Battle of Ortona - wikipedia Battle of Ortona 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 the Italian Peninsula Belligerents Canada Germany In support of : Italian Social Republic Commanders and leaders Christopher Vokes Richard Heidrich Strength Several battalions Several battalions Casualties and losses 1,375 killed 964 wounded 867 killed. 1,300 civilians dead The Winter Line and the battle for Rome Bernhardt Line Monte la Difensa San Pietro Moro Ortona Rapido Monte Cassino Anzio Cisterna Diadem Strangle 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. Contents 1 Background 2 Battle 3 Images 4 See also 5 Notes 5.1 Footnotes 5.2 Citations 6 Sources 7 External links Background 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. Ortona was of high strategic importance, as it was one of Italy 's few usable deep water ports on the east coast, and was needed for docking allied ships and to shorten Eighth Army 's lines of supply which at the time stretched back to Bari and Taranto. Allied forces were ordered to maintain the offensive, and going through the built - up areas in and around Ortona was the only feasible option. Ortona was part of the Winter Line defence system and the Germans had constructed a series of interlocking defensive positions in the town. This -- together with the fact that the Germans had been ordered to `` fight for every last house and tree '' -- made the town a formidable obstacle to any attacking force. Battle Canadian sniper at the Battle of Ortona Ortona 's castle today The Canadians faced elements of the renowned German 1st Parachute Division. These soldiers were battle - hardened after many years of war, and were ordered by Adolf Hitler to defend Ortona at any cost. The initial Canadian attack on the town was made on 20 December by Canadian 2nd Brigade 's Loyal Edmonton Regiment with elements of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada under command. Meanwhile, elements of the division 's 3rd Infantry Brigade launched a northerly attack to the west of the town in attempt to outflank and cut off the town 's rear communications but made slow progress because of the difficult terrain and the skillful and determined German defence. The Germans also concealed various machine guns and anti-tank emplacements throughout the town, making movement by armour and infantry increasingly difficult. The house to house fighting was vicious and the Canadians made use of a new tactic : `` mouse - holing ''. This tactic involved using weapons such as the PIAT ( or even cumbersome anti-tank guns ) to breach the walls of a building, as houses within Ortona shared adjoining walls. The soldiers would then throw in grenades and assault through the mouse holes, clearing the top floors and making their way down, where both adversaries struggled in repeated close - quarters combat. Mouse - holing was also used to pierce through walls into adjoining rooms, sometimes catching enemy troops by surprise. The tactic would be used repeatedly as assaulting through the streets inflicted heavy casualties on both Canadian and German troops. Later, in a particularly deadly incident, German Fallschirmjäger engineer Karl Bayerlein demolished an entire house packed with Canadian soldiers ; only one soldier survived. After six days of combat, 2nd Brigade 's third battalion, Princess Patricia 's Canadian Light Infantry, joined the battle together with tanks from 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade 's Three Rivers Regiment. On 28 December, after eight days of fighting, the depleted German troops -- who lacked reinforcements -- finally withdrew from the town. The Canadians suffered 1,375 dead during the Moro River battles of which Ortona was a part. This represented almost a quarter of all Canadians killed during the entire Italian Campaign. Images Infantrymen of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment advance with Sherman tanks of the Three Rivers Regiment Canadian rifleman, December 1943, Ortona, Italy. German corporal killed during fighting against the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Ortona, Italy. Ortona War Cemetery, which contains 1,615 dead. 1,375 of whom are Canadian, 169 British, 42 New Zealanders, 16 South Africans, 5 Indian, 4 Australian, 2 other allied. 