Ortona Street Fight

by Mark Zuehlke

December 20, 1943. Two Canadian infantry battalions and a tank regiment stand poised on the outskirts of a small Italian port town. They expect to take Ortona quickly. But the German 1st Parachute Division has other ideas. For reasons unknown, Hitler has ordered Ortona held to the last man. Houses, churches and other buildings are dynamited, clogging the streets with rubble. Germans with machine guns lie in ambush. Snipers slip from one rooftop to another. The Canadians seem to have walked into a death trap. This is a battle fought at close range, often hand to hand. Casualties on both sides are heavy. In the end, raw courage and ingenuity save the Canadians.

Ortona Street Fight is a riveting telling of what is considered one of the most epic battles that Canadian soldiers have ever fought.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Canada

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

On January 1, 1981, Mark Zuehlke walked away from a journalism career to pursue magazine and book writing fulltime. He has never looked back. In 1992, Mark published his first book—Magazine Writing From the Boonies (co-authored with Louise Donnelly)—and now concentrates almost exclusively on writing of books.

Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.

Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.

When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.

Reviews

[Kristall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ortona Street Fight by Mark Zuehlke was just ok. It is written and marketed as a "Rapid Read" and indeed it is. I read it in about 2 hours. It is a short military history book about one specific battle and the writing and jargon is not entirely accessible for the average reader. I found it incredibly confusing in parts and really struggled to picture the location and regiments' movements. I appreciated the photos included but would have really appreciated a map with arrows showing where each regiment was stationed.

The parts of the book that were taken from individual soldiers' accounts were extremely interesting however. I enjoyed learning about the different leaders and their stories of bravery and courage.

I had heard of Ortona in my WWII reading and that it was an important Canadian battle in terms of losses and gains but I didn't know it was considered Canada's "Little Stalingrad". Through reading Ortona Street Fight I realized that that analogy seemed to be pretty accurate. It describes the tough house-to-house urban fighting, the percentage of civilian casualties, and the absolute and total destruction of the city itself by explosives and tanks.

I did enjoy learning about a strictly Canadian WWII battle that occurred before D-day. Their contribution to the Italian campaign was not something that was really focused on in much of my formal education about WWII. We tended to look at the Normandy invasion as the most important contribution that Canada made in ending the war. I'm glad I learned about the incredibly brave sacrifice the regiments at Ortona made in driving the Germans back—critucally aiding the advance of the Allied invasion in Italy.

[Carole Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rapid Reads are great. Condensed from larger tome seems more intense, with additional insights. Or, is it just due to a forgetful mind ? Mine.

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a well organized or particularly well written book. It also lacks maps. Yet, the soldier's eye view of the fighting works well and it is a fast read.

[Strick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding"

[Bruce Loney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, details, emotional.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but fractured and a bit confusing (probably similar to a running battle) could have been clearer with a map but an interesting historical account with elements from both sides nonetheless.

[Lorina Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Zuehlke, with his clipped, factual, journalistic style presents the facts of one of Canada's little known, bloody struggles and triumphs of WWII, the Italian campaign.

Without fanfare or blatant patriotism, he illustrates the tenacity, one might even say insanity, of Canadian troops who, once again, seized and held a strategic objective.

If I were teaching WWII history in Canada, this is certainly a book I would incorporate into the curriculum. Well researched, well written, well done.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these rapid reads for the busy student of Canadian history. Read it with google streetview as I followed along through the streets of Ortona today. Well written condensed storyline.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book

It just wasn't long enough. Would like for it to give more information on the war part .other wise it was very good