Christmas 1943 - the 2nd New Zealand Division’s first Christmas in Italy

 

Natale 1943 - il primo Natale in Italia per la 2^ Divisione neozelandese

Nel dicembre 1943, la Linea Gustav sul fronte adriatico continuava a tenere. I Canadesi non riuscivano a sfondarla ad Ortona, mentre i Neozelandesi cercavano invano di prendere Orsogna. Giunse Natale, ma la guerra non si fermava. Il tempo era infame – un mondo di acqua, fango e gelo – che rendeva quasi impossibile ogni spostamento. La Divisione dovette utilizzare i muli per portare avanti i rifornimenti. Per Capodanno sarebbe arrivata la neve.

Le due Brigate di fanteria si alternavano al fronte. Toccò alla 5^ Brigata (due battaglioni alla volta, con la terza in riserva) a tenere la linea quel 25 dicembre del 1943. La Brigata era stazionata sopra il Sangro attorno a Castelfrentano, mentre la 6^ Brigata si trovava a sud del Sangro dalle parti di Atessa.

In qualche modo, in giorni e orari diversi, celebrarono il Natale con un ricco pranzo. Furono distribuiti pacchi dono ad ogni uomo, detti “pacchi patriottici”, e razioni extra di birra. I soldati semplici venivano servito a tavola dai loro ufficiali. Per quelli alloggiati presso le famiglie italiane, fu un’esperienza da non dimenticare. Questi giovani dell’altra parte del mondo non avevano mai conosciuto un Natale invernale. Con la neve alle porte, i camini accesi, il vino, e i canti italiani fu un’esperienza memorabile, anche in tempi di guerra. Il Natale rappresentò una piccola finestra di quasi-normalità, e soprattutto di umanità, nel panorama desolante della guerra.

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Castelfrentano on its ridge, seen from the south

The men of the 2nd New Zealand Division celebrated Christmas 1943 (though not all on 25/12) on the Sangro in Abruzzo. It was a Christmas they would not easily forget, not only for the intense cold, but for the warmth and friendliness they found inside the Italian homes. Whatever their Christmas, it was celebrated in the spirit of sharing. Where they were not billeted with families (the houses occupied were often empty), they made their own merriment, and braved the weather to go calling. The army cooks, to all accounts, produced  excellent Christmas meals, which some enjoyed on Christmas eve, some at lunch or supper time on the 25th, and others, days before or later. This brief conviviality, and the Christmas treats, provided a welcome respite from the rigours of manning the line. Those in reserve had time to enjoy the luxuries of a proper wash, a shave, and a change of clothes, and they could all sit down to a full meal, served at a table by their own officers. This was a rare treat. For a few hours or days, they could feel human again. By New Year’s Day there was a metre of snow on the ground and rumours of a move were in the air.

On December 20, just when the Canadians reached Ortona on the coast, the Division launched a new offensive towards Orsogna, Operation ULYSSES, attacking first the Fontegrande Ridge then the Magliano Ridge. The weather was foul, and the German defences were unyielding, but military operations do not stop for Christmas. The men of 5 Brigade were no doubt very glad to be relieved on the Orsogna front, by 6 Brigade on 25 December.

Sixth Brigade was stationed around Castelfrentano, north of the Sangro. In the official record of 26 Battalion, the Battalion diarist, Frazer Norton writes: “26 Battalion assembled in Castelfrentano itself…The villagers, poorly clothed and hungry, gave the troops a warm welcome. Many of them had been forced by the Germans to work on the extensive fortifications… “

Mule trains in Castelfrentano, Christmas Day 1943 (DA-04938-F)

A New Zealand soldier and civilians outside his billet on the outskirts of Castelfrentano, January 1944 (DA-05085-F)

Sir Edward Puttick, in the official history of 25 Battalion, records that the battalion celebrated Christmas early, anticipating their imminent return to the front, enjoying its Christmas dinner on 23 December while in reserve (and well they did, as the battalion was back in the line on Christmas Eve). “A very good meal was provided, as in former years, from special rations supplemented by local supplies, fruit, and beer, while the issue of a Patriotic Fund parcel to every man and a large parcel mail provided additional delicacies and enhanced the Christmas atmosphere. In traditional fashion the officers waited on their men, and Brigadier Parkinson and Major Norman visited the troops at their meals.”

