Ortona (71 page)

7
. Thomas de Faye, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 3 Nov. 1998.

8
. Ibid.

9
. West Nova Scotia Regiment War Diary, Dec. 1943, 42-N-2, National Archives of Canada.

10
. Jerry Richards, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 6 Nov. 1998.

11
. Nigel Hamilton,
Master of the Battlefield
(London: Hamish Hamilton, 1983), 449–50.

12
. Ibid., 450–51.

13
. Bernard Law Montgomery,
El Alamein to the River Sangro
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1948), 132.

14
. G.W.L. Nicholson,
The Canadians in Italy: 1939–1945
, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1956), 291.

15
. On Canadian maps this village was mistakenly identified as Villa Roatti, while German maps identified it as Villa Ruatti. In later years, this would cause some confusion among veterans and historians alike.

16
. Jerry Richards, interview.

17
. 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade Headquarters War Diary, 5 Dec. 1943, p. 3, National Archives of Canada.

18
. Nicholson,
The Canadians in Italy,
291–92.

19
. Alon Johnson, interview.

1
. Fabio Dell'Osa, interview by author, Ortona, 9 Dec. 1998.

2
. Americo Casanova, interview by author, Ortona, 8 Dec. 1998.

3
. Antonio Di Cesare, interview by author, Ortona, 9 Dec. 1998.

4
. Eric Morris,
Circles of Hell: The War in Italy, 1943–1945
(New York: Crown Publishers, 1993), 131.

5
. Associazone Archeologica Frentana,
Immagini: Ottobre 1943 – Giugno 1944, Nove mesi di martiro
(Ortona: Soc. Coop. Iniziativa Cristiana, 1993), n.p.

6
. Antonio D'Intino, interview by author, Ortona, 8 Dec. 1998.

7
. Ibid.

8
. Associazione Archeologica Frentana,
Immagini
, n.p.

9
. Antonio Di Cesare, interview.

10
. Americo Casanova, interview.

11
. Antonio D'Intino, interview.

12
. Casanova, interview.

13
. D'Intino, interview.

14
. Di Cesare, interview.

15
. D'Intino, interview.

16
. Stephen E. Ambrose,
D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 35.

17
. Ibid., 34.

18
. Di Cesare, interview.

19
. G.W.L. Nicholson,
The Canadians in Italy: 1939–1945,
vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1956), 291.

1
. Farley Mowat,
And No Birds Sang
(Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1979), 228.

2
. Terry Copp,
Battle Exhaustion
(Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990), 54.

3
. Thomas de Faye, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 3 Nov. 1998.

4
. W.R. Freasby (ed.),
Official History of the Canadian Medical Services, 1939–1945, Volume Two: Clinical Subjects
(Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1953), 48-52.

5
. Ibid., 52–53.

6
. Alon Johnson, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 25 Sept. 1998.

7
. Freasby,
Official History
, 53.

8
. Eric Bergerud,
Touched With Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific
(New York: Penguin Books, 1996), 92–93.

9
. Dr. John Haley, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 30 Oct. 1998.

10
. Johnson, interview.

11
. John Alpine Dougan, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 23 Oct. 1998.

12
. Peggy Turnbull and family, correspondence with author, Feb. 1999.

13
. John F. Wallace,
Dragons of Steel: Canadian Armour in Two World Wars
(Burnstown, Ont.: General Store Publishing House, 1995), 181–82.

14
. Joseph Turnbull, letter, 21 Oct. 1943, 2. Copy provided to author by Peggy Turnbull.

15
. Ibid., 3.

16
. Ibid., 7.

1
. Farley Mowat,
And No Birds Sang
(Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1979), 219–20.

2
. G.R. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry: 1919–1957
, vol. 3 (Griesbach, Alta: Historical Committee of the Regiment, n.d.), 122; Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry War Diary, Dec. 1943, sheet 2, National Archives of Canada.

3
. Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment War Diary, Dec. 1943, 33-N-4, National Archives of Canada.

4
. N.a. “Battle of the Moro River: Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.p.

5
. Hasty P's War Diary, 33-N-4.

6
. Farley Mowat,
The Regiment
, 2nd ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited, 1973), 139.

7
. Hasty P's War Diary, 33-N-4.

8
. Mowat,
And No Birds Sang
, 221.

9
. Daniel Dancocks,
The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945
(Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991), 157.

10
. Basil Smith, “Memoirs of a Quarterbloke” (Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d.), 35.

11
. Hasty P's War Diary, 33-N-4.

12
. J.D. Forin, “Baranello to San Leonardo: The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, December 1943” (Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d.), 3.

13
. J.D. Forin, correspondence with Dr. R.H. Roy, 19 Jan. 1968, University of Victoria Special Collections, 4–10.

14
. Forin, correspondence with Roy, 1; Bert Hoffmeister, interview by author, West Vancouver, B.C., 23 Nov. 1998. It is a matter of speculation that, had it not been for the shortage of commanders in the Seaforths ranks at the time, Hoffmeister would have removed Forin prior to the battle due to his illness.

15
. Major S.J. Simons, “2 Canadian Field Park Company RCE Unit History, Italian Campaign Campobasso to Ortona, Dec. 43/Jan. 44” (Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 10 Feb. 1944), 4.

16
. Forin correspondence with Roy, 10.

17
. A.K. Harris, “Account at Ortona,” n.p., University of Victoria Special Collections, 3.

18
. Ibid., 3.

19
. Reginald H. Roy,
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1919–1965
(Vancouver: Evergreen Press, 1969), 240–41.

