Ortona (17 page)

There was no indication whether ‘B' Company was moving to ‘C' Company's aid, but at 1000 hours Buchanan reported meeting enemy opposition and being “in the process of cleaning it up.”
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Still unsure what exactly ‘B' Company was up to and seeking some way to get ‘C' Company back on the offensive, Forin consulted with 2 CIB commander Brigadier Bert Hoffmeister. He told Hoffmeister that if he was supported by a heavy artillery barrage from the 2nd Field Regiment's twenty-five pounders and the 4.2-inch mortars of the Saskatoon Light Infantry, he would advance ‘D'
Company, what was left of ‘A' Company after its hard fight of the previous night, and battalion HQ over the river. Once across, this force would link up with ‘C' Company and make a determined drive into San Leonardo. The two men agreed on the plan, setting the start time for 1400 hours.

Buchanan's reluctance to break off his advance toward La Torre was motivated by ‘B' Company's spectacular achievements. Throughout the morning and into the afternoon the small unit had pressed forward against intense enemy opposition. The Canadian soldiers seemed, Buchanan later related, “inspired and protected.” Time and again they went up against superior, heavily entrenched forces and broke the defences. By 1400 hours, Buchanan had captured fifty-nine prisoners, and killed or wounded more than seventy Germans.

One house attacked by ‘B' Company had been defended by sixteen machine guns. As the Canadians closed on the building and prepared to blast the defenders out with grenades, a white flag attached to the end of a rifle barrel poked out a window. Buchanan ordered his men to hold their fire. Seconds later, a German officer appeared in the doorway. He and a soldier armed with a light machine gun started walking toward the Seaforth line. When they were very close the two suddenly opened fire with their weapons and the Canadians shot them down. This was the second time Buchanan's men had faced a flag of surrender used as a deadly shield by the Panzer Grenadiers. The remaining defenders of the building were either killed or driven off during the Seaforths' renewed attack.

No sooner had they concluded this fight than an Italian boy of about fourteen ran up and pointed out a haystack that he said was actually a bunker containing an enemy machine gun and an antitank gun. As the boy started walking back to cover, he stepped on the igniting prong of a German Schützenmine or S-mine, triggering the spring that caused a canister loaded with 350 ball bearings to jump three feet into the air before exploding. Buchanan and his men rushed to the boy, but he was dead — his body shredded by the deadly charge. Enraged, three of the Seaforths rushed the haystack position, overwhelmed the surprised defenders, and killed them all.
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Buchanan's men continued to advance, capturing positions, taking
prisoners, and suffering hardly any casualties while killing dozens more of the enemy.

While ‘B' Company's raid continued and 2 CIB set its plans to conduct a breakout attack against San Leonardo, 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade had also decided to launch another offensive across the Moro River. Major Bert Kennedy, commander of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, convinced Brigadier Howard Graham that a bridgehead could be won at the coastal road to the east of the Seaforths' debacle. Kennedy's objective was to move 500 yards beyond the Moro River to seize a junction of the coast highway with a road leading east into San Leonardo. With the junction in Canadian hands, 1 CIB could advance westward to either take San Leonardo independently or support the Seaforth attack. Alternatively, the brigade could advance on Ortona by the coast highway. Major General Chris Vokes approved the plan and Kennedy started finalizing details.

Because they already knew the ground, Kennedy decided to put the Hasty P's across at the same point used in the night's abortive attack. This would, however, be no attack by stealth against a well-dug-in and alert enemy. Instead, the Hasty P's would move forward on the heels of a twenty-minute barrage laid on by 2nd Field Regiment artillery and the brigade's Saskatoon Light Infantry 4.2-inch mortars. ‘C' Company would establish a bridgehead immediately upon crossing the river and ‘D' Company would attack through its position. Once the bridgehead had been established, the rest of the battalion and supporting tanks would cross to expand the position on the north bank of the Moro. The time for the attack was set for 1400 hours.

