Captured! Belgium’s Mighty Fort Eben-Emael

Still one of the greatest exploits in military history.... a bold plan, a handful of gliderborne paratroops, and a fortress that no one thought could be taken.
"Despite the impressive machine-gun and antiaircraft emplacements, the fort’s upper surface lacked fully developed belts of barbed wire, mines, and trenches to protect the casemates and cupolas from direct airborne attack simply because Belgian planners had never thought the idea of an airborne attack was feasible. The scarcity of antiaircraft emplacements indicates exactly how oblivious the planners were to such an eventuality. Airborne assault, whether by paratrooper or glider, had still not been fully conceptualized in 1940. "