Italian Stalingrad: How Canadian Forces Liberated Ortona | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories 

My uncle Thomas O'Brien was a corporal the Three Rivers Regiment. He was 20 when he was killed in his tank fighting in Italy (May 23rd). He grave stone amongst the thousands of other Canadians was actually attached to another Canadian that was killed in the same tank. They could not tell the men apart and buried them together. The sacrifices these young men made for our freedom should always be honoured.

The British high commanded used Canadians as what might be called "shock troops". Although the Canadians drew the toughest assignments and suffered the heaviest casualties, they always took their objectives! Much respect from the USA.

US veteran. Never had anything but respect for Canadian forces.

hey 👋 this Canadian is so very proud of our Canadian soldiers and does his best to research more about our unsong heroes of WWII thank you for your service both living and those that paid the highest cost!

My uncle fought at Ortona, 49th Loyal Eddie’s in Dawn brigade. He didn’t speak much about it, in fact he he spent much of his retirement speaking to children at schools and ceremonies about the importance of remembering the losses both side experienced and the tragedy of war. I spoke with another vet from the same division at another Remembrance Day Ceremony and he spoke at length about the house to house clearing of German troops with trenching spades and pistols and I realized why he never discussed it. He did manage to remove the typewriter from the police chief of Romes office and it resides today at the Loyal Edmonton Regiments museum at the Princess Patricia Armoury. Hats off to the Canadians and all the Allies who fought with such disregard for their own safety, sometimes with some very tragic consequences, and with such bravery. (William Teleske, 49th Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Dawn Dawn Brigade)

Great to finally hear the Canadian story. They were good soldiers, damn good soldiers, and great leaders too.

My father was wounded in Ortona and evacuated back to Canada, many of the men he served with never came home.

Massive respect to the Canadian troops!!

What did Churchill say? "Give me British officers, American technology, and Canadian soldiers, and I will conquer the world!"

While the Canadian contribution to the Italian Campaign was significant and it was wrong that they were denied their victory march into Rome, this was down to GEN Mark Clark, and not the combat GIs he commanded. The US lost 114,000 good soldiers, who didn't get to parade through Rome.

Very proud of our 🇨🇦Canadian🇨🇦 sacrifices, thank you.

AMEN! GOD BLESS ALL THOSE BRAVE CANADIAN MEN!!

vernon dowie was my grandpa.we always went out to eat on birthdays.his voice brings back memories...rip

It is sad to refer to losses as (TANKS) only! there were men in them and they lost their lives, each time the commentator talks about losses in tanks, I shiver and think of the brave men inside them

The real people who put in the work never get the glory .

It's interesting to note that my father and uncle ( his brother-in-law ), who were with the RCRs in the 1st Brigade , fought in all the intervening battles to those described here, those being mainly infantry battles.

❤🇺🇲❤ I appreciate the Canadians🇨🇦

Due to its relatively small size and high industrial output, Canada supplied other allies and had the most mechanized army per soldier of all armies in WWII

Gotta love Canadian understatement.

My father fought at Ortona. According to him, he was shitless. When Dad and our family were posted to Germany in the 60’s, we met and became friends with a Germany family. The father fought in Ortona, and yes it turns out he could have killed my father but he did not. It was Christmas Day. He was just an ordinary person fighting for his country. So was my dad.

Most over looked but excellent fighting men thanks canada you will never be forgotten at least I will not

4:05 - Sherman 7:39 - Panzer MK IV 19:46 - Sherman Part II 26:54 - Panzerfaust 32:11 - Pantherturm 37:51 - Panther Medium Tank

As an american im glad this doc is giving 🇨🇦 some credit for what they did. They fought and died as we did. North America showed up and won! Minus the Mexicans who collaborated with the Germans.

Cant fool a Canadian farm boy with a phony haystack.

0:24 That older mans recreation of events was historically accurate, exciting and precise as the show itself :D

The countries of the Allied forces in World War II owe an eternal debt to the Canadian soldiers for the price they paid in WW II. They played an indispensable part in the Allied victory in Europe. May the fallen rest easy.

