The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-13


 sor Walker Of Tuscaloosa, Ala, fol- lowed within Q few minutes,
 For half an hour before tho At- tack began, U. g, fnoftaFB blanketed the area beyond the railroad tracks, Light artillery pounded the area be- yofd the mortar targets, and heavy guns pumped shells farther ahead into the very heart of the city.
 Tank DestFOyers
 Tank destroyeFB followed the ils fantFy, and tank guns were blasting out German machine gun nests at point blank range.
 T walked nearly an hour follow ing the i1fantrys route into the city from the time l left c jeep on the outskirts of Forst-Aaci1en until I reached . point where whistiing machine gun bullets cautioned that fighting still was going on," Prank. ish reported.
 There were i6 sets Of rails at the point where I crossed-an eXs tFemely uncomfortable stretch of open ground, with firing on an sides,
 "one CT summed Up my personal sentiments perfectly when he said, Its not particularly rough, but it's c hell Of Q feeling not knowing who those FnachiIIe guns are aiming at'."
 Tine Americans took Q number Of prisoners in the early hours Of the attack, Most Of them were pulled out Of cellars. They seemed dazed by the smelling which pre- pared the way for the infantry. One group Of about GO prisoners included two officers.
 It. Austin T. McCoigan Of Catonb. vile, Md, who led the anti-tank brigade across the tracks 10 minutes after the attack began, said 1t was 70 house to house search, which probably will take several days"
 One Of the decisive battles for Germany appeared to be developing, United Press War Correspondent Henry T. doFreli reported from the vicinity Of Aachen,"
 To The North
 To the north, British 2nd army infantry in the Netherlands attack cd or Q iniie-Wide front west Of Venio toward the Mouse river and aided by improving weather, gained Up to 1000 yards in the first few hours.
 Reconnaissance pilots reported that the Germans had begun tc evacuate their forces caught be. tween Canadian bridgeheads on the south bank of the ScheIde river by barge. The Germans also appeared to have begun e general withdrawal from western Holland and were preparing to leave Rotterdam after wrecking 10 miles of it's docks and quays, pilots said.
 Turning their sights temporarily from Aachen itself, hundreds oi American planes and guns cascadec tons Of steel and explosives on a boz seven miles wide and three milel deep to the northeast, where scores o! PanzerS were concentrating.
 American artillery batteries were laying down Monty barrages, Mar. shal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery'l famous desert tactic of firing groups of guns simultaneously at a small target area in an attempt to obliter- ate the enemy's defenges.
 One of Adolf Hitler's crack divis. ions was spotted at Hohe, six miles northeast of AAchen.
 The Germans were expected tc attack momentarily, Gorrell said and the resultant battle may pro. vide the first showdown test oi strength between American and German arm0r on the holy soil'' of the Reich.
 Light Resistance
 Inside AAchen. American dough. boys were meeting only light Te- sistance as they mopped ur the Roete Erde and Schlachthoi (slaughter house) district on the eastern and northeastern rim oi the city. One group seized a factory in the northeastern outskirts, cap- turing 50 prisoners.
 Tn a race against time. other American infantry were attacking in a determined attempt to close the enemy's shell-spanned mile wide corridor running from Aachen to the northeast.
 The Germans threw another smal1-scale counter r-attack in com- pany strength, supported by seven or eight tanks, against the barden-