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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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