Product details
- ISBN 9781780962610
- Weight: 287g
- Dimensions: 178 x 241mm
- Publication Date: 20 Feb 2013
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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In early May 1940, the fortress of Eben Emael was a potent sentinel over the Belgian–Dutch borderlands.
The fortress covered 75 hectares on the surface, had 5km of tunnels underground and was studded with bunkers, gun turrets and casemates. Add a garrison of 1,200 men and the natural protection of 60m-high canal walls, and Eben Emael gave the impression of near-impregnability. Yet on 10 May just 78 elite airborne soldiers managed to defeat this fortress in an operation of unprecedented tactical skill. Deployed by glider onto the very top of the fortifications, they utilized elite training, fast movement and specialist explosives to destroy many of the gun positions and trap much of the garrison within the fortress. Simultaneously, three other assault detachments conducted high-risk glider operations to capture critical bridges over the Albert Canal.
By the end of 11 May, following the arrival of German infantry reinforcements, Eben Emael was in German hands. This Eben Emael RAID title tells the complete, fascinating story of this unique action.
Chris McNab is an author and editor specializing in military history and military technology. To date he has published more than 40 books, including A History of the World in 100 Weapons (2011), and is the contributing editor of Hitler’s Armies: A History of the German War Machine 1939–45 (2011).
Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn, Peter Dennis studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects.
Mark Stacey was born in Manchester in 1964 and has been a freelance illustrator since 1987, specialising in military history.
Alan Gilliland, a contributor to more than 70 Osprey titles, writes, illustrates and publishes fiction (www.ravensquill.com), as well as illustrating for a variety of publishers (alangillilandillustration.blogspot.com).
