The presentation on the Belgian fort Eben Emael was a great example of German resourcefulness. As said in class today, during WWI Belgium was able to hold off the German attack, obviously they have learned from past experiences which enabled them to break through Belgium with little trouble. It was interesting to hear about the secret tactics they used and how they practiced with the glider planes on other German occupied forts. Though, I really don't understand how the bombs they used worked. I understand they were strong enough to break through concrete barriers, but did they attach to the structures or something?
The second presentation on the battle on Crete was really the first setback we have heard about in class for Germany, sure they eventually did take over Crete, but their plan did not go as expected and it took longer than expected as well. It was mentioned that this was the last time paratroopers were used, but I was curious, about how long were they actually used? I don't suppose they could have been helpful very long especially because their main objective was the element of surprise and they no longer had that.
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I thought the Battle for Eben Emael was very interesting to learn about. My first impressions about WWII was that it was a trench war much like in WWI. However technology seems to play just as big as a role in WWII if not more than WWI. I had never heard of the glider troops that the Germans were using. I also had now idea about how forts or bases were used in WWII. I did not know if they were considered strongholds or if they were not as big of a deal since troops, planes, and tanks could move right around them. Overall I thought that the Battle in itself was very interesting, but was even more astounded by the fact that the war could have been altered if the Belgians were able to resist for longer.
I think that the specialized equipment developed during WW2, such as the gliders, is an interesting subject. I know that the Allies developed specialized equipment specifically designed for particular operations. For example, for the Normandy invasion, they made tanks with spools on the front which rolled out a carpet of sorts so that the tanks could navigate the beaches without getting stuck. IMO, the attack on Eben Emael illustrates the necessity of creativity in warfare.
the Battle of eben emael became even more interesting when finding out that in WWI belgium was able to hold of the germans for months. therefore, belgium had succeeded and planned to hold off the germans again by making a stronger more defensive fort, but that is a big part of germanys success, bc everyone was on the defensive at this time and the germans where the only ones on the offensive side which with tactics caused the germans to have the upper hand. Though the gliders were a new way of surprise attack, they were used to perfection and only with the offensive mindset would something like these work.
with crete, it seems as though the germans could have been defeated but they seemed to have a mindset of nothing to lose, so they lost almost all of their paratroopers and their navy was insufficient but they kept with the was in the air and were extremely successful. it seems as thought they were able to have such success because all were sold on war and hitlers motivation and propaganda. the cretians did not give up easy and it was the first time for the germans to have real resistance from all of the population but they did not have the military backing and planning that the germans had. however when the british were getting blown up in the water by the germans why did they not send in their navy to at least save their own submarines?
I thought both presentations were very interesting. I think it is very interesting to see how much of an effect the "cries of wolf" had on the allies. It was a great idea and worked well for the Germans in Belgium.
With Crete, it is interesting that the Germans would risk so much for the island. The idea that they could never again use paratroopers make me wonder when all was said and done if the German military thought it was worth it.
I really liked the presentations in class on Wednesday. I learned alot from the first presentation on the Belgian fort. I had no idea that the Germans during WWII were the ones that invented the shaped explosive charge. I always thought that it had been around for at least a century or more. The new tactics along with the secret weapons made the Belgian defeat inevitable. I also liked the format of the presentation of the battle of Crete. I find it interesting how the Germans invaded Crete, took it over, then refused to mop up the remaining rebel force on Crete. IT seems as though the Germans were not really interested in whole world domination, however focused their attentions on strategic deployment in order to win the war.
The German raid on Eben Emael was a great sucess for the Nazis. This was so sucessufll becuase they used violence of aggression which they combined with inovation. Invoation meaning the special ordinace that was used in order to destroy the concrete bunkers and long range artillery pieces. This was a far sucesseful airborne operation than in Crete.
I thought it was interesting to hear about all the new technological advancements such as the gliders and the hollow core explosive. I'd be interested in learning more about the people that invented this technology and helped shape the outcome of the war as much as they did. Hopefully there will be some presentations on some of these people that didn't necessarily fight, but played a huge part in WWII.
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