Evening star., 1945-02-19
Scottish Troops
Fight |ntoG Goch,
Center
Conodions Within
Mile of CuIcur and
Is From Duisburq
BULLETIN.

PARIS tP.-Scottish infan-
try and tanks mopped up two
thirds of Goch tonight after a
surprise attack which caught
the German commander and
his staff in bed.
Ey the Associated Press.
PARIS, Feb. 19.-Scottish troops
today fought into the center of
the heavily fortified road center
of Goch as the Canadian 1st
Army advanced, within Is miles
Of Duisberg, worlds largest in
land port and western portal of
the rich Ruhr arsenal.
British and Canadian troops
fought within a mile of Calcar, like
Goch an important front-line road
center, and pushed the stoutly re-
sisting Germans to the southern
edge Of the Moyland Woods. Cas-
ualties were heavy on both sides.
The forest extends. almost to the
edge of Calcar.
Field Marshal Sir Bernard L.
Montgomery was said by the Ger
mans to have committed his British
I'd Army to the intensifyipg battle
between the Meuse and flooded
Rhine, front on which the north
ern end of the original Siegfried
Line has been run through. The
marshal himself said the last round
Of the battle for Germany was on;
that the enemy "is going to receive
the knockout blow-a somewhat
one, delivered from more
than one direction"
Third Army Front Widened.
1t. Gen. George S. Patton, jr.,
widened his American Sd Army
front in Western Germany to 80
miles and captured numerous towns
in the Eifel Mountains, some within
miles Of the important road center
Of Bitburg.
Farther south, 1t. Gen. Alexander
NJ. Patch's 7th Army fought back 2
miles into the German Saar basin,
1000 prisoners and Auers-
nacher, 6 miles southeast of Saar-
Supreme headquarters
said Gen. Patch's objectives was
limited.
The American 1st and 9th Armies
land perhaps other formations) still
we're inactive along the Roer River
facing Cologne, Bonn and DueSSel-
dorf. It was in this sector east OF
that the Germans have been
predicting the real battle Of decision.
Goch Already Outfianked.
Goch, a city of 1880 and the CEN
ter of eight military highways, had
been outf1anked and virtually sur
rounded when the Scotch troops
poured into its ruins, created by ter
rife aerial and ground lombard
ment. The town is divided by the
Niers River 8 miles south of Kleve,
and has been fortified since 1891.
Enemy opposition, though heavy.
was lighter than expected, with the
Germans concentrating on the
hanks of the British Empire troops.
Front dispatches called the battle
for Goch the heaviest of the 12-day
campaign. The Scots drove in from
the northeast and northwest through
outer bulwarks. They bat
tied through a deadly hail of ma
chine-gun and mortar fire and
fought bitterly, house by house.
On the southern end Of the IT.
mile attack front the Canadian 1stI
Army dealt with strong German re-
sistance along a 3,000-yard anti
tank ditch from the ancient castle
of Blijenbeek, 20 miles north of
Venlo, to the swollen Meuse River.
The ditch was flooded, and the at
tacks encountered mines and road
blocks.
Troops 16 Miles from WeseI.
On the northern and eastern
fanks, British and Canadian, Welsh
and Scotch troops were within 16
miles of the ruined Ruhr Valley city
of Wesel, wrecked anew by 1900 tons
of British bombs yesterday.
Swirling mists and drizzle
plagued the empire troops and
blocked tactical air support early in
the day.
Elements of eight or nine Ger
man divisions have been identified
on the northern front, and the. bulk
of these have been attached to the
Goch sector. Beyond Goch lies a
small open plain adaptable to tank
battles, and no elaborate defenses
are expected in the area immedi-
ately past the ancient town.
Third Army advances in the CEN
ter of the western front ranged up
to half mile along the entire 80
mile front.
Leidenborn Overrun.
The Goth Division overran Leid-
enborn, 3 miles inside Germany,
and reached points Z to 8 miles
southwest of captured Preum. This
Texas and Oklahoma division also
captured a regimental command
post with IA jack-booted officers.
In the Echternach bridgehead the