On Christmas Day, 24 Battalion was still on Brecciarola Ridge, but the Battalion was relieved that night and moved back to the Moro River line, expecting to go forward again on the 26th. Fortunately, this programme was changed and the whole Brigade began preparations for a delayed Christmas celebration. “A Christmas dinner (writes battalion historian R.M. Burdon) of turkey, pork, green peas, potatoes, and plum pudding, with two bottles of beer a head, was served to the men by officers and sergeants in traditional fashion. That night films were shown in a barn; but the interlude was brief indeed, and forty-eight hours later the battalion was back in the line—this time on Cemetery Ridge.”  

The weather was miserable and the whole scene one of desolation. By day the troops occupied houses and by night manned the slit trenches. Burdon goes on to say, “The mud and misery of an Italian winter were producing a certain amount of unavoidable sickness…” and quotes an ironic Christmas situation recorded by one of the men (Captain Borrie): ‘Today Padre is ill in bed with a temperature. He is lying in a manger, and there are 8 sheep, 2 lambs and 2 rabbits in the same room.’

The men of 20 Battalion & Armoured Regiment, which had moved up to Sfasciata Ridge on Christmas Eve in readiness for action. Not very happy with their lot, they made the best of the situation, as the regimental historian, D W. Sinclair, records: “Special services were held at Regimental Headquarters and in squadron areas, and parties braved the rain and chill winds to make calls and exchange greetings. An amazing array of food and drink had been accumulated, and a rum issue was added. All houses in the area were soon crowded with celebrating troops who shared their victuals with their bewildered but grateful civilian hosts and contrived a Christmas atmosphere which, despite occasional shelling and mortaring, soon blotted out all thoughts of war and weather.”

Meanwhile, Fifth Brigade, which was in reserve south of the Sangro, had a more relaxing and comfortable time, grouped around the small hilltop town of Atessa.  S.P. Llewellyn, in Journey Towards Christmas, the story of Ammunition Company, described Atessa as ‘a huddle of cold houses—cold and forbidding, that is, from the outside but within wonderfully warm and welcoming’ where the men passed a very jolly Christmas.  The party held on that bleak and icy Christmas Eve of 1943 was indeed memorable.

Central Atessa, seventy years later

The cathedral of Atessa

“Nowhere is the laughter louder or the company better than in the ‘Family and Naval’ (No. 3 Section's house of call) where old Italian Poppa…has fetched us his best red wine and is now making a speech, the audience applauding loudly whenever he says Buona fortuna (Good luck) or Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)—the two phrases they understand. Poppa's nut-cracker face is ready to split in half and fat Momma beams, too, and the daughters of the house, the cripple Nina and Alice whose husband is a prisoner of war, smile gently. Nicky, aged 16, has shining eyes for the soldiers.

… the two girls are singing an Italian love song in sweet, husky voices - ‘Ma L'Amore No’. The visitors bawl 'Maori Battalion’, bawl ‘Silent Night’. Poppa's asleep and snoring and the room gets hotter, mistier, noisier, spinning for some, for others rocking gently or floating loose in a gold cloud.

And next, or an hour later, everyone is outside in the cold and the sea of mud, lost and drunk, with the ‘Family and Naval’ hidden and the lorries hidden…” After such a Christmas Eve party, Christmas Day was a much quieter affair. “It rained on Christmas morning and the rest of the day was dull and cold, but we enjoyed it. We enjoyed the dinner and the Canadian beer, and the nuts, figs, and wine bought from regimental funds”. Not surprisingly, Boxing Day was a day of recovery before they returned to work on 27 December.

In any case, that Christmas on the Sangro, provided the New Zealand soldiers with their first real opportunity to mix with the civilian population, with whom they shared the hardships and privations of war in winter, but also a brief interlude of human warmth and gaiety.

Castelfrentano, New Year's Day 1944