Our Canadian brothers fought so bravely and deserved the right to enter Rome first but that publicity seeking worm Mark Clark , hated by all , deprived them of that honour. Luckily D-Day occured the following day and he faded back into insignificance again where he belonged !!

The German paratroopers were Luftwaffe, not Heer. Herman Goering was weird that way.

That's crazy the Canadians should have been there when they took Rome.

My old bosses Uncle Ken fought as a Canadian fought to Rome then had to stand aside and let the Unitedstatians roll in for the victory.

When the enemy has a hand-held antitank weapon more potent than your friggin’ tank at killing tanks...

proud Ontario, I love you. bring freedom to all over the wrold.

One of several problems the Canadians had in the Battle of Ordona was that the western allies had not developed urban doctrine and so it had to be developed on the run which ultimately included mouseholing and sector clesring. Dad was in the Calgary Tanks joining after Ortona and before Liri Valley. One of the comments he made was the stench of rotting bodies left in ruble of the town of Cassino as they went past it.

Salutations to the western Allies. Back to Back World War Champs. Like MacArthur said......"there's no substitute for victory".

Became sad to know that Brave Canadians didn't gain popularity and not seen as heroes by Italians.

I never really knew much on the canadian side of things until recently and trust me pound 4 pound the best tough as he'll, respect from England

The canadians who served in WW2 were absolute badasses.

Damn, fighting in the Basilica of San Tommaso Apostolo on Christmas Morning, that Cathedral holds the relics (body) of Thomas the Apostle.

My dad was in the Royal Navy on Destroyers in the Atlantic and Russian Convoys. He never had much time for the American navy but the Canadian navy he thought extremely highly of or as he would say 'Damb fine fighters. Thank God they were on our side'.

Thanx Uploader !. Worth a watch . Thank goodness for the cunuks , we could not won that war w/ out them . Monty did not have a clue . I like what Paton said " Stop me at Moscow "

To all german soldiers of WW2: Thank you for your service. You gave it all with honor and loyalty till the bitter end. RIP.

The Canadians were the best tankers probably because in a Hockey fight they know that in order to give a punch you have take one first.

These video are great but need more maps.

Wow Ripped off!! welp I know now who the real heroes are The Maple Leaf much respect Canada Xx

The only time when the Sherman's short 75mm cannon barrel was an asset vs a liability was in towns with narrow streets like ortona

I've been studying WW2 since 1979 and this is the first I've heard of the "Pantherturm" or "Panzerturm"....

The Yanks didn't let the Canadians into Rome because they would have gotten all the girls.

Low velocity guns are howitzers. The 75mm gun was not a low velocity gun. It might be called a medium velocity gun in terms of comparison to German tank guns of 1943 but it could still kill comparable medium tanks and Stugs. It was by no means a dominant anti-tank gun but it was a dual purpose gun and as such was HIGHLY successful in 1942-44. However, the Germans kept building heavier and heavier vehicles so higher velocity guns were needed, but in some ways the 75mm forced the Germans to make tanks that had thick heavy armor and this created limitations that restricted German overall effectiveness. One thing the 75mm could do well was fire fast and this is shown in the video.

❤❤AGREED!!! MASSIVE RESPECT FOR THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!❤

I don't know what everyone is talking about but the sherman also had some pretty good frontal armor, it was immune to some Panzer 3 and 4 variants like the T-34 angled armor but slightly better

Love us Canadians!! Grandfather and father were Essex Scottish!

Lucky for the allies the Roman Legions were long gone.

Canada always has tough fighters and their contribution and sacrifices in WW2 should never be forgotten. And Mark Clark was an ahole, this from an American.

Well done. I hope there is more.

I have a text book in my home, where they claim a quote from Field Marshall Montgomery, He said he sent Canadian 1 Corp with the British Army to Sicily and Italy. He said in this quote that he watched them train and knew they were good. He also said that he was sure that they will prove themselves as a good asset to the British Army in Southern Europe.

