Posted by Allan Wilford Howerton "At daylight, March 3, tanks and trucks moved out of Klied. It was still about 10 miles to the Admiral Scheer Bridge, more than half of them through a string of villages as far as Mörs, the rest through the twin cities of Mörs and Homberg, in front of the bridge. . . . This was the enemy's last crust of resistance west of the Rhine in our zone. "The drive from Klied to the ourskirts of Mörs took the whole day. It was a running fight and the 334th's 3rd Battalion was forced to dismount at least twice to clear the way. The second and most serious battle occurred in the afternoon at a castle about 3 miles from Mörs, Schloss Lauersfort There some German 88s, 20mm. anti-aircraft guns, and mortars stopped the advance of the tanks and brought infantry action on the ground. When it was over, the amount of German guns and equipment knocked out or captured showed that a real fight had been waged. . . . The column was held up at the chateau for a few hours but was able to get as far as one of the Mörs suburbs, Mörs-Vinn, by dusk. One tanker described the night of March 3/4 as 'a wild night and a wild shooting party. Everyone was firing in all directions at once.' ". . . after the wild shooting party , the 3rd Battalion moved out on the morning of March 4 and headed for Homberg, arriving about 7 p.m.. . . Company K caught a platoon of German troops by surprise, some were running around Homberg without any weapons. Company I went into position along the Rhine at about 3 a.m. the next morning, March 5, Company K after daylignt." Sgt. Gotses was most likely killed in action during the night of March 3/4 at Mörs-Vinn or the next day at Homberg. Many thanks for your attention to the graves of American soldiers at Margraten. The drive to the Rhine from the viewpoint of Company K, 335th Infantry, which was involved in similar action nearby during this period, is described in my memoir "Dear Captain, et al.: the Agonies and the Ecstasies of War and Memory." Link: More on "Dear Captain, et al."
on March 23, 2007, 4:36 pm, in reply to "Nicholas Gotses 334 INF 84 DIV"
Message modified by board administrator March 23, 2007, 4:42 pm
Per the 84th Division roster Sergeant Gotses was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 334th Infantry. He was killed in action during the drive toward the Admiral Scheer highway bridge connecting Duisburg and Homberg Germany. The following from the division history, "The 84th Infantry Division in the Battle of Germany" by Lt. Theodore Draper describes the operation:
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