Taking The Gully
In preparation for what he hoped would be the final attack on The Gully, Vokes shifted the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade to occupy positions formerly belonging to the 1st Brigade. Vokes planned for an attack by The Carleton and York Regiment to be the last of the frontal assaults against The Gully. Should this attack fail, the 1st Brigade's Seaforth Highlanders and the Royal Canadian Regiment would move through Casa Berardi and outflank German defences, forcing a withdrawal from The Gully.
At 07:30 on 15 December, two companies of the Carleton and York Regiment attacked. After little more than an hour of fighting, however, the Canadians were forced to call the attack off. In the afternoon, the two heavily depleted companies of the Royal 22e Régiment fought off a large German counterattack on Casa Berardi, with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery firing 5,398 rounds in support of Canadian forces.
On 18 December, Vokes planned what would be the largest assault on The Gully during the campaign. Beginning at 08:00, Canadian artillery would bombard a 900 m (3,000 ft) front, to a depth of 300 m (980 ft). Every five minutes, the barrage would move 100 m (110 yd) forward, continuing to pound German defences in the bombardment area. Less than 100 m behind this barrage, the 48th Highlanders would advance across the Ortona-Orsogna Lateral Road. At the same time, the 8th Indian Division would attack northward toward Crecchio, preventing German reinforcements from reaching The Gully. When the 48th Highlanders reached the Cider Crossroads, the Royal Canadian Regiment would move north, overrunning Cider itself, then advance up the Ortona-Orsogna road. Both battalions would be supported by tanks of The Three Rivers Regiment. At first, the attack went extremely well. However, when the artillery shifted their barrage, the German defences quickly recovered and their machine gun fire devastated the advancing forces. In C Company of the Royal Canadian Regiment, every platoon commander was killed or wounded. The attack was quickly abandoned.
On 20 December, Canadian forces tried again and The Royal Canadian Regiment attacked Cider Crossroads at noon. This time, Vokes was determined that the operation would be successful, with armoured forces of the Three Rivers Regiment moving to the start lines well before 07:00. Due to shortages of fuel and poor weather, H-Hour was postponed until 14:15. When H-Hour came, a powerful creeping barrage supported two companies of the Royal Canadian Regiment eastward. By evening, B Company controlled the Cider Crossroads, having met virtually no resistance in their advance to the objective. However, German forces had already evacuated The Gully, falling back to prepare for a strong defence of Ortona, with elements of the powerful 1st Parachute Division firmly entrenched in the town.
Read more about this topic: Moro River Campaign