Christmas in Ortona was ‘just another day’

OTTAWA—At this time of year, one of my favourite songs is about the “Christmas Truce” of the First World War. Called Christmas in the Trenches, one of the most evocative versions is by Canadian singer John McDermott. In December 1914, there was a pause in the fighting, and the English and German soldiers approached one another in “No Man’s Land,” drank, shared chocolate, sang Christmas carols, and played soccer. It is a lovely story, and brings forth the essential humanity of people. That further truces were denied says a lot about the brutality of war. Indeed, for the few remaining veterans of the Italian campaign of the Second World War, Christmas has a very different meaning. In Ortona, in late December 1943, the Canadians fought one of their bloodiest battles ever. The town on the Adriatic was the gateway to the Liri Valley and Rome. To stop their advance, Hitler had ordered his crack paratroop division to defend the town. German snipers took out Canadian soldiers in the streets, tanks were blown up as they drove through barricades, and buildings were booby trapped. The battle raged for more than a week inside the town, while outside other Canadians, like my father, were fighting the Germans in the field. It gained the name “Little Stalingrad,” as the only way to fight house-to-house was to blow holes in the walls of each building and clear out the Germans inside. The Germans deserted the town, now rubble, a few days after Christmas. The victory carried an enormous cost: 1,300 civilians died, and Canadian and German combined dead numbered 1,000, with thousands of wounded. David Adlington, pictured at the Canadian memorial in Ortona earlier this month. Photograph courtesy of Veterans Affairs Canada In the midst of this carnage, the Canadians served a Christmas dinner before heading back out to fight again. In a bombed-out church, they ate whatever combination of rations and meat could be scrounged up. There was no truce, no pause, and many of the graves in the nearby Moro River cemetery carry the date December 25, 1943. In early December, Veterans Affairs organized commemoration ceremonies for the 75th anniversary of the Italian campaign. Many of the 96,000 “D-Day Dodgers,” as they were known, have died in the last decade. Another 6,000 remain in graves across Italy. Fifteen veterans of the campaign attended the ceremonies with Governor General Julie Payette and other dignitaries. I had the privilege of speaking to one, David Adlington. Sharp and articulate over the phone from his home near London, Ont., he celebrated his 100th birthday in September. He enlisted in 1939 with the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) and soon went overseas. He says he had the “nine lives of a cat,” as he beat death on several occasions, escaping Nazi-held France in an overloaded ferry, in a torpedoed troop ship in the Mediterranean approaching Italy in 1943, and when knocked out by shrapnel outside Ortona. After that close call, he was mustered into a role as a cook. He recalls that violent and dreary Dec. 25 as “just another day.” He points out the RCR had suffered significant casualties as it moved up Italy and was “down about 200 men.” Some of his friends had died or were wounded. He says: “War is something you cannot explain to anyone, unless they have experienced it.” After the war, he had a successful career running a chain of bakeries, and then raised horses. Each time he has returned to Italy, he has been embraced by local citizens and treated as a hero. On this visit as part of the Canadian delegation, schoolchildren sang songs and the Canadians went to the towns they had liberated, where crowds came out to thank them. In Ortona, the town centre has been dedicated as “Canadian Heroes Square,” and a monument depicts a Canadian soldier helping a fallen comrade. This may have been the last visit for our vets: they are now elderly, and most are frail and will soon fade away. Their visit to Italy should remind us of their bravery, dedication, and their contribution to post-war Canada. It is also a reminder that in this still-dangerous world, there are Canadian soldiers, development workers, and diplomats working for us abroad for whom the season may be anything but peaceful. Think of them over your Christmas or holiday meal. Andrew Caddell is retired from Global Affairs Canada, where he was a senior policy adviser. He previously worked as an adviser to Liberal governments. He is a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a principal of QIT Canada. He can be reached at pipson52@hotmail.com. The Hill Times