20
. Harris, “Account at Ortona,” footnotes, n.p.

21
. Seaforth Highlanders of Canada War Diary, Dec. 1943, sheet 4, National Archives of Canada.

22
. Harris, “Account at Ortona,” 4.

23
. Forin, correspondence with Roy, 11.

24
. Forin, “Baranello to San Leonardo,” 3.

25
. Ibid.

1
. G.R. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, 1919–1957,
vol. 3 (Griesbach, Alta: Historical Committee of the Regiment, n.d.), 123–24.

2
. Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry War Diary, Dec. 1943, sheet 36-N-4, National Archives of Canada.

3
. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's
, 124-26.

4
. Dr. George Garbutt, correspondence with author, 30 Nov. 1998. In the PPCLI's War Diary and the regimental history by Stevens, which drew from the diaries, it is stated that Garbutt was with ‘B' Company and single-handedly destroyed several machine-gun positions before running out of ammunition. This is false. Garbutt's exploits before Villa Rogatti are as given here. The destruction of the machine guns by ‘B' Company appears to have been the result of the combined operations of numerous soldiers of that unit, not any one individual.

5
. Cameron Ware, interview by Dr. Reginald Roy, 23, 25 June, and 10 July 1979, University of Victoria Special Collections.

6
. Dr. John Haley, interview by author, Victoria, B.C., 30 Oct. 1998.

7
. Garbutt, correspondence. The prisoners Garbutt's platoon took probably were
Poles. By 1943 many foreign nationals from occupied nations were being forcibly conscripted into the German army. Although these were usually assigned only to regular infantry units, rather than to more elite formations such as the 90th Panzer Grenadiers, a few cropped up in almost every division. In the main, these troops were nearly worthless to the Germans, fighting only so long as German officers and non-commissioned officers were at their backs, ready to shoot any who flagged in their devotion to duty. Once the officers were gone, the foreign conscripts usually threw down their guns and surrendered. Surrendered Poles became the primary source of new recruits for the Allied Polish II Corps in Italy, possibly history's only example of an army unit reinforced from the front.

8
. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's
, 123.

9
. Ware, interview.

10
. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's
, 126.

11
. Haley, interview.

12
. PPCLI War Diary, sheet 4.

13
. Garbutt, correspondence.

14
. Ware, interview.

15
. Haley, interview.

16
. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's
, 126.

17
. n.a., “Miscellaneous Biographies Army Personnel: Lieut.-Col. C.B. Ware, D.S.O.,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d., 10–11.

18
. Haley, interview.

19
. PPCLI War Diary, sheet 5.

20
. Haley, interview.

21
.
The Tools of War: 1939/45, and a chronology of important events
(Montreal: Reader's Digest Association (Canada), 1969), 39.

22
. PPCLI War Diary, sheet 5.

23
. Ware, interview.

24
. Stevens,
Princess Patricia's
, 127.

25
. Haley, interview.

26
. “Miscellaneous Biographies: Ware,” 10–11. For his courage at Villa Rogatti throughout December 6, 1943, Ware would be awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

27
. Lieutenant Ruckdeschel, “Combat Report of the attack on Ruatti on 6 Dec. 1943. Appendix ‘O'” of “Report #18 Historical Section Army Headquarters: The Campaign in Southern Italy (Sept.–Dec. 1943), Information from German Military Documents regarding Allied operations in general and Canadian operations in particular,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d., n.p.

28
. Ibid.

29
. G.W.L. Nicholson,
The Canadians in Italy: 1939–1945
, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1956), 295.

30
. Ibid.

31
. Captain A.G. Steiger, “Report #18 Historical Section Army Headquarters: The Campaign in Southern Italy (Sept.–Dec. 1943), Information from German Military Documents regarding Allied operations in general and Canadian
operations in particular,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d., 51.

32
. Nicholson,
Canadians in Italy
, 295.

33
. Both sides routinely overestimated the dead suffered by the enemy. Ruckdeschel, for example, believed that most of the thirty men fired on by tank 712 were killed or wounded. While German casualties at Villa Rogatti during the Dec. 5–6 battle were undoubtedly high, it is unlikely that the equivalent of one and a half companies was killed or captured, not factoring in wounded, which usually outnumbered dead and captured by at least about three to one.

34
. PPCLI War Diary, sheet 5.

35
. Ibid.

1
. J.D. Forin, correspondence with Dr. R.H. Roy, 19 Jan. 1968, University of Victoria Special Collections, 11–13.

2
. J.D. Forin, “Baranello to San Leonardo: The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, December 1943,” Ottawa: Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, n.d., 3.

3
. Forin, correspondence with Roy, 12.

4
. Seaforth Highlanders of Canada War Regiment Diary, Dec. 1943, n.p., National Archives of Canada.

5
. Matthew Halton, CBC Radio broadcast, 7 Dec. 1943, CBC Radio Archives.

6
. Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment War Diary, Dec. 1943, 33-N-5, National Archives of Canada.

7
. Forin, correspondence with Roy, 13.

8
. Seaforth War Diary, n.p.

9
. Forin, “Baranello to San Leonardo,” 4.

10
. Bert Hoffmeister, interview by author, West Vancouver, B.C., 23 Nov. 1998.

11
. Anna Tucci, interview by author, Ortona, 9 Dec. 1998.

12
. Farley Mowat,
The Regiment
, 2nd ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1973), 140–41.

13
. Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment War Diary, 33-N-5.

14
. Mowat,
The Regiment
, 141.

15
. Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment War Diary, 33-N-5.

16
. Mowat,
The Regiment
, 141.