|
|
||||||
Battle Timeline
|
Historical Recount
|
Photo Gallery
|
References
|
Discussion
|
|||
Historical Recount of the
The Italian Campaign of
World War Two began with the invasion of
The port town of
The road to Ortona was a
difficult one for the Canadians, having claimed 2,339 officers and men,
killed, wounded, and missing. The advance towards Ortona began at the Moro, a
deep-cut valley with gullies and ridges and no way to cross it due to German
demolitions having destroyed bridge crossing prior to the Canadian advance.
On 8 Dec, Canadian soldiers, cold from the inclement weather of winter, and
carrying heavy amounts of equipment began a major offensive against the
German defences at the Moro. A typical Canadian soldier involved in the
offensive was equipped with several clips of ammunition, an uncomfortable tin
helmet, a shovel, grenades, and for those unfortunate enough to be given the
duty, carrying extra ammunition for the three Bren guns that each platoon of
infantry possessed. Running was not an option for the Canadian soldier
advancing on the difficult defences of the German 90
th
Light
Panzer Grenadier Division – most soldiers were reduced to a slow waddle.
Matthew Halton reported
from the Moro:
“We
get one or two enemy shells every minute on this position, the Germans get
hundreds every minute on theirs. The valley of the Moro…is one of dense pall
of smoke, and we can hardly see the town of
The final key barrier to
entering Ortona was the key German defence known as “The Gully,” a long
ravine that extended some three miles in length and two hundred yards in
width. The Gully was lined with German mines and armour and German guns were
registered on key forming-up positions where the Canadian attackers might try
to prepare an assault. The Germans were not the only enemy at this point –
the mud impeded movement and engulfed the tanks and trucks of the Canadian
army, making it just as much of an enemy. Major-General Christopher Vokes,
the commanding officer of the 1
st
Canadian Division, following his
traditional strategy of assaulting German defences head-on and using just one
regiment at a time, ultimately, and without much surprise, failed with the
advance stalling on 10 and 11 Dec. Despite being badly reduced by enemy
gunfire, one company of the Seaforth Highlanders, with four tanks from the
Ontario Regiment in support, launched a successful raid on the rear of one German
position, taking prisoners, destroying a battalion headquarters, and putting
two German tanks effectively out of commission. Though forced to withdraw,
the raid was indicative of the bravery of Canadian soldiers during World War
Two and our nation’s history.
After heavy fighting at
the Moro, the Canadian Division slowly continued to advance towards their
main objective – Ortona. On 18 Dec, Operation Morning Glory was launched.
This operation’s main objective was to drive a wedge into the enemy defences
to the south and west of Ortona so that these positions could be occupied by
the Division and used as a base from which to launch their thrust into the
town. At one point during the advance, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment was in a
bitter fire-fight in a vineyard outside of Ortona. The regiment’s Padre
described the scene as a “continuous party (with no cheese) interrupted by
much fierce fighting against the enemy, they being only a short distance
away.” The operation was successful as the Canadians quickly obtained their
objectives – next was Ortona, which would not fall as easily.
Ortona would become an
intense door-to-door battle, especially on Christmas Eve 1943 when Hitler
ordered the 1
st
Parachute Division, the German Army’s famous unit
from the Desert War in
The most famous part of
the battle of Ortona was the harsh house-to-house advance which the Canadians
endured. Using a method known as “mouse-holing” the Canadians advanced
through adjoined row houses through the town. The art of mouse-holing was
described by one Seaforths’ officer as:
“Streets
of houses were to be taken, both sides….A section would perhaps storm its way
into a house at the head of the block, clear it to the top, then blow a way
throughout at roof-level into the adjoining house, where it would clear to
the bottom. Then it would go back up to the top…”
While the manoeuvre
largely worked for the Canadians, in many cases the German snipers would
reoccupy those houses cleared during the night and reset booby-traps for the
Canadians to run into. The intensive fighting would continue along these
lines even through Christmas Day. However, Christmas Day did bring some
relief to the battered Seaforths. At the ruins of the Church of Santa Maria
di Constantinopoli, the Seaforths were treated to two hours away from the
battle (one company rotating in at a time of course) to enjoy a Christmas
dinner consisting of soup, pork with applesauce, cauliflower, vegetables,
mashed potatoes, gravy, Christmas pudding, and minced pies – a feast for
soldiers who had been worn down by days of intense fighting. However not
everyone in the field took the opportunity to attend the feast. As Private
“Smoky” Smith put it to his six-man section “…people are going to get killed
going to that dinner and others are going to die coming back from it. So
you’re all staying right here.”
During the night of 27
Dec, the Germans, under intense pressure from the Canadians who now
controlled more than two-thirds of Ortona, staged a highly skilled withdrawal
from the town. The next day Ortona was under the control of the 1
st
Canadian Division. The Division, however, would not see action again for some
time in order to recoup its losses and retrain its reinforcements, many of
which had no combat experience or basic military skills at all. Two thousand,
three hundred, thirty nine brave Canadian soldiers lay dead, wounded, and
missing following the events of December 1943. The Canadian Medical Corps
would face its first cases of battle exhaustion during the Battle of Ortona,
having to evacuate some sixteen-hundred men from the field.
|
|||||||
This website and its contents are the property of Scott
Noseworthy.
© 2004 All Rights Reserved.
|
Hosted by
CdnMilitary.ca
This website is subject
to the CdnMilitary.ca Disclaimer Policy.
|
||||||