The Battle Of Ortona Forever Changed The Italian Campaign

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The Battle of Ortona was a very small yet horrific battle that took many the lives of the Germans, Canadians and the Italians. It started in Italy in 1943 and the aim of the battle was to take a German occupied town on the top of the hill. It was possibly the bloodiest battle of the Italian Campaign to date. The Battle of Ortona Forever changed the Italian front during WW2. The lead up to the Battle of Ortona started with the Moro River Campaign. The Moro River Campaign took place from the 4th of December to the 26th of December in 1943. The point of this campaign was to breach the German Winter Line defensive system and to advance to the town of Pescara and eventually Rome but it also ended up in leading troops to the town of Ortona. In the …show more content…

The first team to enter the city was the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. During that single day the regiment advanced a whopping 3000 yards through constant missile barrages. After claiming and holding those positions for several hours, the entire battalion was situated inside of the town. By the end of the first day the Canadians had advanced about 1/3 of the way through the town. The following day, the 21st of December, 1943 was not nearly as successful or as eventful as the first day, but the Seaforths* managed to capture the Santa Maria di Costantinopoli church. Additionally, by the end of the day, the Germans had retreated into the old city leaving behind huge amounts of land mines. The next 6 days onwards were essentially the same, they involved the Germans retreating again and again leaving booby traps and explosives for the Allies to find and the Allies pushing up to control much needed ground. But on the 7th day or December 28th 1943, the battle had finally ended. It involved the Allies pushing the Germans into a castle overnight and in the morning when the Allies were ready to move forward they found no resistance whatsoever, the Germans had found a small route out of the city and had taken it, the Germans had retreated. So on December 28th 1943, the Battle of Ortona or “Little Stalingrad” ended, leaving the Allies free to take the rest of the