battle of ortona
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Battle of Ortona
10-13 minutes
In December 1943, as part of the Allied advance through Italy
during the Second World War, Canadian forces fought one of their
toughest battles of the war in a bid to capture the town of Ortona.
The month-long campaign - first at the Moro River outside Ortona,
then with vicious street fighting in the town itself - cost more than
2,300 Canadian casualties, but eventually won Ortona for the Allies.
In December 1943, as part of the Allied advance through Italy
during the Second World War, Canadian forces fought one of their
toughest battles of the war in a bid to capture the town of Ortona.
The month-long campaign - first at the Moro River outside Ortona,
then with vicious street fighting in the town itself - cost more than
2,300 Canadian casualties, but eventually won Ortona for the Allies.
Battle of Ortona
Date 20-28 December 1943
Location Ortona, Italy
Participants Canada
Germany
Canadian Casualties (approximate) 2,300 in total
500 killed
Battle of Ortona
(Libra[Y. and Archives Canada/PA-116852)
The Battle for Ortona (inset) and the Adriatic Sector, 28 November
1943 to 4 January 1944.
(Source: Gerald W. L. Nicholson, The Canadians in Italy 1943-1945
(1956), Map 11, Department of National Defence)
Italian Campaign
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Allied forces, including Canadians, had invaded Italy: in July 1943,
opening up a new front in southern Europe. First came the capture
of the island of Sicily, followed by a slow advance up the boot of
mainland Italy.
By the fall of 1943, the advance had bogged down in the face of
determined German resistance, anchored on two defensive
positions - the Gustav Line to the west and the Bernhard Line in
the east. The Gustav Line hinged on the high point of Monte
Cassino, while the Bernhard Line stood behind the Sangro River.
Between these two lines lay the militarily impossible mountains of
the Apennines.
In early November, British Eighth Army's Major General Bernard
Montgomery decided that a bold advance up the Adriatic coast
could enable a left hook from the town of Pescara inland to Rome.
He envisioned seizing the Italian capital before Christmas. Arriving
at the Sangro River, the British won a small bridgehead on 24
November. Despite heavy casualties, on 28 November, Eighth
Army launched a major attack to breakout of its bridgehead. A two
day fight to win a strategic ridge overlooking the river ensued that
cost 2,800 British, New Zealand and Indian casualties.
Moro River
The Germans withdrew to the next river - the Moro - and dug in
for another round. On the night of 5-6 December, the 1st Canadian
Infantry Division and 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade took over
Eighth Army's lead and drew the job of forcing a crossing of the
Moro. In the early morning hours of 6 December, a three-pronged
attack began. Only the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry_
(PPCLI) made headway, winning Villa Rogatti on the left flank.
When engineers were unable to erect a bridge across the Moro to
enable tanks to support the PPCLI, a withdrawal was ordered.
It took until 9 December for the Canadians to win a firm bridgehead.
They expected to follow this with a quick advance around the flank
of Ortona, a port and fishing town on the Adriatic Sea. The
Canadians did not expect that the Germans would make a stand at
Ortona.
he biggest battle that we had was the Battle of Ortona, where we
lost a lot of men. At that point in time, I was running .. . a 2-inch
mortar* crew .... When they formed up as a group, that's when the
enemy opened fire . We lost most of our platoon right there .... my
objective was safe because we were further back, out of gun
range. But out of all of them, there was about only three or four
who survived, so we had lost very heavily on that particular battle.
(Veteran George F. Burrows of the Canadian army, recalling the
Battle of Ortona. Click here to listen to Burrows' interview with The
Memory Project.)
The Gully
Two days of fighting brought the Canadians to what appeared on
topographical maps as nothing but a narrow, minor gap about a
kilometre south of Ortona. But as the leading troops approached,
they discovered the line was actually a deep, narrow gully. The
Germans had dug deep holes into its southern bank that protected
them from artillery fire. When the shelling stopped, the Germans
dashed up to the gully's edge to fire their machine guns on the
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Canadian infantry advancing up a gradual slope through tangled
vineyards and olive groves.
"The Gully," as the Canadians dubbed it, proved impossible to
break with the direct attacks ordered by 1st Division's Major
General Chris Vokes. Each attack by a single battalion was thrown
back with heavy casualties. Drenching rain and falling temperatures
added to the misery. The battleground mirrored the muddy no
man's land between opposing sides during the First World War.
