Ortona

by Mark Zuehlke

  Ortona itself is physically healed from the battle’s destruction. Entering Ortona, as the Edmontons did, along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, I see a town that has risen anew from the rubble. The great dome on Cattedrale San Tomasso has been restored. Holes in the walls of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli were repaired. Many of the old buildings were reconstructed, so parts of the town retain its old-world charm. Elsewhere, the buildings are modern. Ortona has grown, sprawling over to the other side of the western ravine and extending to the edge of The Gully. But today few outsiders think of it as the “Pearl of the Adriatic.” Ortona is a poor town, its economy fragile. There are many government-subsidized housing complexes. Most tourists are Germans, who are more willing than most people to swim in the heavily polluted Adriatic. The old castle is buttressed by a complex steel-scaffolding system. A sign declares that this is part of a restoration project. But the sign is a decade old and the work does not progress.

  While Ortona is not prosperous, the countryside always amazes the veterans who return. When they marched over the Moro River, they entered a landscape ravaged by artillery bombardment. Their memories of it are stark. The farmers seemed desperately poor, simple peasants. It was a land remembered in black and white — rather like the old war photos and documentary footage that recorded the two great wars of the twentieth century.

  The farms today are relatively thriving. Houses are well cared for. Country folk drive expensive Italian cars and chatter on cell phones in the same way as their city cousins.

  In winter, the countryside is a lush collage of colours and thick vegetation. It is more reminiscent of the Quebec townships in early fall than of a land burdened by winter. Temperatures are erratic. In the course of one day, it can be so warm you strip to shirtsleeves, only to be shivering an hour later when a chill wind blows off the Adriatic. One hour more and a heavy, icy squall races over you. The night after my trek from the Moro to Ortona, I strolled after dinner through soft moonlight back to my hotel. The evening was warm. I wore only a blazer, unbuttoned. In the night, I woke to a hush reminiscent of Canada. Sure enough, it was snowing. In the morning, olive trees bowed under the heavy weight and some branches broke.

  While Ortona and the surrounding countryside have recovered physically, the battle remains etched in the memory of the people. Remembrance is often paid. The stories of the suffering a family endured are nurtured and kept alive from generation to generation. So inculcated into the community psyche is the battle that merely mentioning that I am Canadiense and writing about the battle gains me entry to virtually any home. Despite the fact that the Canadians brought upon Ortona a great deal of destruction and death, there is a great sense of respect for the sacrifice made by the Canadians, who are viewed by all people of this area as liberators.

  This stands powerfully at odds with the way Canada remembers Ortona. An unnamed CBC commentator broadcasting from London on December 28, 1943, said that Ortona would figure in the battle lore of Canada. Yet today few Canadians recall ever hearing the name. Even those who recognize the battles of Dieppe, Hong Kong, and the Canadian landing at Juno Beach during the Normandy invasion seldom know anything about Ortona. For some reason, the battle slipped quietly and decisively from the nation’s consciousness. True, Canadians are not much given to remembrance of the battles in which fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers fought. But the blind spot of memory with regard to Ortona seems inexplicable.

  Two factors may be at work here. First, there is a tendency in Canada to wallow in military failure or perceived controversy rather than to explore and celebrate battles won. Book after book refights Dieppe and retackles the defeat at Hong Kong. In the Normandy invasion, Canadians were part of one of the climactic battles of the war. This has rendered it a good topic for anniversary tributes. But the Battle of Ortona was neither obviously timely nor possessed of any momentous controversy. So historians have turned their backs on it. Added to this is the reticence of the veterans themselves to describe their experience at Ortona. The psychic scar is still prevalent. In Edmonton, during the annual reunion of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, one old soldier said to me, “I don’t see what your interest in Ortona is. There were other battles. It was just one of them.” Later the same man sat down and said, “I lost my best friends in Ortona. I never made friends like those again. Never.” There were tears in his eyes. He brushed them away hard with an angry hand. Then he went to the bar, and ordered another double rye and water.

