Evening star., 1940-05-12
Reich's Troops
Also Occupy
Muustricht
By LOUIS p. LOCHNER,

Associated Press Forelgn Correspondent.
BERLIN, May 1l.-A new type
Of weapon" enabled the armies Of
Adolf Hitler to capture Eben Emael.
described as the strongest fortress
in Belgium's Liege defenses, the
German high command announced
tonight.
The forts commander and 1000
men surrendered, the announce
ment said.
GA German radio broadcast
heard in London said Essen,
where the great German Krupp
arms works are located, and two
other German towns had been
bombed by allied planes)
A picked air force detachment,
in slanting attack from above,
already had put the Eben Emael
Fort out Of action yesterday, the
command said, and held its garri-
son in check with the new weapon
until an army unit attacking from
the north arrived and forced the
surrender.
Further and more precise details
must of course be kept in the dark" 4"
authorities said of the new weapon
1t was a matter of speculation
whether this was the weapon which
Hitler mentioned in a speech at
Danzig last year and which has had
experts guessing at its nature ever
since. tThere also has been spec
ulation whether it was the magnetic
mine)
Second Fort Claimed Taken.
Eben Emael was the second fort
claimed to have been taken in the
Liege fortified zone, where the i'm
perial German steamroller was
stalled for a week of frontal assault
in 1914.
This time the German armies
sliced through the Dutch appendix
province Of southern Limburg, seized
Maastricht, on the border between
the western edge of Dutch Limburg
and Belgium, and captured the vital
bridges over the Mas River and the
Albert Canal in Maastricht and to
the west OF it.
Then. according to the official Ger
man announcement they stormed
Fort Eben Emael, which controls
these crossings and it surrendered
this afternoon.
The scene OF this action. is some
Is miles north Of Liege proper. The
new Albert Canal runs north from
Liege to above Maastricht, thence
west to Antwerp, and, with its cor
related fortresses, is Belgium, s
shield against invasion from the
northeast and north.
German Comlnunique.
The text of the German COM
munique follows:
The strongest fort of the fortress
OF Liege. Eben Emael. which COM
mands the crossing over the Mas
tRiver) and the Albert Canal at and
west OF Maastricht. surrendered this
afternoon. The commander and
1000 men were taken prisoners.
The fort was already put out
of action May 10 and the garrison
was kept in check by a picked Ce-
tachment OF the air force under the
leadership of 1t. Witzig and by the
use OF new type of weapon. When
the unit OF the army attacking from
the north successfully established
contact with the Witzig detachment
after a hard fight the garrison
gave up"
Authorities were extremely secre-
tive about the new weapon, refusing
to tip their, hand by giving details.
DNB. Official news agency. said
the fort taken yesterday in the Lieee
area was made completely defense
lss' by German planes.
Authorized sources said German
troops who occupied Belgian and
Netherlands airports yesterday still
held them today. but were Fighting
with Belgian and Dutch troops"
Germany's cautiously worded
communique, however, claimed be-
tween 800 and 400 enemy planes were
destroyed on the ground and "a
shot down in air fights Yesterday
The Germans said they lost IL and
Is were missing.
The high command also reported
the sinking of one enemy submarine
by Nazi submarine, the sinking of
an enemy destroyer by q Nazi speed
boat and the sinking Of two mer-
chantships of 5000 and 1000 tons
respectively, by aerial bombs be-
tween Calais and Dunkerque.
On the far north Norwegian front
which has settled into an allied siege
OF q German garrison at the ore mort
Of Narvik, the high command said
bombs of various calibers had hit
British battleship and one cruiser off
Narvik.
German officials explained that
the actual spot news on develop
ments In the latest war arena was
meager because details might prove
valuable to the enemy.
D. N. BIS account OF the capture
Of the Belgian fort said that the
(see BERLIN, Page A-6.)