It was an early test of the Canadians' resolve and the Patricia's and the 44 th Royal Tank Regiment proved equal to the task. As the Princess Patricia's scaled the opposite bank and seized the hamlet of Villa Rogatti, the Germans counterattacked with mounting violence.
On December 6 th, in cover of darkness, three Canadian regiments crossed the Moro. The plan of the Allied commander General Bernard Montgomery was to divert German forces from the main Allied thrust against Rome by sending the Canadians across the Moro River and towards the port of Ortona. Scarcely a bridge or road-cutting escaped the attention of the German demolition engineers as they carefully withdrew to more defensible positions. The Germans were determined to put up fierce resistance and they were aided by the mountainous terrain and fast-flowing rivers. The Italian campaign began when the Allies invaded Sicily in September 1943 and then crossed the Strait of Messina and established a toehold on the boot of Italy. The face to face, house to house fighting reminded British journalist Christopher Buckley of "the fury of Stalingrad."
Word of Longhurst's ingenious "mouse-holing" spread and the Canadians used the tactic to bludgeon their way through the streets of Ortona.Įvery battle is an affront to humanity and a horror to those caught in its grip, but the battle of Ortona in December 1943 was particularly savage. After the explosion the men tore up the stairs and scurried through the "mouse hole," wildly firing their guns and tossing grenades. With the men huddled safely on the first floor, Longhurst sent the pioneer up to the top floor to place the explosive against the wall. He got two pioneers to make a demolition charge with plastic explosives and tie them together in a "beehive." Instead of moving through the killing ground, he would go through the houses. Captain Bill Longhurst of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment had an inspiration. Wherever the Canadian infantry tried to advance through the rubble and narrow streets of Ortona they were exposed to murderous crossfire from the well-hidden defenders.
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