Little Stalingrad

On December 21l, house to house fighting began in earnest in the Adriatic seaport of Ortona. It was during the next seven days that the Canadian 1st Infantry Division literally rewrote the book on close-quarters city fighting techniques. More than …

1943-12-24

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On December 21l, house to house fighting began in earnest in the Adriatic seaport of Ortona. It was during the next seven days that the Canadian 1st Infantry Division literally rewrote the book on close-quarters city fighting techniques. More than one thousand Canadians had lost their lives by the time the German defenders withdrew from the city on the 28th. Here we have a typical situation amongst the densely packed buildings of this otherwise idyllic town, where elements of Germany’s 1st Parachute Division fight to hold ground against the relentless advance of a company of Seaforth Highlanders.

Ortona, Italy

The Battle of Ortona was a battle fought between two battalions of elite German Fallschirmjäger (paratroops) from the Germanist Parachute Division under Generalleutnant Richard Heidrich, and assaulting Canadian troops from the Canadianist Infantry Division under Major General Chris Vokes, most of whom were fresh recruits whose baptism of fire was during the Invasion of Sicily. It was the culmination of the fighting on the Adriatic front in Italy during "Bloody December". The battle was known to those who fought it as the "Italian Stalingrad," for the brutality of its close-quarters combat, which was only worsened 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.

Wikipedia: Battle of Ortona

German

Canadians