Urban Combat - The Battle For Ortona

Joining us today is Merryn Walters, to talk about the Battle for Ortona, in Italy, in December 1944. Merryn is an effervescent, enthusiast historian who’s working through her MA at the University of Wolverhampton – she’s also the Communications Director for the International Guild of Battlefield Guides, with a fascination for maps and missing history in general, and military myths in the Italian campaigns of the second world war, in particular. In late 1943, with the Allies making progress up the Italian peninsular, the Canadians’ ambition was to cross the Moro River, move into Ortona, and clear out the German forces – something that should have taken just a few days. However, the German forces had determined to make a stand, dispatching first the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division and later the 1st Parachute Division under the command of Generalleutnant Richard Heidrich, some of their best troops, to defend the town. In fact, Adolf Hitler explicitly ordered Heidrich to hold th