King George VI. of England seen with Canadian Lt. Gen. Edson L. M. Burns, commander of Canadian I. Corps in Italy.

Royal visit

Lt. Gen. Charles Foulkes (center) with other Canadian officers in Italy

Canadian officers 

The Battle of Ortona (December 20 – 28, 1943) was a small, yet extremely fierce, battle fought between a battalion of German paratroops from the German 1st Parachute Division and assaulting Canadian forces from the Canadian 1st Infantry Division. It was the culmination of the fighting on the Adriatic front in Italy during "Bloody December". The battle, dubbed "Little Stalingrad" for the deadliness of its close-quarters combat, took place in the small Adriatic Sea town of Ortona, with its peacetime population of 10,000.