At 1340 hours, the barrage began precisely on schedule. Twenty minutes later ‘C' Company moved forward.
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As the Hasty P's advanced, the Seaforths' assault stalled before it even began. Just as Forin and his attack force started off, four German tanks were observed rolling into the streets of San Leonardo. The British tank commander, whose guns were to have supported the
infantry, informed Hoffmeister his priority was now to bring the enemy tanks under fire. No support could be given to the infantry. Hoffmeister told Forin to scrap the planned attack and prepare for probable withdrawal of his companies from the opposite riverbank.
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The brigadier was now of the opinion that 2 CIB should concentrate its attention on exploiting the success won by the PPCLI at Villa Rogatti, rather than continuing to push forward against the heavy resistance concentrated around San Leonardo. While this discussion was underway, the nearby tanks embarked on a pitched battle with the German armour, both sides ineffectually chucking shells back and forth in the gathering fog.
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Forin was little distressed by the attack cancellation. While the plan had been the only one possible, he had not been optimistic of success. Assuming the Seaforths had managed to take San Leonardo, they would only have been able to hold the village if the engineers managed to build a tank diversion over the Moro during the night. Were the engineers to fail, the battalion would be hard pressed to defend the village against the inevitable counterattacks that would be accompanied by strong armoured support. Unlike at Villa Rogatti, the German tankers would be blessed with some excellent level terrain over which to come directly into the village.
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However, Forin now faced the probability of having to disengage his companies across the river under fire. Further weakened each hour by jaundice, he grew ever more gloomy as he awaited final orders from brigade after Hoffmeister consulted with divisional command. Forin's depressed demeanour did not go unnoticed by Hoffmeister.
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San Donato was nothing more than a loosely gathered scrabble of stone huts, a small chapel on an escarpment facing the Adriatic, and farmland interspersed between the homes of the twenty or thirty families who called this place home. The coast highway passed through San Donato, which also served as a crossroads for a road branching off to San Leonardo. For the past week, the sound of explosions had increased and sometimes the very earth under fifteen-year-old Anna Tucci's feet had quivered as if an earthquake threatened. The people of San Donato had looked south toward the distant sounds, wondering if and when the battle would reach them.

As the rumble of the guns crept closer, a few families loaded their belongings into carts, hitched up donkeys or mules, and set off as refugees through Ortona and north toward uncertain safety. Most, however, remained. Where was there to go? Where would be safe? This was their home; if they left, would return be possible? They looked south, made furtive preparations, and waited. At 1340 hours on December 6 the time of waiting ended. War came to San Donato and swept Anna Tucci into its maw.

It started with a hideous banshee wail, followed by an explosion in the fields near one of the houses. Clods of dirt flew up out of the black smoke and flame. Then the shriek of more shells filled the air and explosions blossomed all through San Donato. Immediately south of the Tucci house, the road junction appeared to be literally hurled to the heavens by a terrific bombardment. Anna heard invisible objects hissing through the air outside her family's home. Everyone in San Donato had made earlier preparations for this moment.

Anna and her family rushed from the house, ran into a narrow nearby gully and followed this to caves riddling the escarpment face. The escarpments had always been a warren of caves, a place where children played and parents warned darkly of the danger of being buried in a collapse. In the caves they had hidden food, blankets, and water. The people of San Donato crowded into the small caverns and hunkered there as the ground shook and trembled. Trickles of dirt showered down from the cave's ceilings and coated them in a light, chalky dust. A few villagers failed to reach the safety of the caves. Their bodies lay like discarded black rags amid the vegetable gardens, olive groves, and vineyards of San Donato.

After twenty minutes, the savage bombardment ended as abruptly as it had started. In its wake was no deathly stillness. Instead, the shriek of falling shells and thunder of explosions was replaced by the distant rattle of machine guns and the softer thump made by firing mortars and tank cannon. Anna huddled in the cave, terrified.
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‘C' Company of the Hasty P's was first across the Moro River, following closely in the wake of 4.2-inch mortar fire laid down by the Saskatoon Light Infantry. On the ridge behind, British tanks and self-propelled guns stood ready to pound opposing machine-gun
positions as soon as they revealed themselves by firing on the infantry. The battalion's three-inch mortar company was dropping bombs down the firing tubes as fast as the gunners could work. Two forward observation officers from 2nd Field Regiment were on hand with radios to direct the twenty-five pounders onto enemy concentrations and strong points. The fog was thickening, and visibility was worsening.