First in a series

In a small seaside town in Italy in 1943, Canadian soldiers gave their lives fighting to free the country from the Nazis during the Second World War.

It was one of the most difficult combat actions the Canadian forces would face: The Battle of Ortona.

A small group of people gathered at Inniskillin Wines in Niagara-on-the-Lake to hear the story of at least one Italian who wants to ensure the Canadians’ sacrifice is never forgotten.

“Ortona was the bloodiest, most frustrating and most depressing battle for the Canadian army and certainly the biggest battle honour,” Angela Arnone told the assembly of residents, veterans and members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124.

Arnone, a professional translator from Ortona, was invited to receive an award on July 2 from Lord Mayor Betty Disero and share her story.

She also was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal by the governor general in 2021 for her decades of work. She has organized celebrations, translated books and erected plaques, monuments and a cenotaph to commemorate the Battle of Ortona.

She told the story of the cold December battle and a momentary respite on Christmas.

On the 25th of December, amid constant fighting, shelling and death, Canadian soldiers gathered for a meal.

“In a bombed-out church at Santa Maria di Constantinopoli, members of the Seaforth Highlanders gathered in shifts for a Christmas dinner a few blocks from the fighting,” according to an article on the battle on veterans.gc.

Two musicians took it turns to perform Christmas carols on the church organ, “to play enough music to keep them cheerful and get their spirits raised so that they could go back into the fray,” said Arnone, 65.

For many of the Canadians, the dinner celebration was one of the last earthly moments they had. There was no ceasefire that Christmas.

“The troops came in rotation to eat their pork and applesauce, their mixed vegetables, their Christmas pudding, their chocolate bar, their two oranges and two bottles of beer,” said Arnone.

“Then went back to the front and many of them died immediately after eating. You will find them buried at the (Moro River Canadian War Cemetery) and the date of death is Dec. 25, 1943.”

More than 500 Canadians died in the battle. There are more than 6,000 Canadian soldiers buried on the Italian peninsula and 1,375 of them lie in the Moro cemetery in Ortona.

“We really do respect what (Canadians) did and it cannot be forgotten,” Arnone said.

For NOTL Legion president Al Howse, it was a revelation to hear how grateful the people of Ortona are for the Canadians who laid down their lives on the road to liberation.

“This is actually an eye opener for me that the Italian population has that same feeling (as other European nations) about what the Canadians and the Allies did,” Howse said.

“You realize that it was universally important. All of Europe needed to be liberated and it was very important that the Canadian soldiers and everyone else went to do that job.”

Arnone said it has recently been discovered that some of the soldiers who fought in Ortona were Indigenous. At least 12 have been identified.

“So, we’ve started to celebrate them specifically because for a long time we just didn’t know. It’s very important for us to be able to honour them as well.”

Arnone said her home town is sort of like Niagara-on-the-Lake.

“It’s a town very similar to NOTL, with acres and acres of vineyards and a decent lifestyle. It’s a very decent place to live. It’s not rich but it’s dignified,” she said.

“And we have to thank all those Canadian boys and women for that. They didn’t know that they were saving our lives before we were even born and that’s what’s incredibly important.”

“And that’s why we shall not forget — not ‘we can’t’ — we shall not forget.”

Next: A Christmas story from Ortona and the battle that claims 500 Canadian lives.

A CHRISTMAS STORY

Angela Arnone’s work to recognize the Battle of Ortona began in 1998.

In co-operation with Canadian veterans who fought in Ortona, she orchestrated a Christmas dinner in honour of the one held that night in 1943.

One of the surviving organists from the battle, Seaforth Highlander piper Edmund Essen, was on hand and performed many of the same songs he did 55 years earlier, Arnone said.

There were Canadian and German veterans of the battle at the dinner, as well as Italians who had lived through the destruction of their town.

Since that initial celebration, Arnone has ensured that every year on Nov. 11 there is a solemn gathering in the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery.

That has proved challenging because of the pandemic. In 2020, the celebration was cancelled due to COVID-19.

But Arnone did not let the day pass without recognition.

“I went to Rome and I picked up a Canadian wreath and I took it to the cemetery to make sure that there was no interruption in our ceremony that had gone on for 25 years,” she said.

“So, there has been no hiatus. Every 11th of November for the past 27 years there has always been a Canadian wreath and poppies on that cenotaph and there was that year as well.”

And it is the descendants of the people of Ortona, liberated by Canadian life, who take the time to commemorate what Canadians did.

“There were no Canadians there. It was only the people of Ortona.”

The Battle of Ortona

On Dec. 20, 1943, Canadian forces engaged in one of their bloodiest and most costly battles of the Second World War.

While trying to break the Gustav Line – the German defensive position stretching across Italy from the Adriatic to Tyrrhenian seas – Canadian soldiers came across unexpectedly heavy resistance in the Adriatic port town of Ortona, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.

More than 500 Canadians were killed and there were 2,300 total casualties. Although the battle was a victory for the Canadians, the German army lost fewer troops.

The battle was fought in close quarters, with much hand-to-hand fighting in the cramped streets of Ortona.

The Germans had levelled buildings in order to create impasses on some streets, funnelling Canadian soldiers and tanks up booby-trapped avenues where land mines and strategically placed machine guns wreaked havoc, according to veterans.gc.

Since the open streets were death traps, Canadian soldiers used a tactic called “mouseholing” to advance – blowing holes in the walls of houses to gain ground.

For eight violent days, Canadians struggled to liberate the town.

“It was a battle for every single building on every street, for every block in every corner of the town,” according to the article “Christmas in Ortona” on veterans.gc.

“The enemy used every trick and every weapon. Heavy artillery was placed in the ruins of buildings to provide cover for the German infantrymen. Basements were packed with explosives, which could be remotely detonated by German engineers.”

“The Germans blew up a building packed with Canadians and the only surviving Loyal Edmonton Regiment soldier was pulled from the building three days later.”

Angela Arnone said her work with veterans has not only enriched her life but even saved it.

“I could have given up on my life because I’ve had cancer three times. The first time it was the veterans who sent me a get well card that said, ‘We need you so don’t give in.’”

“That kind of determination has kept me going for all these years. So, I’m still here but I’m a bit of a wreck,” the 65-year-old said.

“But I’m still here and I’m still annoying everybody with my demands that the Canadian memory cannot be set aside.”