Battle of Maastricht
| Battle of Maastricht | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Western Front of World War II | |||||||||
German Panzers in Maastricht (10 May 1940) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Netherlands | Germany | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Henri Winkelman | Fedor von Bock | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
750 soldiers 4+ anti-tank guns 4 AA guns |
7th Air Division 4th Tank Division 343 tanks | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 47 killed |
186 killed 9 tanks destroyed 9 armoured cars destroyed 10 aircraft shot down | ||||||||
The Battle of Maastricht was one of the first battles that took place during the German Campaign on the Western Front during World War II. Maastricht was a key city in order to capture the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael and split the allied armies in half.
The German goal of the operation was to take the main bridges over the river Maas intact, to have an easier road to central Belgium. Therefore, the Germans sent in teams disguised as civilians whose job was to sabotage the bridge charges. However, they were spotted and arrested, and when they attempted to run, shot.