Ghosts of Ortona, page 48
Linde, Charlotte. Life Stories: The Creation of Coherence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Litz, B.T., N. Stein, E. Delaney, L. Lebowitz, W. P. Nash, C. Silva, and S. Maguen. “Moral Injury and Moral Repair in War Veterans: A Preliminary Model and Intervention Strategy.” Clinical Psychology Review 29, no. 8 (2009): 695–706.
Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum. “About the Battle of Ortona Painting.” Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum. Accessed August 19, 2025. https://www.lermuseum.org/about-the-battle-of-ortona-painting.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. New York: Dutton, 1960 [1922].
McAndrew, Bill. Canadians and the Italian Campaign, 1943–1945. Montreal: Éditions Art Global, 1996.
McCready, A.L., “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ’Round Public Discourse, National Identity and the War: Neoliberal Militarization and the Yellow Ribbon Campaign in Canada.” Topia (23–24) (2010): 28–51.
McDougall, Robert L. A Narrative of War: From the Beaches of Sicily to the Hitler Line with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 10 July 1943—8 June 1944. Kemptville: Golden Dog Press, 1996.
McKay, Ian, and Jamie Swift. Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2012.
McLeod, John. Narrative and Psychotherapy. London: Sage Publications, 1997.
Molendijk, Tine. Moral Injury and Soldiers in Conflict: Political Practices and Public Perceptions. London: Routledge, 2021.
Molony, C.J.C., et al. The Mediterranean and Middle East. Vol. 5, The Campaign in Sicily and the Campaign in Italy. History of the Second World War. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1973.
Montgomery, Adam. Invisible Injured: Psychological Trauma in the Canadian Military from the First World War to Afghanistan. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017.
Morgan, Philip. The Fall of Mussolini: Italy, the Italians, and the Second World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Mowat, Farley. Aftermath: Travels in a Post-War World. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1995.
———. Otherwise. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2008.
———. And No Birds Sang. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 2012 [1979].
———. My Father’s Son. Madeira Park, BC: Douglas and McIntyre, 2015.
Neimeyer, Robert A. “Fostering Posttraumatic Growth: A Narrative Elaboration.” Psychological Inquiry 15, no. 1 (2004): 53–59.
Neimeyer, Robert A., Holly G. Prigerson, and Betty Davies. “Mourning and Meaning.” American Behavioral Scientist 46, no. 2 (2002): 235–251.
Nicholson, G.W.L. The Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Vol. 2, The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1956.
Ochs, Elinor. “Narrative Lessons.” In A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology, edited by Alessandro Duranti, 269–289. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
Ochs, Elinor, and Lisa Capps. Living Narrative: Creating Lives in Everyday Storytelling. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Pacaccio, Dino. Tommaso: Uno dei dodici. Edited by Vittorio Polsoni. Ortona: Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno e Turismo di Ortona, 1996.
Pandian, Anand, and Stuart J. McLean, eds. Crumpled Paper Boat: Experiments in Ethnographic Writing. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017.
Politi, Antonio. I Giorni del Martirio: Ortona 1943. Ortona: Tip. Centobeni, 1948.
Portelli, Alessandro. The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History. Albany: SUNY Press, 1991.
———. The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997.
Peacock, James L., and Dorothy C. Holland. “The Narrated Self: Life Stories in Process.” Ethos 21, no. 4 (1993): 367–383.
Popular Memory Group. “Popular Memory: Theory, Politics, Method.” In Making Histories: Studies in History-Writing and Politics, edited by Richard Johnson, 205–252. London: Hutchinson, 1982.
Rabinow, Paul. Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.
Roy, Reginald H. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1919–1965. Vancouver: Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1969.
Samuel, Raphael. “Perils of the Transcript.” In The Oral History Reader, edited by Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson, 389–392. London and New York: Routledge, 2003.
Seligman, Rebecca, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. “Dissociative Experience and Cultural Neuroscience: Narrative, Metaphor and Mechanism.” Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 32 (2008): 31–64.
