Ortona Street Fight
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December 20, 1943. Two Canadian infantry battalions and a tank regiment stand poised on the outskirts of a small Italian port town. They expect to take Ortona quickly. But the German 1st Parachute Division has other ideas. For reasons unknown, Hitler has ordered Ortona held to the last man. Houses, churches and other buildings are dynamited, clogging the streets with rubble. Germans with machine guns lie in ambush. Snipers slip from one rooftop to another. The Canadians seem to have walked into a death trap. This is a battle fought at close range, often hand to hand. Casualties on both sides are heavy. In the end, raw courage and ingenuity save the Canadians.
This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for older teen readers and adults who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they donβt like to read!
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Formerly a journalist, Mark Zuehlke has been called the nation's leading popular military historian. He is also an award-winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise and won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. When not writing, Mark can often be found hiking, backpacking, cycling or tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse in Victoria, British Columbia. For more information, visit www.zuehlke.ca.
