Matrix Games

Location : The Gully, near Ortona, Italy
Opponents : Canada - Germany

Description :

_______Battle Of The Gully** __Canada Assault - Germany Defend* _______Italy, Near Ortona* ____0400 hrs 10 December 1943* _____________Turns 45* _______Scenario Size: Medium* ___________C&C Friendly* ______Low Carnage Settings** _____Henk "Dutchiexx" Neumann* _______Dutchiexx@spwaw.com* _______MADE FOR ENH 2009** ** ______________Visit:* __________www.spwaw.com* _______________and* ____www.spwawfort.blogspot.com** ** ** ________SCENARIO NOTES:** Cross the Gully and when on the northern side, prepare to take the crossroads.** HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:** December 9 had been a historic day. The diarist at the Canadian Divisions headquarters wrote that it will be remembered by the 1st Canadians for a long, long time. We had our first real battle on a divisional level with the Germansthe battle of the Moro River. The Germans counter-attacked very heavily and were thrown back. Montgomery sent his hearty congratulations but renewed his orders, Lieutenant-General Charles Allfreys 5th Corps was to press the advance to Tollo with 1st Canadian and 8th Indian divisions maintaining pressure until 8th Army was reorganized and ready to carry out Operation Semblance, a four-division advance designed to reach the Pescara-Rome highway which was further north.** Thus began the struggle for what Canadian soldiers called The Gully, a feature formed by the Fosso Saraceni, a small creek that had worn a U-shaped valley into the landscape. The Gully was barely noticeable on the scale maps of the area and had failed to draw the attention of intelligence officers or air photo interpreters, but the 200-metre-deep ravine provided the enemy with ample opportunity to fight effectively from terrain that gave the defender every advantage.** The Loyal Edmonton Regiment, with a squadron of Calgary Tanks and a platoon of medium machine-guns from the Saskatoon Light Infantry, began the push north on the morning of Dec. 10. The battle group included two FOOs from 3rd Field Regt. and one from the corps medium regiment. Their goal was Cider Crossroads, the point where the San Leonardo-Tollo road met the Ortona-Orsogna highway. If all went well the 2nd Brigade would turn east towards Ortona to outflank the defenders south of the city while 3rd Canadian Infantry Bde. would join an Indian brigade in the advance north to Tollo. The occupation of the village, with its network of minor roads to the north and east, would force the enemy to abandon Ortona, leaving it intact for the Allies to utilize as a base.** The road the Loyal Eddies followed skirts a creek defile before turning east. Today the A13 Autostrada, elevated above The Gully, dominates the battlefield, but in 1943 the narrow road ran through an apparently empty countryside. Accounts of the days events vary widely, but everyone agrees that all attempts to advance to The Gullynever mind the crossroadswere met with concentrated machine-gun and mortar fire which neither the artillery nor the mortars could suppress. A vague message sent to brigade at 1:30 p.m. reported 3 coys (companies) on objective are consolidating. This signal must have been intended to refer to the first-stage objective, not Cider Crossroads. But Brigadier Bert Hoffmeister misunderstood and ordered the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry to join the advance, securing the high ground the Patricias would call Vino Ridge. They came under heavy, observed fire and were forced to stop and dig in just east of San Leonardo.** The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada had kept pace with the Loyal Eddies, protecting their left flank. But they, too, suffered from accurate enemy fire. Lieutenant-Colonel J.D. Forin was among the wounded and he provided this graphic description of his evacuation to the regimental aid post (RAP). The Advance RAP is in a house 50 yards behind the gully. It is full of wounded and shocked men. An RAP Jeep arrivesKing (Forins runner who was also wounded) and I are loaded on it. King is unconscious, but breathing. The Jeep creeps cautiously down the shell-pocked road to San Leonardo. I think that if I were driving I would go all out. Shells blossom on the road on both sides but the driver has critically wounded aboard and to hit a shell hole at high speed might kill them. The RAP is a dark room in a battered house. Lights from car batteries hung over blood-stained stretchers fresh casualties keep arriving. The MO (medical officer) is desperately tired, but he never stops working or loses patience with the shock cases.** Fortunately, the enemy was not content with stopping the Canadians. The 90th Div. was told to regain the ground above the Moro. The first wave of German attacks began on the afternoon of Dec. 10. The next day three separate attempts to overwhelm the Canadians produced heavy casualties on both sides. General Traugott Herr, the German corps commander, complained that these attacks had been committed too late in the day and had been half-hearted. He removed the divisional and regimental commanders, placing the division under the command of Col. Ernst-G|nther Baade of 3rd Para Regt. Baade was an experienced commander who was prepared to do whatever it took to slow the Canadian advance at least until the balance of 1st Para Div. arrived.** The 8th Indian Div. had enjoyed slightly greater success on its axis, reaching Villa Caldari just south of the Ortona-Orsogna road. The Gully did not extend this far inland and there were good prospects for a further advance, but the Indian battalions were understrength and near exhaustion so they were allowed to pause and regroup. When the advance was renewed, the enemy was well dug in and able to hold positions in front of the lateral road for more than three days.** Montgomery proposed to begin Operation Semblance on Dec. 15, but Allfrey and Major-General Chris Vokesthe Canadian divisional commanderwanted the Canadians to secure Cider Crossroads and the highway bef