Battle of Ortona
Ortona, Battle of
The Battle of Ortona occured from 20-27 December 1943. As part of the general advance of Gen Montgomery's Eighth Army up the Italian Adriatic coast, Maj-Gen Christopher VOKES's 1st Canadian Division was ordered to take the medieval seaport of Ortona, perched on a high promontory and impregnable from 3 sides - flanked by sea cliffs on the north and east, and by a deep ravine on the west. Supported by their own armoured brigade, Canadian troops attacked from the south on December 20. Infantry from the Loyal Edmonton Reg and the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada suffered numerous casualties from the stiff resistance. After a week of fierce fighting the town was finally taken, and the remaining German forces withdrew on the night of December 27. One war correspondent reported that the Germans had been "staging a miniature Stalingrad in hapless Ortona." Canadian losses in taking this "unimportant" town and its environs included 1372 dead - almost 25% of all Canadians killed in the Mediterranean theatre.
Ortona, Battle of
General Vokes led 1st Canadian Division through the brutal house-to-house fighting and north to the Hitler Line (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/PA-116852).
Author DAVID EVANS
Links to Other Sites
Historica-Dominion Institute
The website for the Historica-Dominion Institute, parent organization of The Canadian Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Check out their extensive online feature about the War of 1812, the "Heritage Minutes" video collection, and many other interactive resources concerning Canadian history, culture, and heritage.
The War Amps
The War Amps website commemorates Canada's proud military heritage and the sacrifices of Canadian war veterans. Check out the "Canada's Military Heritage" section for extensive documentation, photographs and veterans’ accounts of their wartime experiences. Features a special section devoted to the 60th Anniversary of D-Day.
The Memory Project: Battle of Ortona
Listen to interviews with Canadian veterans who provide remarkable first-hand accounts of their wartime military service. See also related digitized artefacts and memorabilia. From the Historica-Dominion Institute.
The Memory Project: The Gothic Line
Listen to a selection of interviews with Canadian veterans who fought in Italy during the Second World War. See also related digitized artefacts and memorabilia. From the Historica-Dominion Institute.
The Italian Campaign
This site chronicles some of the Second World War European combat missions invovling Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. From the Canadian Military Heritage Society.
Battle of Ortona
View a Canadian Army Newsreel that depicts Canadian troops and armament involved in the ferocious Battle of Ortona in the Second World War. From YouTube.
Shawnadithit grew anxious waiting for her uncle, Longnon, to return to camp at the junction of Badger Brook and the Exploits River, deep in the wilds of Newfoundland...
INSIDE TCE