Finally, on the night of 14-15 December, the Royal 22nd
Regiment's 81 men of "C" Company, commanded by Captain Paul
Triguet, managed to outflank the gully. Supported by seven Ontario
Regiment tanks, this tiny force fought through fierce German
resistance to win a farmhouse called Casa Berardi. For four days,
fighting raged around this small strongpoint before the Germans
slunk away. For his valour, Triquet was awarded a Victoria Cross,
the Commonwealth's highest award for military bravery.
Showing superb contempt for the enemy Captain Triquet went
round reorganizing the remainder and encouraging them with the
ords 'Never mind them, they can't shoot' . Finally when enemy
infiltration was observed on all sides shouting 'There are enemy in
ront of us, behind us and on our flanks, there is only one safe
place - that is on the objective' he dashed forward and with his
men following him, broke through the enemy resistance.
(Excerpt from the Victoria Cross citation for Captain Paul Triquet,
London Gazette, no.36408, 6 March 1944)
Ortona
Unexpectedly, the German 1st Parachute Division only withdrew as
far as Ortona . Suddenly, the Canadians were confronted with
something for which they had no training - a street battle. The
Germans had started preparing to defend Ortona on 12 December
by using explosives to blow many houses apart to create piles of
rubble into which they dug deep fighting positions. Mines were
scattered throughout the town . By 19 December, all side streets
were clogged with rubble.
Two large buildings were blown down to block a street called Corso
Vittorio Emanuele, at the entrance to the square facing the town
hall. The municipal hall's clock was removed from its tower and a
machine gun mounted in the opening . At dawn on 21 December,
German engineers most likely demolished the tower adjacent to the
Cattedrale San Tomasso so that the falling structure cleaved the
cathedral dome in half.
As this destruction was being carried out, the Loyal Edmonton
Regiment's "D" Company was cut apart trying to fight its way into
Ortona. Its 60 men were reduced to 17 in mere minutes. Despite
these losses, the company's survivors gained a foothold on the
outskirts and were soon reinforced by other companies of their
battalion. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and tanks of the
Three Rivers Regiment also came alongside .
These two infantry battalions and a single tank regiment would
carry the fight through the deadly labyrinth of Ortona in eight days
of unrelenting battle. So intense was the street battle that war
correspondents nicknamed Ortona "Little Stalingrad" because the
fighting so resembled the definitive struggle in that Eastern Front
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city in Russia.
"Mouseholing" Tactics
Finding it suicidal to venture along the streets, the Edmontons and
Seaforths resorted to "mouseholing ." Although taught in some
British battle schools, none of the Canadians in Ortona had
previously heard of this tactic. Instead, they invented it out of need.
Explosives packed against the connecting wall of two buildings
blasted an opening through which the soldiers chucked grenades
and then followed through with a charge to clear any Germans on
the other side .
As Ortona's buildings were typically adjoining, the Canadians
advanced from one to another while seldom venturing onto a street.
It was a deadly game. At times, the Germans responded by setting
demolitions that triggered when the Canadians burst through their
mousehole. Sometimes an entire structure would collapse, burying
the soldiers within.
Christmas
As the hand-to-hand struggle inside Ortona played out, two other
Canadian brigades tried outflanking the town to the west. Success
on this front would have forced the German paratroopers in Ortona
to withdraw or be surrounded. The flanking attacks gained some
initial headway before being blocked by the Germans.
Christmas Day brought no relief in the fighting either in Ortona or
out on its western flank. On a western ridge, the 48th Highlanders
were cut off and the supporting artillery officer could only save the
situation by circling the Canadians within a ring of shellfire.
Inside Ortona, meanwhile, as Germans and Canadians traded
bullets and grenades, the Seaforth's quartermaster and
headquarters staff organized a sumptuous Christmas dinner to
which one company at a time was brought out of the line to be fed .
The men of the Edmontons, however, had no reprieve. Their rations
were delivered to the fighting lines .
Fall of Ortona
On 27 December, the CBC's Matthew Halton reported that "the
battle has the quality of a nightmare." But it was a nightmare soon
ended. The following morning, 28 December, an Edmonton patrol
discovered that the paratroopers had pulled out quietly during the
night-surrendering Ortona to the Canadians.
December's fighting cost 2,339 casualties, including 502 killed -
although the actual number of Canadians killed inside Ortona was
never determined. German losses were also never calculated, but
two divisions had been badly mauled between the Moro River and
the end of the town battle. As Ortona had not been evacuated
before the fighting started, many civilians were also killed and
wounded . The most authoritative estimate sets civilian deaths at
1,314.
The town itself was a ruin that required years to rebuild . During the
early winter months of 1944, despite its battle damage, Ortona
served as a rest area for Canadian forces deployed a short
distance to the north along the Arielli River.
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