second had landed directly in front of a Belgian pillbox, which began engaging both groups of airborne troops.

[262] The non -commissioned officer, in charge of the troops from the second glider, hurled grenades at the pillbox, while another of his men laid an explosive charge at the door of the pillbox and detonated it, allowing the bunker to be assaulted and taken.

[263] At the same time, Altman gathered his troops and led them along a ditch running parallel to the bridge until two men were able to reach the canal bank and climb up the girders and disconnect the demolition charges.

[264] Thus, the airborne troops prevented the Belgians from destroying the bridge, though they still had to face the rest of the Belgian defenders.

[265] The Belgian defenders held on to the bridge until a platoon of reinforcements arrived with two pieces of artillery and forced the airborne team to retire to a nearby village.

[266] Altman, feared giving the Belgians time to reconnect and blow the bridge, called for air support.

[267] Soon several Junkers, JU8 Stukas, flew over and took out the Belgian artillery.

[268] Group Steele then moved forward and engaged the bridge defenders until reinforcements arrived that night and the bridge was taken intact.

[269] Ten of the eleven gliders transporting Group Concrete landed next to the Verhoeven Bridge at 5 .15 a .m. The 11th glider had been hit by anti -aircraft fire en route and was forced to land prematurely inside Dutch territory.

[270] The gliders were engaged by heavy anti -aircraft fire as they landed, causing one of the gliders to stall mid -air.

[271] One of the gliders landed near the fortification.

[272] housing the bridge detonators.

[273] This allowed the airborne troops to rapidly assault the position.

[274] They killed the occupants and tore out the wires connecting the explosives to the detonator set, ensuring the bridge could not be destroyed.

[275] The remaining Belgian defenders resisted fiercely by mounting several counterattacks in an attempt to recapture the bridge.

[276] They were repelled with the aid of several machine guns dropped by parachute to the airborne troops at 6 .15 a .m. Constant Belgian attacks meant that Group Concrete was not relieved by an infantry battalion until 2140 -940, but they had taken the bridge intact.

[277] All but one of the ten gliders carrying the airborne troops assigned to Group Iron were able to land next to their objective, the bridge at Cannes.

[278] But due to a navigational error by the pilots of the transport planes towing the gliders, one of the gliders was dropped in the wrong area.

[279] The other nine were towed through heavy anti -aircraft fire and released at 5 .35 a .m. As the gliders began to descend towards their objective, the bridge was destroyed by several demolition explosions set off by the Belgian garrison.

[280] Unlike the garrisons of the other two bridges, the Belgian defenders at Cannes had been forewarned as a German mechanized column heading for the bridge to reinforce group iron arrived 20 minutes early.

[281] Its appearance ruined any chance of a surprise attack and gave the defenders sufficient time to destroy the bridge.

[282] As the gliders came into land, one was hit by anti -aircraft fire and crashed into the ground, killing most of the occupants.

[283] The remaining eight landed successfully, and the airborne troops stormed the Belgian positions and eliminated the defenders.

[284] But the bridge was already destroyed.

[285] The gun turrets that bristled from Fort Ibn Amal could destroy any advancing army before it became a threat to the men inside.

[286] Unfortunately, the majority of the guns were not able to point straight up, and that's where the attack came from.

[287] The German attackers of Group Granite came down silently.

[288] on their nine gliders and landed on the roof.

[289] Their first objective was to destroy the gun turrets that could take out the bridges captured by the other German assault groups.

[290] They used specially prepared hollowed explosives, suggested by Hitler personally, on the large guns.

[291] The explosives worked perfectly, but also had the advantage of spreading flames and gas back into the chambers, driving the Belgian defenders inside to the lower levels.

[292] Portable flamethrowers were also used on gun portals and observation openings.

[293] Within an hour, the attackers were able to gain entry into the upper levels of the fort, take out the light and heavy guns, and blind the observation posts.

[294] Belgian infantry stationed behind the fort tried to dislodge the Germans on the roof, but were chased away by Stuka attacks and reinforcements.

[295] By the morning of May 11th, advanced panzer units came over the two intact bridges to the north and surrounded the fort.

[296] This combined with more Stuka bombings and elements of Group Granite fighting their way to the lower levels caused the Belgians to fly a white flag at noon.

[297] It was only the second day of the war, but this unassailable fort was now in German hands.

[298] The defenders had suffered 60 killed and 40 wounded.

[299] The loss of the fort was a body blow to the Allies, but in the end they reminded themselves it was only a delaying part of the overall defensive plan.

[300] In the next few days, the Germans approached the dial line before any of the Allied projections said they could have.

[301] But amazingly, the French, British, and Belgian troops found themselves more than able to hold back the supposedly unstoppable German tidal wave.

[302] By May 15th, the dial line was holding firm, and Gemmler felt sure the first phase of his plan was working.

[303] But that was exactly what Berlin wanted.

[304] The real attack, the surprise changes made to the German plan in early 1940, were already underway.

[305] By the time the Allies discovered where the real hammer blow was landing, it would be too late.

[306] Next time, we'll see if the Dial plan and the French High Command fall apart.

[307] The Manstein plan worked perfectly, entrapping the main French forces along with the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium.

[308] Times were desperate, but as Churchill was about to find out...

[309] there were no forces held in reserve by Gamla to turn the tide in the Battle of France.

[310] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[311] What do they know?

[312] What are their skills?

[313] And what would you do in their position?

[314] Vengeance felt good.

[315] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[316] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.