•           Battle for Ortona
• On December 4^th 1943 the 8^th Army launched its final attack of the year to breach the not yet completed Gustav line, breaking the front they crossed the Sangro river and headed towards Ortona which at the time was completely empty of axis forces.
• FM Kesselring ordered that the 1^st FJ Division be sent to Ortona, ii battalion FJR3 where sent ahead of 1^st FJ Division arriving at the same time as the advanced units of the 1^st New Zealand Division, ii battalion FJR3 successfully re took Ortona, they where then re enforced by the 1^st battalion FJR3, by this time the exhausted 1^st New Zealand Division were replaced by the 1^st Canadian Division to take Ortona, on the 17^th December the 1^st FJ Division arrived at Ortona this would lead to bitter fighting to take this town.
• 1^st Canadian Division arrived very fresh and ready to fight, but they did not expect the 1^st FJ Division to be there, between both sides they totally re wrote the rules for house-to-house fighting.
• Every street, house and room had to be taken step by step, the Canadians first used standard house to house rules written by the British army manuals, unfortunately the FJ did not adhere to these rules, not only did they not surrender they often re took with consistent counter attacks what they had just lost.
• The standard manual stated that forces had to go via ground floor door after grenades had been used, this often did not work as the FJ withdrew out shrapnel area and ambushed the troops as they came via the door, so the Canadians decided to dismantle the walls outside the first house brick by brick then place charges in the wall not only blowing the wall down but half the house as well to expose the FJ troops within the building, not easy when under fire from across the street as well.
• This type of fighting went from house to house and the Canadians took very heavy casualties, the 1^st became so exhausted by this fighting they where relieved by the 2^nd Canadian Division who had to endure the same fighting, the fighting became extremely bitter by Christmas for both sides as the 8^th Army was determined to break through, FJR 3 and the rest of 1^st FJ Division where fighting to stop the Gustav line being breached.
• On the 28^th December 1^st FJ Division was ordered to withdraw from Ortona, they disengaged from the Canadian forces at Ortona and withdrew through the Gustav Line.
• Both sides had high casualties and the Canadians where totally exhausted as were the rest of the 8^th Army.1^st FJ Division had fought its own Stalingrad at Ortona.
• 1^st FJ Division passed into the reserves for a long rest and to receive replacements before being sent to one the most horrendous battles of the Second World War, some say on par with the battles of the Somme, Verdun and Paschendal, Monte Cassino.  
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