Serafini, Lucia. Danni di guerra e danni di pace: Ricostruzione e città storiche in Abruzzo nel secondo dopoguerra. Villamagna: Tinari, 2008.
Stacey, C. P. A Date with History: Memoirs of a Canadian Historian. Ottawa: Deneau Publishers, 1983.
Stevens, George Roy. A City Goes to War: History of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment (3PPCLI). Brampton: Charters Publishing Co., 1964.
Strauss, Claudia, and Naomi Quinn. A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Taylor, A.J.P. The Origins of the Second World War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005 [1961].
Thomson, Alistair. Anzac Memories: Living with the Legend. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
———. “Anzac Memories: Putting Popular Memory Theory into Practice in Australia.” In The Oral History Reader, edited by Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson, 300–310. London and New York: Routledge, 2003.
Tonkin, Elizabeth. Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Università Frentana della Terza Età. Affidandosi alla Memoria: Ricordi dei Giorni della Guerra 1940–1944. Lanciano: Centro di Servizi Culturali, n.d.
Vaillant, George E. Ego Mechanisms of Defence: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1992.
Vance, Jonathan. Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997.
Watson, Lawrence C., and Maria-Barbara Watson-Franke. Interpreting Life Histories: An Anthropological Inquiry. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1985.
Weiner, Annette B. The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1988.
Westen, Drew. Self and Society: Narcissism, Collectivism, and the Development of Morals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Wood, Herbert Fairlie, and John Swettenham. Silent Witnesses. Toronto: Hakkert, 1974.
Zuehlke, Mark. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle. Toronto: Stoddart, 1999.
———. Through Blood and Sweat: A Remembrance Trek Across Sicily’s WWII Battlegrounds. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 2015.
Image Credits
Images are listed in order of appearance. Archival photographs retain the original captions assigned by military photographers at the time. Credits and sources follow each caption.
Abbreviations: CWM—Canadian War Museum; DND—Department of National Defence (Canada); LAC—Library and Archives Canada; IWM—Imperial War Museum (UK)
Front Matter
Map of Ortona, 1943. Created by Christina Lee in collaboration with Ian Cosh. Sources consulted: Map F in “Operations of 1 Cdn Inf Div and 1 Cdn Armd Bde in Italy, 25 Nov 43 – 4 Jan 44,” Canadian Military Headquarters Report No. 165, Directorate of History and Heritage (DND); Antonio di Paolo, “Curare le Ferite di Guerra—Il Caso di Ortona”; Gaetano Basti, Ortona Ricorda; Tonino Catena, Mi Ricordo; Google Maps satellite and street view of Ortona, accessed July 2025.
Detail from “Ortona” poem by Mel McPhee. Author’s collection.
‘Doggerel’
Postcard of Ortona collected after the battle by Stan Chettleborough, Loyal Edmonton Regiment. Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum, 1986.13.1.
Chapter 1
“Men of B Company, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, filing along mined coastal path. Town of Ortona in distance.” 21 December 1943. Photograph by F. G. Whitcombe. LAC, PA-152749. Cropped from original.
Postcard of Ortona collected after the battle by Rollie Castagner, Loyal Edmonton Regiment. Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum, 2000.21.1.7.
“Ruins of unidentified church.” 30 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-136308.
Chapter 2
“Youthful prisoners of the 26 Panzer Reconnaissance Regt., who were captured during a night attack on the Ortona-Orsogna lateral road area. They all seem pleased to be well away from the constant shelling by the Indians, and R.A.F. straffing [sic].” 17 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-9988.
“Private T.M. Collins of The Carleton and York Regiment searching German prisoners, Enna, Italy.” 18 July 1943. Photograph by Frank Royal. LAC, PA-169996. Cropped from original.
“Infantrymen of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada searching German prisoners near the Moro River, Italy.” 8 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-167914.
Placemat from Mountain Pizza and Steakhouse, Whitecourt, Alberta. Author’s collection.
