Background: Battle of Ortona
The Eighth Army's offensive on the Winter Line defences east of the Apennine mountains had commenced on November 23 with the crossing of the river Sangro. By the end of the month the main Gustav Line defences had been penetrated and the Allied troops were fighting their way forward to the next river, the Moro, four miles north of the mouth of which lay Ortona. For the Moro crossing in early December the exhausted British 78th Infantry Division on the Allied right flank on the Adriatic coast had been relieved by Canadian 1st Infantry Division. By mid December, after fierce fighting in the cold, wet and mud the Division's 1st Infantry Brigade had fought its way to within two miles of Ortona and was relieved by 2nd Infantry Brigade for the advance on the town.
Ortona was of high strategic importance, as it was one of Italy's few useable deep water ports, and was needed for docking allied ships. In Farley Mowat's book And No Birds Sang it can be seen, however, that because of Autumn and Winter rains, the land away from the built up areas was nearly impassable, even by foot. Allied forces were ordered to maintain the offensive, and going through the built up areas in and around Ortona was the only feasible option. Ortona was almost impregnable, the only option for an assault would be from the south. It also constituted part of the Winter Line, where the Germans were ordered to "fight for every last house and tree".
The Battle of Ortona was a very victorious battle, but had many casualties. This battle, some even called it "Little Stalingrad"
I chose to name my map after the battle of Ortona because it was apart of Operation (dod_)Avalanche and (dod_)Anzio, which are maps that I favour.
My map is still under construction, so I will have more screenshots up when I get the chance.
Screen Shots:
[Blocked Image: http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/The_Great2/dod_ortona1.jpg]
and I'm ajusting it to get it right. Once I finnish getting the precipitation in my map and fixing up little things here and there, there will be some more screenshots..Thanks for your reply though.