same man sat down and said, âI lost my best friends in Ortona. I never made friends like those again. Never.â There were tears in his eyes. He brushed them away hard with an angry hand. Then he went to the bar, and ordered another double rye and water.
One veteran of the PPCLI, radio signaller Jack Haley, said he never felt free to discuss the reality of war with his family. Humorous events, sure â but not the horror of a battlefield. He said, âThis is the first time Iâve ever talked about most of this. Iâm glad to do so.â In the slaughterhouse that was Ortona, there was little laughter. What humour the soldiers did see in unfolding events was usually macabre, the kind of thing only men in war could find funny. One veteran told how a man, returning to a house where his squad rested, played a joke by bursting through the doorway and yelling in German for them to surrender. One of his friends, startled awake, let him have a full burst in the stomach with a Thompson submachine gun. The man lived. At the time, the rest of his regiment thought the story of how he got wounded was hilarious. Try explaining the humour of this event to a sixteen-year-old granddaughter.
At Ortona, Canadians endured a terrible test of arms. Every battle can be ultimately viewed as tragedy. So there is a particularly Canadian tendency to reshape such events into tragicomedy, or an intellectual debate about a battleâs causes or the reasons for its failures. This is impossible with Ortona.
As I walk the cobblestone streets and talk to some of those who were young civilians caught in the battle, I am struck by a difference in their perspective on the conflict. The people of Ortona pay it tribute, both by remembering the survivors and by absorbing it into the collective memory of the community. They have taken the battle into their hearts and emerged the stronger for doing so. The store-keeperin San Leonardo spoke openly and without great emotion about being orphaned by an artillery bombardment, I think, because hers was part of an experience that had been shared and spoken of through the generations. They did not skirt around the edges of what people endured. Rather, they confronted it directly and then were able to go on, to rebuild their homes and lives.
We could do worse than to follow their example.
A PPENDIX A
T HE C ANADIANS AT O RTONA *
1st Canadian Infantry Division
Canadian Armoured Corps:
4th Reconnaissance Regiment
(4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards)
The Royal Canadian Artillery:
1st Field Regiment
(Royal Canadian Horse Artillery)
2nd Field Regiment
3rd Field Regiment
1st Anti-tank Regiment1
2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
Canadian Infantry Corps:
The Saskatoon Light Infantry
(brigade support group)
1st Canadian Infantry Brigade:
The Royal Canadian Regiment (permanent force)
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
48th Highlanders of Canada Regiment
2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade:
Princess Patriciaâs Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (permanent force)
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Regiment
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment
3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade:
Royal 22e Regiment (permanent force)
The Carleton and York Regiment
The West Nova Scotia Regiment
1st Canadian Armoured Brigade
11th Canadian Armoured Regiment
(Ontario Tanks)
12th Canadian Armoured Regiment
(Three Rivers Tanks)
14th Canadian Armoured Regiment
(Calgary Tanks)
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers
2nd Field Park Company
1st Field Company
3rd Field Company
4th Field Company
Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
1st Infantry Division:
No. 4 Field Ambulance
No. 5 Field Ambulance
No. 9 Field Ambulance
1st Armoured Brigade:
No. 2 Light Field Ambulance
* Not all supporting units included.
A PPENDIX B
C ANADIAN I NFANTRY B ATTALION
(T YPICAL O RGANIZATION )
HQ Company
No. 1: Signals Platoon
No. 2: Administrative Platoon
Support Company
No. 3: Mortar Platoon (3 inch)
No. 4: Bren Carrier Platoon
No.
One veteran of the PPCLI, radio signaller Jack Haley, said he never felt free to discuss the reality of war with his family. Humorous events, sure â but not the horror of a battlefield. He said, âThis is the first time Iâve ever talked about most of this. Iâm glad to do so.â In the slaughterhouse that was Ortona, there was little laughter. What humour the soldiers did see in unfolding events was usually macabre, the kind of thing only men in war could find funny. One veteran told how a man, returning to a house where his squad rested, played a joke by bursting through the doorway and yelling in German for them to surrender. One of his friends, startled awake, let him have a full burst in the stomach with a Thompson submachine gun. The man lived. At the time, the rest of his regiment thought the story of how he got wounded was hilarious. Try explaining the humour of this event to a sixteen-year-old granddaughter.
At Ortona, Canadians endured a terrible test of arms. Every battle can be ultimately viewed as tragedy. So there is a particularly Canadian tendency to reshape such events into tragicomedy, or an intellectual debate about a battleâs causes or the reasons for its failures. This is impossible with Ortona.
As I walk the cobblestone streets and talk to some of those who were young civilians caught in the battle, I am struck by a difference in their perspective on the conflict. The people of Ortona pay it tribute, both by remembering the survivors and by absorbing it into the collective memory of the community. They have taken the battle into their hearts and emerged the stronger for doing so. The store-keeperin San Leonardo spoke openly and without great emotion about being orphaned by an artillery bombardment, I think, because hers was part of an experience that had been shared and spoken of through the generations. They did not skirt around the edges of what people endured. Rather, they confronted it directly and then were able to go on, to rebuild their homes and lives.
We could do worse than to follow their example.
A PPENDIX A
T HE C ANADIANS AT O RTONA *
1st Canadian Infantry Division
Canadian Armoured Corps:
4th Reconnaissance Regiment
(4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards)
The Royal Canadian Artillery:
1st Field Regiment
(Royal Canadian Horse Artillery)
2nd Field Regiment
3rd Field Regiment
1st Anti-tank Regiment1
2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
Canadian Infantry Corps:
The Saskatoon Light Infantry
(brigade support group)
1st Canadian Infantry Brigade:
The Royal Canadian Regiment (permanent force)
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
48th Highlanders of Canada Regiment
2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade:
Princess Patriciaâs Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (permanent force)
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Regiment
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment
3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade:
Royal 22e Regiment (permanent force)
The Carleton and York Regiment
The West Nova Scotia Regiment
1st Canadian Armoured Brigade
11th Canadian Armoured Regiment
(Ontario Tanks)
12th Canadian Armoured Regiment
(Three Rivers Tanks)
14th Canadian Armoured Regiment
(Calgary Tanks)
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers
2nd Field Park Company
1st Field Company
3rd Field Company
4th Field Company
Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
1st Infantry Division:
No. 4 Field Ambulance
No. 5 Field Ambulance
No. 9 Field Ambulance
1st Armoured Brigade:
No. 2 Light Field Ambulance
* Not all supporting units included.
A PPENDIX B
C ANADIAN I NFANTRY B ATTALION
(T YPICAL O RGANIZATION )
HQ Company
No. 1: Signals Platoon
No. 2: Administrative Platoon
Support Company
No. 3: Mortar Platoon (3 inch)
No. 4: Bren Carrier Platoon
No.
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