52 are unidentified by name and 2 are entirely unidentified. See also Canadian Armed Forces portal World War II portal Battle of Groningen Notes Footnotes Jump up ^ Mainly Canadian. Includes losses to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment of 172 casualties, of which 63 killed ; the Seaforth Highlanders 103, of which 41 killed. Sources are often confused between figures for the eight days of fighting at Ortona and those for the whole of the December campaign. Zuehlke gives Canadian losses for this period of 1375 dead and 964 wounded while the Canadiansoldiers.com website says casualties for Canadian 1st Infantry Division in December ( including 1st Brigade 's crossing of the Moro, 2nd Brigade 's fighting in the town and 3rd Brigade 's attempted outflanking attack ) totaled 4,206 including 695 killed. Citations ^ Jump up to : Canada at War website : Battle of Ortona Jump up ^ Landry, Pierre ( 2003 ). Beauregard, Marc, ed. `` Juno Beach Center : The Capture of Ortona ''. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2007 - 09 - 27. ^ Jump up to : Zuehlke ( 1999 ), Jump up ^ `` Canadiansoldiers.com : Ortona ''. Archived from the original on 2007 - 09 - 26. Retrieved 2007 - 09 - 27. Jump up ^ Fabio Toncelli. Sd Cinematografica, ed. `` ORTONA 1943 : UN NATALE DI SANGUE, Page 10. '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2015 - 08 - 31. ^ Jump up to : Zuehlke ( 1999 ), Jump up ^ Zuehlke ( 1999 ), p. 14 Jump up ^ Farley Mowat, And No Birds Sang. ^ Jump up to : Zuehlke ( 1999 ), p. 160 ^ Jump up to : Bercuson, p. 175 Jump up ^ Zuehlke ( 1999 ), p. 343 Sources Bercuson, David ( 2001 ) ( 1996 ). Maple Leaf Against the Axis. Red Deer Press. ISBN 0 - 88995 - 305 - 8. OCLC 55973783. Mowat, Farley ( 1979 ). And No Birds Sang. McClelland & Stewart. p. 219 pages. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7710 - 6618 - 4. Zuehlke, Mark ( 1999 ). Ortona : Canada 's epic World War II battle. Vancouver : Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 1 - 55054 - 557 - 4. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Ortona. http://www.ortonaamare.it/1943.html Remembering Ortona - 65th Anniversary - Dead Ortona and the Italian Campaign - 65th Anniversary The Battle of Ortona ( The `` Italian Stalingrad '' ) - Complete overview, video / audio and a large picture gallery. CdnMilitary.ca Battle of Ortona website for Veterans Week 2004 CBC history on the Battle of Ortona Canadian Encyclopedia Entry How the Enemy Defended the Town of Ortona ( U.S. intelligence report ) Juno Beach center : Ortona canadiansoldiers.com article on Ortona World War II Asia and the Pacific China South - East Asia North and Central Pacific South - West Pacific Europe Western Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East North Africa East Africa Italy West Africa Atlantic North America South America Casualties Military engagements Conferences Commanders Participants Allies ( leaders ) Australia Belgium Brazil Canada China Cuba Czechoslovakia Denmark Ethiopia France Free France ( from June 1940 ) Greece India Italy ( from September 1943 ) Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines ( Commonwealth ) Poland South Africa Southern Rhodesia Soviet Union United Kingdom United States Puerto Rico Yugoslavia Axis and Axis - aligned ( leaders ) Albania Bulgaria Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China Independent State of Croatia Finland Germany Hungary Free India Iraq Italy ( until September 1943 ) Italian Social Republic Japan Manchukuo Philippines ( Second Republic ) Romania Slovakia Thailand Vichy France Armed neutrality Resistance Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech lands Denmark Estonia Ethiopia France Germany Greece Hong Kong Italy Japan Jewish Korea Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaya Netherlands Northeast China Norway Philippines Poland Anti-communist Romania Thailand Soviet Union Slovakia Western Ukraine Vietnam Yugoslavia Monarchists Timeline Prelude Africa Asia Europe 1939 Poland Phoney War Winter War Atlantic Changsha China 1940 Weserübung Netherlands Belgium France Armistice of 22 June 1940 Britain North Africa West Africa British Somaliland North China Baltic States Moldova Indochina Greece Compass 1941 East Africa Yugoslavia Shanggao Greece Crete Iraq Soviet Union ( Barbarossa ) Finland Lithuania Syria and Lebanon Kiev Iran Leningrad Moscow Sevastopol Pearl Harbor The outbreak of the Pacific War Hong Kong Philippines Changsha Malaya Borneo ( 1941 -- 42 ) 1942 Burma Changsha Java Sea Coral Sea Gazala Dutch Harbor Attu ( occupation ) Kiska Zhejiang - 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Question: who was involved in the battle of ortona
Answer: Canada