Battle of Ortona

Part of the Moro River Campaign, of the Italian Campaign, World War II

Canadian Armour Passing Through Ortona, by Charles Comfort. Canadian War Museum (CN 12245).

Date

20–28 December 1943

Location

Ortona, Italy

Result

Canadian victory

Allied forces continue advance into Italy

Belligerents

Canada

Germany

Commanders and leaders

Christopher Vokes

Richard Heidrich

Strength

Several battalions

Casualties and losses

1,375 killed
964 wounded

867 killed.

1,300 civilians dead

Canadian victory

The Battle of Ortona (20–28 December 1943) was a battle fought between 2 battalions of elite German Fallschirmjäger (paratroops) from the German 1st Parachute Division under Generalleutnant Richard Heidrich, and assaulting Canadian troops from the Canadian 1st Infantry Division under Major General Chris Vokes, most of which were fresh recruits whose first taste of combat was during the Invasion of Sicily It was the culmination of the fighting on the Adriatic front in Italy during "Bloody December". The battle, known to those who fought it as the "Italian Stalingrad" for the deadliness of its close-quarters combat, which was only made worse by the chaotic rubble of the town and the many booby traps used by both sides. The battle took place in the small Adriatic Sea town of Ortona, with a peacetime population of 10,000.

The British Eighth Army's offensive on the Winter Line defences east of the Apennine mountains had commenced on 23 November with the crossing of the river Sangro. By the end of the month, the main Gustav Line defences had been penetrated and the Allied troops were fighting their way forward to the next river, the Moro, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the mouth of which lay Ortona. For the Moro crossing in early December the exhausted British 78th Infantry Division on the Allied right flank on the Adriatic coast had been relieved by the Canadian 1st Infantry Division, under Major-General Christopher Vokes. By mid-December, after fierce fighting in the cold and mud, the Division's 1st Infantry Brigade had fought its way to within 2 mi (3.2 km) of Ortona and was relieved by the 2nd Infantry Brigade for the advance on the town.

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