Goch, Op Veritable: 15 Scottish & 51 Highland Divisions on video again!

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by Wapen, Jul 27, 2020.

  1. Wapen

    Wapen Well-Known Member

    The SSVC urban warfare vids are back on YouTube https://youtu.be/MmyXchtGP88
    This is lovely stuff but who can spot the 3 deliberate mistakes? Too easy for Stolpi.
     
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  2. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Thank you for posting this Wapen. Superb! Especially the interviews with the officers that participated. I had the pleasure/privilege of meeting Major Pilcher once and discussed with him the action of his Company in the Ardennes in Jan 45.

    What the documentary doesn't mention is the part played by 53rd Welsh in the attack on the north-western outskirts of Goch. Also the documentary fails to mention how the set-back at Thomashof delayed the effort by 153 Bde to encircle the town from the south, which as always is a prerequisite to a successfull capture of a build up area.

    I hope I passed the test :huh:

    PS. There were no Canadian troops involved in the fight for the town : the 2nd Seaforth who captured the AT-ditch as a preliminary to the main attack on Goch belonged to 152 Bde (51st Highland Division). :D
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2020
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  3. Wapen

    Wapen Well-Known Member

    Well done Stolpi! The three deliberates I spotted were:
    The clip of dusty short-barrelled Pz IV (probably from Soviet Union) for Brig C-B armd car recce.
    53 Div not mentioned.
    2 Seaforth not being Canadian.​
    I've still not got onto Thomashof (grumble grumble) so I reckon you're due full marks.
    There's a few other places where Old Boys remember differently to war diaries but nothing worth fretting about.
     
  4. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Thanks, that was an interesting watch.

    One has to wonder why the RAF were so continually used to bomb towns - when the resulting rubble made it impossible to employ friendly tanks. I believe the same was the case in Caen and in Cassino.
     
  5. Wapen

    Wapen Well-Known Member

    Not all the RAF's fault. Army, in effect, said "We're attacking this town becasue we need to use the roads and the bridges so can you guys blow them up before we get there?" That was the way all through Veritable and Plunder/Varsity but if the RAF and RA didn't do it for them, the Germans did it themselves.
     
  6. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    A case of isolating the battle field ... which was a sound strategy ... same happened in France prior to the Normandy invasion, though on a much larger scale.

    Goch was bombed in the opening stage of Veritable when the frontline still lay 13 miles away to the west.
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2020
  7. Wapen

    Wapen Well-Known Member

    Ahbut...
     

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