“O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, Your branches green delight us.”

the Christmas tree is a universal symbol of rebirth, of light in the darkest time On December 25, 1943, the acrid smell of cordite hung over the rubble barricades of Ortona, Italy, where Canadians and Germans were engaged in grim hand-to-hand combat. Even amid the thunder of collapsing walls and the blinding dust and smoke darkening the alleys, the men of The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and The Loyal Edmonton Regiment were determined to celebrate Christmas.

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