In December of '43 Montgomery unleashed an offensive and bloody useless. He did so only to please the observers sent by the Kremlin
In the history of the War World Ortona is remembered only because the ancient Adriatic city, Vittorio Emanuele III embarked on his shameful escape to the south, after the September 8, 1943.
Yet there was held a bloody, ferocious battle house to house, which lasted from December 6 until January 4 of that year of '44, so that Orton was called "Little Stalingrad". It was a strategic battle almost useless, but in which Germans and allies began a huge effort, contending for days every inch of ground, and which resulted in thirty-five hundred dead civilians and soldiers of both armies.
Ortona was the end point to the east of Gustav German defensive line but his achievement would not have had - or acted - a breakthrough of the front by the Anglo-American army. Yet the General Montgomery did not hesitate to sacrifice men and equipment in a clash that followed Hitler personally ordered not to give ground at any cost.
Among those killed, 1,375 belonged to the well-Canadian Expeditionary Force, which fought against the special forces of the First Parachute Fallschirmjäger division. The famous "green devils" urban battle used techniques similar to those that will be taken in Vietnam and Iraq: demolition of houses to force opposing forces to traverse minefields and subjected to a lethal fire suppression. Not surprisingly, the battle of Ortona, today, is best remembered in Canada, and that was just presented at the Canadian embassy documentary film A Bloody Christmas - Ortona, 1943.
by Maurizio Costanzo, who is of Ortona, the documentary was made by one of the best directors of the genre, Fabio Toncelli, with the advice of impeccable historical Marco Patricelli, author of The Stalingrad of Italy. Ortona, 1943: a forgotten battle (Utet, pp. 230, € 15.50). The film, which will be broadcast on Channel 4 on a date to be determined, has the force of a drama and documentation of accurate historical research.
Images Directory restored in high definition, evidence and documents (including Germany), hitherto unpublished, exceptional computer reconstruction and precise dramatized reconstructions bring the viewer into the alleys where the battle, a battle raging, to the documentary evidence of why the Allies wanted to sacrifice so many men and so many ways for the achievement of a goal militarily useless.
A short video shows that between the headquarters of the Anglo-American observers were Soviet, Stalin sent specially from the Italian front to make sure that it was serious and that he had determined to move north.
In fact, as we know, Rome was liberated only in June 1944, through the Battle of Cassino, and still spend a winter before they break through the German lines along the new line of defense.
So many men died - and Ortona was destroyed, with its precious heritage - to give an unnecessary show of strength and determination to use Stalin. A new addition to the ferocity ferocity of the war.
From: Il Giornale, 17 December 2008
http://www.storiainrete.com/2008/11/quando-in-italia-stalin-spiava-lalleato-americano/
