In early 1940, German staff officers refining plans for the daring glider-borne Fallschirmjäger assault on Fort Eben-Emael on 10th May realised the operation would have to be cancelled, unless they could answer one key question. Was the large expanse atop the fort covered by a minefield? If so, there was no way for the gliders to land on or near the objective.
Meanwhile, a small group of enterprising Belgian girls put a business plan into action in a remote village. With red painted rooms of a rented cottage, and some slinky lingerie, they were soon plying their trade to entertain the 1,200 garrison troops of nearby Fort Eben-Emael. Evidently a phoney war can be both good business and fun for some.
But rumours of the freshly invigorated garrison and their local friends soon reached the garrison priest, much to his moral displeasure. After his insistence, the garrison commander banned visits to the local hostelry and decided that a fort football league would give the troops an alternative form of physical exertion. So the large expanse atop the fort was converted into football fields.
None of this was known to the German staff officers planning the glider assault on the fort, as they lacked any local intelligence sources. One suggestion bore fruit though. A few months before 10th May, a German civilian flight was equipped with a camera and altered its flight path to Brussels so that it flew over Fort Eben-Emael. When the images were returned and developed, they revealed Belgian troops playing with a football atop the fort.
For the German staff officers, these photos confirmed that the top of the fort lacked any minefield. The dramatic raid, a key part of Plan Yellow, could go ahead as planned.
Meanwhile, a small group of enterprising Belgian girls put a business plan into action in a remote village. With red painted rooms of a rented cottage, and some slinky lingerie, they were soon plying their trade to entertain the 1,200 garrison troops of nearby Fort Eben-Emael. Evidently a phoney war can be both good business and fun for some.
But rumours of the freshly invigorated garrison and their local friends soon reached the garrison priest, much to his moral displeasure. After his insistence, the garrison commander banned visits to the local hostelry and decided that a fort football league would give the troops an alternative form of physical exertion. So the large expanse atop the fort was converted into football fields.
None of this was known to the German staff officers planning the glider assault on the fort, as they lacked any local intelligence sources. One suggestion bore fruit though. A few months before 10th May, a German civilian flight was equipped with a camera and altered its flight path to Brussels so that it flew over Fort Eben-Emael. When the images were returned and developed, they revealed Belgian troops playing with a football atop the fort.
For the German staff officers, these photos confirmed that the top of the fort lacked any minefield. The dramatic raid, a key part of Plan Yellow, could go ahead as planned.
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