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"ORTONA IS PEACEFUL"

From The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Song South Of The Sangro
Sung ToThe Tune Of South Of The Border

Canadians Fight Through To The End Of The War

On the morning of December 28 the Canadians in Ortona discovered their presence was no longer opposed. The Germans had withdrawn during the night.

The Canucks had won!

The cost was high. The Loyal Edmonton Regiment alone suffered 54 men killed in the battle.

Bloody as Ortona had been, it was to be only one of a series of ongoing battles for Canadian soldiers in the Italian campaign. For a few months The Loyal Edmonton Regiment held in position north of Ortona, engaged in a grinding succession of patrols and ambushes.

Ortona became an administrative centre for the army.

Then the Canadians resumed slogging on through Italy. Tedeschi continued to stand in their way -fighting skilfully, in the end always yielding ground, but invariably taking a toll in Canadian lives.

After the Normandy invasion in June 1944 the Allied planners, and the media, tended to view the Italian campaign as a sideshow. And the troops had to suffer the indignity of hearing themselves described as "D-Day Dodgers" in a well known phrase attributed to Britain's acid tongued Lady Nancy Astor. They responded by turning the phrase into a sarcastic song, set to the tune of Lili Marleen.

By the end of 1944 the 1st Canadian Corps was well north of Rome. At that point, a decision was made to transfer the Canadians out of Italy to join with 2nd Canadian Corps in Northwest Europe, making 1st Canadian Army a fighting reality - even though it had to be fleshed out with Polish and British troops. Britain's 8th Army remained in Italy fighting the Germans, who held out until just before the end of the war.

The Loyal Edmonton Regiment spent the last month of the war fighting through Holland. After the peace a contingent went to Berlin for the victory celebrations.

During the Second World War, 334 soldiers of The Loyal Edmonton Regiment died in combat with the unit.

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Ortona flag
December, 1943
Ortona, Italy

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The town awakens
December, 1943
Ortona, Italy

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Lessons learned
February, 1944
Ortona, Italy

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With a giant cleaver
December, 1943
Ortona, Italy

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Temporary graves
December, 1943
Ortona, Italy