There were still German troops retreating north when the Canadians arrived on the outskirts of Rome and for almost 9 hours Canadians watched Germans coming from the south and pass through Rome to their new defensive lines. When the Canadians arrived historians discovered later that the Germans only had about half a brigades worth of communications soldiers and about half a brigades worth of security type soldiers in Rome.If Clarke had of told them to just roll on into Rome it would of trapped 10's of thousands of German troops south of Rome with no way north. That would of been about half the German army in the whole of Italy. That's what happens when politics get in the way of military decisions. Both the British and Americans wanted to be the ones who liberated Rome , Clarke won that race.

Canadians should have kept going....they broke every line and were told to stop...That's B--L Sh-T...Main thig Is where ever Canadian Soldiers are fighting , you need not worry...A1 Soldiers...

Very good, thanks.

lol untested Canadians, we were in it from the start actually...for years ( 1.5 ) before the yanks ..even our closest allies and neighbours are clueless about Canadas military achievements

Nice video but "War Stories" uses a lot of repeated scenes, summaries of the previous segments, which doubles the duration of a production that would otherwise last less than 20 minutes. Many of the "superlative" words they used are repeated over and over. Charts of the action would be nice and so would upgraded CGIs. Ciao, L (Veteran).

Ooopsy, you 'all volunteer Canucks' weren't supposed to fight your way up though the Liri valley and punch through at least two German lines of crack German troops ordered not to retreat and be within 26 miles of Rome before Patton, so you better hold up for a couple of days and park along the road to let wee Georgie get there and take the credit .

This is a fine example of Canadians doing the work and Americans taking the credit for winning the war. I even find German war stories more interesting than American

Every Canadian documentary its always about how they did everything and got no credit.

"I say no, it wasn't worth the cost." What a horrible line to end on... what is the alternative?

Back in the 1980.s an olde English tommie told me that he was in a unit that was an armoured unit that had fought to the outskirts of Rome. They were in the suburbs when ordered yo stop. While they were waiting for new orders the yanks sailed past and got all the accolades as the conquers of Rome. Now I have Confirmation of what he claimed was the case.

* AS A GUNNER ? YOU NEVER AIM AT AN ENEMIES STRONGEST POINTS ? YOU AIM FOR ITS WEAKEST AREAS ? DONT YOU ???????!!!!!!!!!

2 Battalions against a division.

It is amazing how the British loved the M4 in North Africa. Monte said that it was a great tank against the panther M4. Why do they now claim that it was under power??? The Sherman was able to kill anything up to the Panther mark 4. When it was designed the Germans were using the mark 2 and mark 3. Everybody has an excuse when they don't know how to use a tool.

Ahh the greed of America, they pulled out the Canadians before liberating Rome.. im glad they made this video for the Canadians that served and played major roles in the war. Im so proud of these guys.

** WHAT A NICE ! * SNUB !!!!!!!!

I also like how German tank when destroyed have a tremendous explosion and fire ball. While the Sherman just sparkles when hit.

>>> "Central Italy - no fight was more ferocious here than the one that took place in the 2ndWW" ...ooh, boy! ...you'd be surprised how many ARMIES lay down there ...in ASHES... Sometimes entire nations. The ones from the 2nd World war were just the ones that had the biggest destructive potential in their WEAPONRY, but as far as that..."ferociousness" goes...I wouldn't even know where to begin with! Entire tribes, coalitions of tribes, powerful city-states, entire CULTURES are buried there - SLAUGHTERED, just like the Romans SLAUGHTERED the Etruscans that - SIMPLY! - stood in their way, and - today - we know so little about them, that we don't even know where they came from or how did they really speak and most of what we know comes from their TOMBS.

More tank simulator... Yay.

