place

Fortified position of Liège

Fortifications in BelgiumFortified position of Liège
Festungsring Luettich Karte
Festungsring Luettich Karte

The fortified position of Liège (French: position fortifiée de Liège [PFL]) was established after the First World War by Belgium to block the traditional invasion corridor through Belgium between Germany and France. In the First World War the Belgian Army held up the Germans for a week at Liège, delaying the German invasion of France, caused Belgium to consider a similar defensive strategy. Belgium rebuilt the Liège fortifications and extended them onto the Pays de Herve (Herve plateau) closer to Germany, using the most advanced fortification technology available. The PFL was divided into the modern defensive line, anchored on the Albert Canal by Fort Eben-Emael and extending to the south through a planned five additional forts, designated PFL I and the ring of forts around Liège. Liège commanded crucial road and rail crossings of the Meuse and was as strategically important in the 1930s as in 1914. The modernized Liège forts were called PFL II. In 1936, Belgium's neutrality was proclaimed again by King Leopold III of Belgium in a vain attempt to forestall another invasion, preventing France from being able to make use of the Belgian defences and territory in the forward defence of France. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Belgian defences had to resist alone until France could advance into Belgium after its neutrality had been violated. Again the fortifications could not hold the Germans.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fortified position of Liège (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Fortified position of Liège
Tunnel entre Lanaye et Eben-Emael,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Website Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Fortified position of LiègeContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.796944444444 ° E 5.6811111111111 °
placeShow on map

Address

Fort d'Eben Emael

Tunnel entre Lanaye et Eben-Emael

Liège, Belgium
mapOpen on Google Maps

Website
fort-eben-emael.be

linkVisit website

Festungsring Luettich Karte
Festungsring Luettich Karte
Share experience

Nearby Places

Battle of Fort Eben-Emael
Battle of Fort Eben-Emael

The Battle of Fort Eben-Emael was a battle between Belgian and German forces that took place between 10 May and 11 May 1940, and was part of the Battle of Belgium and Fall Gelb, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. An assault force of German paratroopers, Fallschirmjäger, was tasked with assaulting and capturing Fort Eben-Emael, a Belgian fortress whose strategic position and strong artillery emplacements dominated several important bridges over the Albert Canal. These carried roads which led into the Belgian heartland and were what the German forces intended to use to advance. As some of the German airborne forces assaulted the fortress and disabled the garrison and the artillery pieces inside it, others simultaneously captured three bridges over the Canal. Having disabled the fortress, the airborne troops were then ordered to protect the bridges against Belgian counter-attacks until they linked up with ground forces from the German 18th Army. The battle was a strategic victory for the German forces, with the airborne troops landing on top of the fortress with gliders and using explosives and flamethrowers to disable the outer defences of the fortress. The Fallschirmjäger then entered the fortress, killing some defenders and containing the rest in the lower sections of the fortress. Simultaneously, the rest of the German assault force had landed near the three bridges over the Canal, destroyed several pillboxes and defensive positions and defeated the Belgian forces guarding the bridges, capturing them and bringing them under German control. The airborne troops suffered heavy casualties during the operation, but succeeded in holding the bridges until the arrival of German ground forces, who then aided the airborne troops in assaulting the fortress a second time and forcing the surrender of the remaining members of the garrison. German forces were then able to use two bridges over the Canal to bypass Belgian defensive positions and advance into Belgium to aid in the invasion of the country. The bridge at Kanne was destroyed, forcing German engineers to construct a new bridge.