The story of the Battle of Ortona in the winter of 1943: the bloodiest, fiercest, most mysterious battle of the Italian campaign.

 

Why did the conquest of the little coastal town seem decisive to the outcome of the war? Why did the German Parachute Regiment defend it so fiercely, fighting Allied troops hand to hand, street by street, house by house, room by room? Why did General Montgomery ignore the battle in his memoirs? And, above all, who really won? For the first time we reveal the heroism and ferocity of the conflict and the truth behind an episode that serves as a moving parable on the inevitable stupidity of war.