[Editorial note: Editorial note: Before walking the streets of Ortona to consider the battle for the city, we take the students to the Ortona museum. This year we were fortunate to meet Tomasso Cespa who was a young child during the war; he now volunteers at the museum so he can welcome visitors and tell his story.]
On May 13th the travel study group had the opportunity to visit the Museum of the Battle of Ortona. The museum was established in 2002 to remember the tragic events that took place in December 1943 when the Germans and the Canadians came face to face in combat. The museum contained photographs, documents, artwork, plastic models, and artifacts from the battle. Not only did the museum focus on the soldiers that participated in the battle, but it also focused on the impact it had on the civilians of Ortona. This interested me and I wanted to know more about what the citizens of Ortona had to endure during the battle. While in the museum I came across a poem written by Tommaso Cespa that had a great impact on me.
On May 13th the travel study group had the opportunity to visit the Museum of the Battle of Ortona. The museum was established in 2002 to remember the tragic events that took place in December 1943 when the Germans and the Canadians came face to face in combat. The museum contained photographs, documents, artwork, plastic models, and artifacts from the battle. Not only did the museum focus on the soldiers that participated in the battle, but it also focused on the impact it had on the civilians of Ortona. This interested me and I wanted to know more about what the citizens of Ortona had to endure during the battle. While in the museum I came across a poem written by Tommaso Cespa that had a great impact on me.
Christmas of War
Ortona 1943
The war was sixty years ago;
The Destruction of our Ortona!
I was nearly eleven, I was a child,
But I can’t forget the whole tragedy.
That year we didn’t made
The little houses, the puppets, the grass
For the crib – joy of the house –
The little present for the pipers.
We only made a shelter,
A cave, to protect ourselves from the bombs.
Christmas Eve, what a lot of fire!
Not the one of log and firewood
But the one of machine-guns and cannonades.
We didn’t have the dinner… the Christmas Eve,
The Christmas lunch… neither that one.
How did we spend that holy day?
Like the others: we crouched
With little bread, and nothing to eat with it,
And only a little water to quench the thirst.
Only the fear was big;
The dead was always nearby.
Churches didn’t ring the bells;
We heard a stroke every now and then
When they were hit by the splinters.
With this awful fury of the war
How could the Redeemer be born?
But the Child was born also in those times…
Inside our hearts still alive.
Every hour, the holy prayer,
With lot of faith and devotion,
Dedicated to the Holy Family
Came out from the pit of our hearts
To give us encouragement and hope.
The nature cried for pain.
The earth was massacred, torn,
Soaked with innocent blood.
Ortona, Christmas 2003
Tommaso Cespa
Ortona 1943
The war was sixty years ago;
The Destruction of our Ortona!
I was nearly eleven, I was a child,
But I can’t forget the whole tragedy.
That year we didn’t made
The little houses, the puppets, the grass
For the crib – joy of the house –
The little present for the pipers.
We only made a shelter,
A cave, to protect ourselves from the bombs.
Christmas Eve, what a lot of fire!
Not the one of log and firewood
But the one of machine-guns and cannonades.
We didn’t have the dinner… the Christmas Eve,
The Christmas lunch… neither that one.
How did we spend that holy day?
Like the others: we crouched
With little bread, and nothing to eat with it,
And only a little water to quench the thirst.
Only the fear was big;
The dead was always nearby.
Churches didn’t ring the bells;
We heard a stroke every now and then
When they were hit by the splinters.
With this awful fury of the war
How could the Redeemer be born?
But the Child was born also in those times…
Inside our hearts still alive.
Every hour, the holy prayer,
With lot of faith and devotion,
Dedicated to the Holy Family
Came out from the pit of our hearts
To give us encouragement and hope.
The nature cried for pain.
The earth was massacred, torn,
Soaked with innocent blood.
Ortona, Christmas 2003
Tommaso Cespa
No child should have to endure what Tommaso endured; he was not yet eleven years old when he and his family had to relocate into caves and spend Christmas eating little amounts of bread and water while people were being massacred near by. The way Tommaso viewed the earth would never be the same after his experiences during the battle of Ortona. |
After leaving the museum our group walked up to the Piazza Porta Caldari where the Canadian soldiers of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment first arrived on December 21st 1943. By the time the Canadian soldiers arrived the German soldiers had already strategized and organized a defense. Due to the destruction of buildings, the only remaining usable road was the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which is the main street of the city. The Germans were located at the north end of the street and the Canadians were located at the south end of the street. The Germans hoped that the Canadians would travel directly down the main street towards them, allowing them to attack with mines and artillery. However, the Canadians knew that main street was covered with mines and would need engineers to disable them in order to get tanks down the street. Their plan was to enter side streets left of the main street and clear houses along the way to reach the center of the city. During the early hours of December 22nd the soldiers of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment formed into groups of 15-20 men to enter and secure the buildings. The Loyal Edmonton Regiment would have to move fast throughout the buildings and secure them to allow for engineers to come in and remove the mines. This was not an easy task but the Regiment “mouse-holed” through the southern half of town in a day, reaching the Piazza Municipio. As our group followed the route that the Loyal Edmonton Regiment took, it was noticeable that the streets and buildings had been greatly impacted by the battle. We could identify bullet holes that hit walls and buildings that had been completely destroyed. Walking through the streets and seeing the remaining rubble gave me an idea of what Ortona looked like during the battle. |
This is something you cannot experience in a classroom. I have truly gained so much appreciation for the soldiers and civilians that experienced such a tragic event.
Kelly Fahey
Kelly Fahey