My dad was a tank commander of an M4 Sherman through Italy with the New Zealand 20th Armored Regiment! He had a Sherman that was powered by the mighty Ford GAA, 18 Litre V8, which was the most Powerful engine that Powered the Sherman, 550 hp. New Zealand paid cash to the USA as we had lots of reserves. It is funny because the US remains one of the only countries in the Asia Pacific region where we don't have a Free Trade Agreement thanks to Donald Dump!

'' first thing I had to do on Christmas's morning ''..

Can you upload the series Dogfights please ?

Sacrifices made and make us still, woven into the fabric of who we are and one to another... just taken for granted. This is how we lose ourselves to vulnerability.

The Germans had the best tanks of the war...the reason they lost is because they were so massively outnumbered

I loved watching these growing up but now when I watch it makes me mad how they trashed the Sherman’s armor yes it was 51mm thick but it was sloped! Which made it significantly better

I have been to Ortona

Where was the air power. In these films they seem to be nowhere in sight.

Churchill The House should, I think, take formal cognisance of the liberation of Rome by the Allied Armies under the Command of General Alexander, with General Clark of the United States Service and General Oliver Leese in command of the Fifth and Eighth Armies respectively. Hansard LIBERATION OF ROME: LANDINGS IN FRANCE HC Deb 06 June 1944 on line

My Dad was a Canadian vet ,im afraid i don't know much about what he did .I do know he saw Holland and Paris

Tanks look like giant war animals. Easy to forget there is grown men inside

Of course the British need rescue.

Nova Scotia always at the tip of the Canadian spear.

My italian grandfather as always blamed himself to not been able to kill not even a single canadian or aussie in those times :D lol

omg.this map is on world of tank

Oh man, is your tank analysis seriously flawed.

1:40 Brazilian tank!?

Knowing nothing about ballistics or how tanks/ guns/explosives work: in the beginning when they give the stats of the two tanks, they both have 75 mm guns. And yet the Canadians' was low velocity and the Germans' was high velocity. So I guess my questions are: how and why? Lol

The truly great, being just human like the rest of us, sometimes make truly big mistakes. I admire and rspect the history of the US military but I'm painfully awware of their very human mistakes, gigantic blunders and errrors with costly human casualties and yes, sometimes disgraceful actions. Not all of that dark side but much of it is due to following political pressure, as the law dictates the military bends to the idiots called politicians, who have a knack of making conflict and war much worse and at a higher human cost, friend and foe, than what the military itself would do to make it as fast and brief as possible. Political convenience and "compassion" is infinitely worse than any bloody military action. Not letting the Canadians go first into Rome and not publicly recognizing their amazing sacrifice was wrong and totally disgraceful. As America has done to be called great, we must learn from such dark mistakes and not repeat them. We must also remember how the present Canadian government and activists have totally betrayed the exemplary lives and immense courage of these brave WWII Canadian soldiers. Thanks be to God, that that spirit lives on in brave Canadians like Jordan Peterson who fight against the Anti-Culture Marxist Barbarian Armies, who know use Perception Manipulation and Media Propaganda and Compulsive Guilt Gaslighting against true freedom. Honor those brave Canadians!! Fight we must!!

Man if we could only set aside the video game stuff we could have more of the facts and interviews

Where is Nick Danger to tell everyone it was really America that did it all?

And Churchill was telling this the soft underbelly of Europe. Luckily there was Anzio…

Yet the Canadians dodged the D-Day landing, if that was any comforting.

The m4 Sherman was a good tank for late 1942 standards and it was good against panzer 4 g or h there were tiger tanks but not that many in 1944 with the appearance of the panther tanks in large numbers the m4 started to become outdated and underguned

The Germans had to cancel Operation Citadel to transfer 1/5th of the Eastern Front to meet the Allied Invasion, hastening the end all the much quicker. Had their been NO Allied threat, the Eastern Front may have gone on a LOT longer!!!

Yalk about being Stabbed in the back ! Gen. Mark Clark What a Glory Hound ! Getting the Canadians to pull back so the Americans can get the glory ! >_

marcus aurelius clarkus was all about himself taking rome became his persoal goal.