  One veteran of the PPCLI, radio signaller Jack Haley, said he never felt free to discuss the reality of war with his family. Humorous events, sure — but not the horror of a battlefield. He said, “This is the first time I’ve ever talked about most of this. I’m glad to do so.” In the slaughterhouse that was Ortona, there was little laughter. What humour the soldiers did see in unfolding events was usually macabre, the kind of thing only men in war could find funny. One veteran told how a man, returning to a house where his squad rested, played a joke by bursting through the doorway and yelling in German for them to surrender. One of his friends, startled awake, let him have a full burst in the stomach with a Thompson submachine gun. The man lived. At the time, the rest of his regiment thought the story of how he got wounded was hilarious. Try explaining the humour of this event to a sixteen-year-old granddaughter.

  At Ortona, Canadians endured a terrible test of arms. Every battle can be ultimately viewed as tragedy. So there is a particularly Canadian tendency to reshape such events into tragicomedy, or an intellectual debate about a battle’s causes or the reasons for its failures. This is impossible with Ortona.

  As I walk the cobblestone streets and talk to some of those who were young civilians caught in the battle, I am struck by a difference in their perspective on the conflict. The people of Ortona pay it tribute, both by remembering the survivors and by absorbing it into the collective memory of the community. They have taken the battle into their hearts and emerged the stronger for doing so. The store-keeper in San Leonardo spoke openly and without great emotion about being orphaned by an artillery bombardment, I think, because hers was part of an experience that had been shared and spoken of through the generations. They did not skirt around the edges of what people endured. Rather, they confronted it directly and then were able to go on, to rebuild their homes and lives.

  We could do worse than to follow their example.

  APPENDIX A

  THE CANADIANS AT ORTONA*

  1st Canadian Infantry Division

  Canadian Armoured Corps:

  4th Reconnaissance Regiment

  (4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards)

  The Royal Canadian Artillery:

  1st Field Regiment

  (Royal Canadian Horse Artillery)

  2nd Field Regiment

  3rd Field Regiment

  1st Anti-tank Regiment1

  2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment

  Canadian Infantry Corps:

  The Saskatoon Light Infantry

  (brigade support group)

  1st Canadian Infantry Brigade:

  The Royal Canadian Regiment (permanent force)

  The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment

  48th Highlanders of Canada Regiment

  2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade:

  Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (permanent force)

  The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Regiment

  The Loyal Edmonton Regiment

  3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade:

  Royal 22e Regiment (permanent force)

  The Carleton and York Regiment

  The West Nova Scotia Regiment

  1st Canadian Armoured Brigade

  11th Canadian Armoured Regiment

  (Ontario Tanks)

  12th Canadian Armoured Regiment

  (Three Rivers Tanks)

  14th Canadian Armoured Regiment

  (Calgary Tanks)

  Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers

  2nd Field Park Company

  1st Fiel
d Company

  3rd Field Company

  4th Field Company

  Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps

  1st Infantry Division:

  No. 4 Field Ambulance

  No. 5 Field Ambulance

  No. 9 Field Ambulance

  1st Armoured Brigade:

  No. 2 Light Field Ambulance

  *Not all supporting units included.

  APPENDIX B

  CANADIAN INFANTRY BATTALION

  (TYPICAL ORGANIZATION)

  HQ Company

  No. 1: Signals Platoon

  No. 2: Administrative Platoon

  Support Company

  No. 3: Mortar Platoon (3 inch)

  No. 4: Bren Carrier Platoon

  No. 5: Assault Pioneer Platoon

  No. 6: Antitank Platoon (6 pounder)

  A Company

  No. 7 Platoon

  No. 8 Platoon

  No. 9 Platoon

  B Company

  No. 10 Platoon

  No. 11 Platoon

  No. 12 Platoon

  C Company

  No. 13 Platoon

  No. 14 Platoon

  No. 15 Platoon

  D Company

  No. 16 Platoon

  No. 17 Platoon

  No. 18 Platoon

  APPENDIX C

  CANADIAN MILITARY ORDER OF RANK

  Private (Pte.)

