Greetings from the 51st

Well, Í'm finally back in Holland. Left Logan airport on Saturday just in time to miss the snow and a pending move. Arrived in Brussells tired, but ready to check things out. The first day was spent visiting Fortress Eban Emal, the "impregnable"Belgian fortress that was taken by a small elite force of German glider troops in a matter of minutes in May 1940. The fort is still pretty much intact, with evidence of the German attack still everywhere. The most interesting part was when we stopped at the spot where one of the German glider troops was able to get inside the fort and set off a hollow charge. Not only were the walls around where the charge still peppered from the shrapnel, but if you ran your hand along the concrete they turned black from the soot that is still left from the explosion. After stopping to have a look at the inside of the fortress, went up on top to see where the German gliders landed and where the Germans placed the hollow charges that secured the fort.

The hollow charges that the Germans used were considered top secret at the time, so after taking the fort, the new owners tried to cover over the holes with concrete, which is still there.

After touring the fort we checked out one of the bridges over the Albert Canal that is still original from the war and saw the battle scarred bunker at one end where a large number of Belgian soldiers were killed trying to defend the bridge, and later, in 1944, the 30th U.S. Division attacked the bridge. In a nearby town we also stopped to see grafitti left by the GIs in 44.

It was the success of the Germans in taking Eban Emal that really gave a lift to Bill Lee, Gavin, Yarborough and other pioneers of the U.S. airborne so having a chance to see the fort was a real treat.

After touring the fort it was on to Eindhoven to crash with my good friend, partner and bus driver extraordinaire Steph. After a good night sleep we went to pick up Steph's "Panzer" for our upcoming site inspection of Poland and then went to the 101st drop zones outside of Son to do some metal detecting. Found a few new rusty bits to add to the collection and came back for a bite.

Tomorrow it is off to Waterloo and then the Ardennes.