Chapter Seven

The Attack on Kanne-Group Eisen

The bridge at Kanne, like the one at Veldwezelt, was made of metal, a steel structure weighing 236 tonnes, 48.5 metres long and 9.05 metres wide, built in 1933 by S.A. du Nord de Liège. Unlike the other two bridges, it was located amid “difficult terrain”. It stood only four metres above the Albert Canal and its west bank offered no possibility for gliders to land. The Canal itself was a considerable obstacle which became more difficult near Kanne.

South of Kanne, at Lanaye, the Canal ran through the Caster basin, 1,300 metres long and sixty metres deep which cut the valleys of the Meuse and Jeker. This feature increased the inaccessibility of Fort Eben Emael, whose mighty fortification was located on the side of a hill on the west bank of the Albert Canal just north of where the Canal forked west from the Meuse river, so forming a natural defensive element. The bridge at Kanne spanned the Canal at a place where it literally split the high plain of Hesbaye. Looking at the characteristics of the terrain, the success of the Belgian defence was pinned on controlling the fort and bridge.