Battle of Ortona
Part of Italian Campaign (World War II)
Canadian Armour Passing Through Ortona, by Dr. Charles Fraser Comfort. Canadian War Museum (CN 12245).
Date December 20, 1943 to December 28, 1943[1] Location Ortona, Italy Result Canadian victory
Combatants
1st Canadian Infantry Division 5th Canadian Armoured Division Artillery being landed during the invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno, September 1943. ... Image File history File links Ortona. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... Ortona is a coastal town and comune of Chieti province in the Italian region of Abruzzo, 42°21N 14°24E, 72 m (236 ft) above sea-level, with 22,700 inhabitants as of the 2003 census. ... List of military divisions — List of Canadian divisions in WWII The Canadian 1st Infantry Division was formed at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. ... List of military divisions — List of Canadian divisions in WWII Following its redesignation from 1st Canadian Armoured Division, the bulk of 5th Canadian Armoured Division (officially “5th Canadian (Armoured) Division”) proceeded overseas in one main convoy, arriving in the UK at the end of November 1941. ...	3rd battalion, 3rd Regt, German 1st Parachute Division
Commanders
Major General Chris Vokes	Generalleutnant Richard Heidrich
Strength
?	1 Battalion
Casualties
Canadian 1375 dead 964 wounded[2] The German 1st Parachute Division was a German military parachute-landing Division that fought during World War II. A division of paratroopers was termed a Fallschirmjäger Division. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Brigadier Robert Moncel (left) and Major-General Christopher Vokes, 10 April 1945 Christopher Vokes, C.B. ,C.B.E., D.S.O., C.D. (April 13, 1904 – March 27, 1985) was a Canadian soldier. ... Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ...	German ?

The Battle of Ortona (December 20, 1943 to December 28, 1943)^[1] was a small yet extremely fierce battle fought between German Fallschirmjäger (paratroops), and assaulting Canadian forces from the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. It was considered among Canada's greatest achievements during the war. Artillery being landed during the invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno, September 1943. ... Combatants United States United Kingdom Canada Nazi Germany Fascist Italy Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower Harold Alexander Bernard Montgomery George S. Patton, Jr. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Armistice with Italy is an armistice that occurred on September 8, 1943, during World War II. It was signed by Italy and the Allied armed forces, who were occupying the southern half of the country at the time. ... The Volturno Line was a German defensive position in Italy during World War II. The line ran from Termoli in the east, along the Biferno River through the Apennine Mountains to the Volturno River in the west. ... During World War II, the Barbara Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, some ten to twenty miles south of the Gustav Line, and a similar distance north of the Volturno Line. ... The Winter Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt. ... (For the John Huston film about this battle, see The Battle of San Pietro. ... Combatants United States, United Kingdom Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark W. Clark John P. Lucas Lucian Truscott Albert Kesselring Eberhard von Mackensen Strength 22 Jan 1944: 36,000 soldiers and 2,300 vehicles End May:150,000 soldiers and 1,500 guns 22 Jan 1944: 20,000 soldiers End May... Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland New Zealand Canada Free France India and others Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Frido von Senger Strength 105,000 80,000 Casualties 54,000 20,000 The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle... Allied advance to and beyond the Trasimene Line, 1944 The Trasimene Line was a German defensive line during the Italian Campaign of World War II. It was also sometimes known as the Albert Line. ... German defensive positions in Northern Italy 1944 370th Infantry Regiment walking toward the mountains at north of Prato - April 1945 The Gothic Line, also known as Linea Gotica, formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselrings last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fallschirmjäger during the Battle of Normandy. ... List of military divisions — List of Canadian divisions in WWII The Canadian 1st Infantry Division was formed at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. ...

Taking place in the small Adriatic Sea town of Ortona, with its tiny peacetime population of 10 000, the battle was the site of what were perhaps the deadliest close quarter combat engagements of the entire war. Some dubbed this "Little Stalingrad". A satellite image of the Adriatic Sea. ... Ortona is a coastal town and comune of Chieti province in the Italian region of Abruzzo, 42°21N 14°24E, 72 m (236 ft) above sea-level, with 22,700 inhabitants as of the 2003 census. ... Combatants Germany Italy Hungary Romania Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Maximilian von Weichs Friedrich Paulus # Erich von Manstein Hermann Hoth Italo Garibaldi Gusztav Jany Petre Dumitrescu Constantin Constantinescu Vasiliy Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilyevskiy Georgiy Zhukov Semyon Timoshenko Konstantin Rokossovsky Rodion Malinovsky Strength German Sixth Army German Fourth Panzer Army Romanian Third Army...

Background

Ortona was a town of strategic importance due to its deep-sea port. It was also well surrounded by cliffs on the east and north, and deep ravine on the west. Ortona almost impregnable, the only option for an assault would be from the south, which offered the only entrance point. Ortona also constituted part of the Winter Line, and the Germans were ordered to "fight for every last house and tree"^[4]. The Winter Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt. ...