Chapter 3
“Some of the men who took part in the action celebrate their victory. They are, left to right—Major J. Stone (49 Edmonton Regt.) of Peace River, Alberta, Sgt. Maj. R. Bowen, (49 Edmonton Rgt.) of Edmonton, Maj. [sic] E.W. Thomas (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada) of Vancouver, Pte. C.G. Rattrey [sic] (49 Edmonton Regt.) of Lavoy, Alberta, and Capt. J.W. Baldwin (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada).” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10384. Cropped from original.
“The tanks (of the 12 Canadian Tank Regt.) and infantrymen (of the Princess Patricia’s Light Regt.) advancing through the streets for the last phase of the bitter Ortona fighting.” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10372. Cropped from original.
“Personnel of ‘B’ Company, Edmonton Regiment, advancing.” 21 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-116852.
Chapter 4
“Men (of the 49 Edmonton Regt.) patrolling a side street in search of snipers. Left foreground is a German paratrooper hounded from his lair by the Canadians.” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10390. Cropped from original.
Page of the War Diary of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. 22 December 1943. LAC, RG 24 vol.15256 (1943/12 to 1944/07). Photograph by Ian Cosh.
“A Sherman tank guarding the main sqaure [sic] of Ortona.” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10380. Cropped from original.
Menu card, Men’s Annual Ortona Dinner, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Author’s collection.
Chapter 5
“General view of Brigade Headquarters at Christmas dinner.” 25 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-152839.
Menu card, Men’s Annual Ortona Dinner, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Author’s collection.
Detail of “General view of Brigade Headquarters at Christmas dinner.” 25 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-152839.
Chapter 6
“Private B.D. Flynn of the regimental Aid Party, The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, giving a drink of water to a badly-wounded German prisoner inside a church, Catona [sic], Italy.” 21 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-141670.
Chapter 7
“All that remains of one of Ortona’s finest churches, the Church of San Thomas [sic].” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10389.
Charles Fraser Comfort, Chiesa di San Tomasso, Ortona, Italy, January 1944. Watercolour on paper. 38.1 x 58.7cm. CWM, Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, 19710261-2168.
Charles Fraser Comfort, Via Dolorosa, Ortona, no date. Oil on canvas. 101.5 x 76.2cm. CWM, Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, 19710261-2308.
Chapter 8
“A sniper (of the Edmonton Regt.) firing from the window of a house.” 22 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10204. Cropped from original.
Maurice White at The Price of Peace in Ortona, October 1999. Photographer unknown. Author’s collection.
Chapter 9
“An old woman whose home was wrecked by the shelling being carried to safety on a chair.” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10399. Cropped from original.
“After five days of sheltering from the holocaust of war, Italian families return to their homes, along the main street of the town.” 28 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10368. Cropped from original.
“On the road leading to the town, a few civilians remain. Some of them pose for a picture.” 22 December 1943. Photograph by Bill McConville. IWM, NA-10185. Cropped from original.
Chapter 10
“German corporal who was killed during fighting with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.” 21 December 1943. Photograph by Terry F. Rowe. LAC, PA-115188. Cropped from original.
Detail of “Major-General Christopher Vokes addressing personnel of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment.” 13 May 1944. Photograph by C.E. Nye. LAC, PA-132770.
Chapter 11
Lake and forest. Photograph by Christina Lee. Author’s collection.
Charles Fraser Comfort, Boschink, c.1925–1926. Etching on wove paper. 23.6 x 30.8cm. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Gift of Robert and Margaret Hucal, 2005-68.
Acknowledgments
My PhD research was supported by grants and scholarships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, IODE Canada, the Mariano A. Elia Chair, and York University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Staff at Library and Archives Canada, the City of Edmonton Archives, the University of Victoria Archives, and Toronto Reference Library provided valuable help during my fieldwork. While preparing the manuscript, I received generous remote assistance from Dylan Bremner at the City of Edmonton Archives, and Darcia Arndt and Marjory Olsen at the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum, who tracked down images and clarified details about material I had collected. Andrew Webb at the Imperial War Museum and Jacqueline Vincent at Chislehurst Digitization were great help in obtaining photographs for the book.