  Gunner (artillery equivalent of private)

  Trooper (armoured equivalent of private)

  Lance Corporal (L/Cpl.)

  Corporal (Cpl.)

  Lance Sergeant (L/Sgt.)

  Sergeant (Sgt.)

  Company Sergeant Major (CSM)

  Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM)

  Lieutenant (Lt. or Lieut.)

  Captain (Capt.)

  Major (Maj.)

  Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.)

  Colonel (Col.)

  Brigadier (Brig.)

  Major General (Maj. Gen.)

  Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.)

  General (Gen.)

  APPENDIX D

  GERMAN MILITARY ORDER OF RANK

  Because the German army and the Luftwaffe ground forces had a ranking system where rank also usually indicated the specific type of unit in which one served, only basic ranks are given here. The translations are roughly based on the Canadian ranking system, although there is no Canadian equivalent for many German ranks.

  Schütze Private, infantry

  Grenadier Private, infantry

  Kanonier Gunner

  Panzerschütze Tank crew member

  Pionier Sapper

  Funker Signaller

  Gefreiter Lance Corporal

  Obergefreiter Corporal

  Unteroffizier Lance Sergeant

  Unterfeldwebel Sergeant

  Feldwebel Company Sergeant Major

  Oberfeldwebel Battalion Sergeant Major

  Leutnant Second Lieutenant

  Oberleutnant Lieutenant

  Hauptmann Captain

  Major Major

  Oberstleutnant Lieutenant Colonel

  Oberst Colonel

  Generalleutnant Lieutenant General

  Generalmajor Major General

  General der Artillerie General of Artillery

  General der Infanterie General of Infantry

  General der Kavallerie General of Cavalry

  General der Pioniere General of Engineers

  General der Panzertruppen General of Armoured Troops

  Generaloberst Colonel General

  Generalfeldmarschall General Field Marshal

  Oberbefehshaber Süd Commander-in-Chief South

  APPENDIX E

  THE DECORATIONS

  Many military decorations were won by soldiers at Ortona. The decoration system that Canada used in World War II, like most other aspects of its military organization and tradition, derived from Britain. A class-based system, most military decorations can be awarded either to officers or to “other ranks,” but not both. The exception is the highest award, the Victoria Cross, which can be won by a soldier of any rank.

  The decorations and qualifying ranks are:

  VICTORIA CROSS (VC)

  Awarded for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. Instituted in 1856 and open to all ranks. The only award that can be granted for action in which the recipient was killed, other than Mentioned in Despatches — a less formal honour whereby an act of bravery was given specific credit in an official report.

  DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER (DSO)

  Officers of all ranks, but more commonly awarded to officers with ranks of major or higher.

  MILITARY CROSS (MC)

  Officers with a rank below major and, rarely, warrant officers.

  DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL

  Warrant officers and all lower ranks.

  MILITARY MEDAL

  Warrant officers and all lower ranks.

  GLOSSARY OF COMMON

  CANADIAN MILITARY TERMS AND WEAPONRY

  ANTITANK GUNS

  Canadian forces used two antitank guns at Ortona. The six-pounder was the main antitank gun attached directly to infantry battalions. Each battalion had its own antitank platoon. This gun had a range of one thousand yards and fired a six-pound shell. It proved invaluable as a close support weapon during the house-to-house fighting inside Ortona. Also available to 1st Canadian Infantry Division were the seventeen-pounder antitank guns of 1st Anti-tank Regiment. This was basically an up-gunned version of the six-pounder. It had greater range and greater hitting power because of the seventeen-pound shell.