The battle

The Canadians faced a unit from the German 1st Parachute Division. These soldiers were battle-hardened after years of war, and were ordered by Hitler to defend Ortona at any cost. The Germans had placed various barricades and left rubble strewn throughout the narrow sidestreets surrounding the Piazza Municipale. The only available route for the Canadian tanks was through the Corso Vittorio, which was booby trapped; traps would serve the Germans with deadly efficiency during the 8 days of bitter fighting. The German 1st Parachute Division was a German military parachute-landing Division that fought during World War II. A division of paratroopers was termed a Fallschirmjäger Division. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... This article is about an antipersonnel trap designed for use against humans. ...

The Germans also concealed various machine guns and anti-tank emplacements throughout the town, making virtually any street a deathtrap to the advancing Canadians. The house to house fighting was vicious and the Canadians made use of a new tactic: "mouse-holing". A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... In house-to-house fighting, also known as urban warfare or Fighting in Built-Up Areas (FIBUA), mouseholing is the tactic of creating passages through walls between adjoining rooms or buildings. ...

This tactic involved using weapons such as the PIAT (or even cumbersome anti-tank guns) to breach the walls of a building. The soldiers would then throw in grenades and assault through the mouseholes, clearing the ground floors and making their way up, where both adversaries struggled in brutal close quarters combat. Mouseholing was also used to pierce through walls into adjoining rooms, sometimes catching enemy troops by surprise. The tactic would be used repeatedly as assaulting through the streets meant certain death for the Canadian troops. Later, in a particularly deadly incident, a German demolished an entire house packed with Canadian soldiers; only one soldier survived. The Canadians retaliated by demolishing another building on top of 2 German platoons, wiping them out. PIAT in Canadian War Museum The PIAT, for Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank, was one of the earlier anti-tank weapons based on a HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank) projectile. ... Platoon of the German Bundeswehr. ...

After 8 days of fighting, the attrited German troops, who lacked reinforcements, finally withdrew from the town. The Canadians suffered 1374 dead in the fighting in and around Ortona, almost 25% of all Canadians killed during the Italian Campaign.

Lessons

The battle is referenced in USMC Training Manual MCWP 3-35.3 Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT)

"Ortona (1943). In this Italian town, determined resistance by a battalion of the elite German 3rd Parachute Regiment against Canadian Army attackers demonstrated the difficulty of overcoming a well-prepared defense. The Canadians were unfamiliar with urban combat and had to develop urban fighting techniques during the battle. After the town was largely destroyed and the defender had extracted a high cost in time and casualties from Canadian forces, the German parachute battalion withdrew. (Length of battle: 6 - 13 days) (Casualties: estimated in the hundreds)"

Trivia

The 'Ortona Toast' found its origin during this battle. The custom of toasting to the 'health of the regiment' (i.e., the Royal Canadian Regiment) with a mixture of dark rum, water, and brown sugar served in a white china cup was first observed on December 21, 1943 which marked the sixtieth anniversary of the Royal Canadian Regiment.^[5]

• In December 1999, the 55th anniversary of the Battle of Ortona, Canadian and German survivors from "Little Stalingrad" gathered in Ortona for a week of memories, stories, and ceremonies.

Images

Men of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment advance with shermans of the Three Rivers Regiment

Canadian rifleman, December 1943. Ortona, Italy.

Image File history File links Ortona1. ... Image File history File links Ortona1. ... [[Image:]] The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry), or LER, is an infantry unit of the Army Reserve Canadian Forces based at [[ ]] in Edmonton, Alberta. ... General characteristics Length: 5. ... The 12e Régiment blindé du Canada is an armoured regiment based in CFB Valcartier, on the outskirts of Quebec City. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (682x718, 144 KB)Canadian rifleman, December 1943. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (682x718, 144 KB)Canadian rifleman, December 1943. ...

See also

• Italian Campaign (World War II)
• Battle of Groningen

Artillery being landed during the invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno, September 1943. ... The Battle of Groningen took place during the final month of the Second World War, from April 13th to April 16th 1945 in the city of Groningen between a mixture of German soldiers, Dutch and Belgian SS troops numbering 6,000 and the entire 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Canada at War website: Battle of Ortona
2. ^ Zuehlke, Mark (1999). Ortona Canada's Epic WWII Battle. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 1-55054-557-4}
3. ^ Zuehlke, Mark (1999). Ortona Canada's Epic WWII Battle. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 1-55054-557-4}
4. ^ History Television, Bloody Christmas, the Battle for Ortona, March 30, 2007
5. ^ http://thercr.ca/customs_traditions/ortona_toast.htm

External links

• The Battle of Ortona - Complete overview, video / audio and a large picture gallery.
• CdnMilitary.ca Battle of Ortona website for Veterans Week 2004
• CBC history on the Battle of Ortona
• Canadian Encyclopedia Entry
• How the Enemy Defended the Town of Ortona (U.S. intelligence report)
• Juno Beach center: Ortona
• canadiansoldiers.com article on Ortona