Canadians in Ortona, Italy

system · August 2, 2021, 1:23pm

The Battle of Ortona (December 20 – 28, 1943) was a small, yet extremely fierce, battle fought between a battalion of German paratroops from the German 1st Parachute Division and assaulting Canadian forces from the Canadian 1st Infantry Division. It was the culmination of the fighting on the Adriatic front in Italy during "Bloody December". The battle, dubbed "Little Stalingrad" for the deadliness of its close-quarters combat, took place in the small Adriatic Sea town of Ortona, with its peacetime population of 10,000.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/canadian-forces/50938/canadians-in-ortona-italy

Ardee · January 26, 2014, 1:52am

Let’s see – you are providing as a reference a site in Italian, and a film clip in English. Is the Italian site credible or not? I don’t know, I don’t read Italian, but it certainly seems to be in the business of selling films. It might be an Italian equivalent of the BBC or PBS, or maybe it is more the Italian equivalent of the History Channels’ Ancient Aliens – I don’t know. So I listened to the you-tube clip, and get a big hint right off the bat: the battle of Ortona is described as “the bloodiest, and most mysterious” battle of WWII “in Italy.” I am not in a position to comment on how mysterious it was. A quick scan of the Internet found about 2,000 casualties for the Canadians in the Battle, and about 1,300 civilian deaths. In contrast, I believe the Battle Monte Cassino involved over 70,000 casualties on all sides. For Ortona to be the “bloodiest” battle, I guess that means the Allies killed about 67,000 Germans in this one battle? Is this a source more interested in hype or accuracy? The film clip of the Soviets is hardly convincing, as there was nothing that seemed to tie the images to Ortona, nor, even if it did, would it be surprising to find the Soviets had military observers attached to an ally’s campaign? DVX, I humbly suggest you want to find independent confirmation by a source not trying to sell something. JMHO.

system · August 2, 2021, 1:23pm

DVX · January 26, 2014, 12:16am

The Allies didn’t need another little port…
The first link is an article about the battle and the relationship with the Soviets, the second link is part of an interesting filmdoc based on the book of the historian and researcher Patricelli; look the Soviets observers after minute 5.20

http://www.storiainrete.com/1031/storia-militare/quando-in-italia-stalin-spiava-lalleato-americano/

Zouave · January 25, 2014, 8:31pm

My apologies.I was totally unaware that there were soviet observers at the battle. I have never read any mention of it.The battle was actually dubbed "Little Stalingrad" by one journalist because of the nature of the house to house fighting and not a reference to any politcal viewpoint.The port did allow the allies to shorten their supply lines which was a strategic move.Thats not my opinion it is a fact.