  BREN CARRIER

  Also known as the universal carrier. A lightly armoured tracked vehicle capable of carrying four to six soldiers and their weapons. Provided no overhead protection, but was walled on all sides by armour. It had a top speed of thirty-five miles an hour. This was the Commonwealth forces battlefield workhorse. Its open design enabled it to be used for carrying just about any kind of military gear used by infantry. Some were converted into weapons carriers and played a combat role by being fitted with Vickers .303 medium machine guns, Bren light machine guns, or two-inch mortars, or were used as the towing vehicle for six-pounder antitank guns.

  BREN GUN

  Standard light machine gun of Commonwealth forces. Fired .303 rifle ammunition held in thirty-round magazines. An excellent, although slow-firing, weapon. It had a range of about 500 hundred yards and weighed twenty-two pounds.

  BROWNING 9-MILLIMETRE AUTOMATIC

  The standard pistol used by Canadian forces. Officers in the line rifle companies generally kept their pistols hidden or even threw them away to avoid being easily identified as officers by German snipers.

  CIB

  Canadian Infantry Brigade.

  CO

  Any commanding officer, regardless of unit size.

  COTC

  Canadian Officers Training Corps.

  COY

  Abbreviation for company.

  DUKW

  Abbreviation for the two-and-a-half-ton amphibious truck. American-made, six-wheeled truck, capable of six knots in water.

  EDDIES

  Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

  FORMING-UP POINT (FUP)

  A geographical point where a unit of any size gathers in preparation for an attack or other form of movement.

  FORWARD AID POST (FAP)

  Most advanced aid post to which casualties could be withdrawn for treatment.

  FORWARD OBSERVATION OFFICER (FOO)

  Artillery batteries had two officers, usually captains. During a battle, one officer remained with the guns to oversee their operation. The other, the FOO, accompanied the infantry regiment being supported. He usually was part of a three-man team that included the FOO, a radio signaller, and a Bren carrier driver. The FOO was in charge of calling for artillery support and directing the fire toward enemy targets that were threatening or holding up the infantry.

  GERRY

  Common term for Germans. Also spelled Jerry. Canadians s
eldom if ever used the harsher term Kraut, which was favoured by American soldiers. Tedeschi, the Italian word for German, was also popular. As an alternative to Gerry, Canadians occasionally used Hun or Boche.

  GLAMOUR BOYS

  Nickname for 48th Highlanders of Canada.

  GUNNER

  The artillery regiment equivalent to a private.

  HASTY P’S

  Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment.

  HE

  High explosive.

  HMG

  Heavy machine gun.

  HQ

  Any headquarters.

  LEE ENFIELD RIFLE, NO. 4, MARK 1

  Standard rifle of Commonwealth forces. The Mark 1 was made in Canada for Canadian personnel. It fired .303 ammunition contained in five-round clips. Effective range was 900 yards, but most accurate when fired at ranges under 600 yards. A highly reliable, rugged weapon. Capable of being mounted with an 8-inch spike bayonet.

  LMG

  Light machine gun.

  LOYAL EDDIES

  Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

  MG

  Machine gun.

  MO

  Medical Officer.

  MORTARS

  The Canadians at Ortona had three weights of mortars: 2-inch, 3-inch, and 4.2-inch. The latter was a heavy mortar and operated by the Saskatoon Light Infantry in support of the infantry regiments. The three-inch was operated by a mortar platoon attached to each battalion, while two-inch mortars were carried directly into battle by a section attached to each company. A mortar effectively lobs a bomb on what is usually a high trajectory toward a target. The bombs can be high-explosive, shrapnel, or phosphorous (smoke). Range and firepower varied according to the size of the gun. The bigger the mortar, the greater its range and firepower. The three-inch, for example, could engage targets as close as 125 yards and as far away as 2,800 yards. Its bomb weighed ten pounds. The 4.2-inch fired bombs of twenty pounds and had a much greater range. The small two-inch put out only a 2.5-pound bomb, but was extremely useful for laying smoke screens.

  NCO

  Non-Commissioned Officer. All warrant officers, sergeants, and corporals are considered non-commissioned officers. NCOs provide the leadership backbone of infantry platoons and armoured troops.