Jonathan Crago read the manuscript with care and offered valuable feedback—especially on creative forms of scholarly writing. Daphne Winland’s encouragement and her example of engaged scholarship lifted me at a key moment. I also appreciated the insights and assistance provided by Bruce Walsh, Jennifer Bonnell, Jennifer Stephen, Andrew Gordon, Pamela Holway, Anne Brackenbury, Edmund Li, Leonard Wyma, and Douglas Hildebrand along the way.
Ken Whyte recognized the book’s potential, understood its spirit, and made its publication possible. I’m grateful to Bruce Walsh for encouraging me to send the manuscript to Ken. Tim Rostron was a sharp and steady editor, bringing clarity, patience, and much-appreciated humour to the process. The entire team at Sutherland House has my thanks.
Malcolm Blincow, Veronica Schild, and Dan Yon have been generous mentors and companions over many years. Their example of intellectual honesty and political courage has been a constant source of inspiration. Jason Winkler offered perspective, insight, and steady encouragement through some of the more difficult stretches of writing. Christina Lee’s support and companionship were profoundly important, making this long process much easier. I could not have done this without my sister Sarah and my parents, Iris and Dave—who supported me throughout the project and whose example has long grounded my curiosity and approach to the world.
Above all, this book exists because of the people who lived through these events and chose to speak about them. I’ve done my best to honour their decision to share.
Index
Alleanza Nazionale (AN) 392–3, 436, 519n4
Amaron, Douglas 218, 511n4
Angelone, Giordano 407–8, 413–5
anthropology. See ethnographic research and writing
Ardeatine Caves massacre 459
Arnone, Angela 514n5
Ashcroft, Jim 51–4, 57, 73, 82, 85
Associazione Nazionale Marinai d’Italia (ANMI) 390–91
Atkinson, “Smokey” 97–9
Bailey, Edgar 80–1
Baldwin, Jim 89, 92, 535
battle exhaustion 28, 123, 210–1, 506–7n7 See also trauma
Battle of Ortona, The (mural) 108, 506n3
Bauer, Hugo 257–8, 278–9, 280–2, 284–6, 296, 300, 462
Bayerlein, Carl 257, 500n11, 524n8
Behar, Ruth 495n1
Berlusconi, Silvio 519n4
Bill (pseudonym) 12, 180–230, 330, 380–1, 386, 424, 445–51, 469–70, 488
Birmingham, Jack 73, 93–9, 101–3, 378, 424, 426, 444
Blue Danube 221
Borucki, Gisbert 257, 296
Bottega, Nicola 391, 394, 402–3, 433, 436
Bowen, Esther 293, 295–300
Bowen, Ranald 89, 293, 296–300, 535
Boyd, Ed 293
British Eighth Army 25–26, 374, 384, 499–500n11, 521n11
See also 8th Indian Infantry Division; 1st Canadian Infantry Division; 19th Indian Brigade; Polish II Corps; 2nd New Zealand Division; 10th Indian Infantry Division
Brown, Dave 271–3
Buxton, A.J. 61, 279
Cameron, D.B. 139, 159, 164–5, 167
Campbell, Alex 467
Campbell, Angus (Gus) 11, 63, 68–69, 72–9 passim, 93–103 passim, 108–10, 378–9, 442, 488, 504n8
Canada, places in: Alberta Beach 104, 111; Barrhead 62; Calgary 51, 111, 220; Cornwall 241; Creston 220; Debolt 62; Dorval 268; Edmonton, passim; Fort McMurray 61; Goderich 220; Gogama 220; Grassland 339; Jasper 103, 339; Joussard 220; Keewatin 501n13; Kingston 246; Lac Ste. Anne 111–2, 118; Lavoy 535; Northwest Territories 55; Ottawa 140, 143, 236–49 passim, 262, 336, 346, 352, 357; Peace River 35; Red Deer 36; Toronto 51, 141, 184, 220, 243, 268; Turin 219; Vancouver, passim; Vancouver Island 16; Victoria 160, 368; Wabamun (Paul First Nation) 98, 113; Wayne 36; Whitecourt 87, 535
