B132646 Pte Frank Ostoupyz, born in Hamburg Germany, came to the 1st Battalion, 48th Highlanders in Italy, likely in the fall of 1943 as the battalion was advancing towards Ortona. His service number indicates he enlisted with another unit and would have been transferred to the 48th as a reinforcement. Pte Ostoupyz was wounded on 20 December 1943 in Operation Morning Glory, a brilliant set-piece advance on the road leading to the town of Ortona.
A brief summary of that battle is below:
Four attempts by the division to cross a ravine named The Gully, beyond the La Torre–San Leonardo line, had failed. Now the 48th and RCR were to swing behind the division, and strike northeast toward Ortona along the north side of The Gully. Zero hour was 0800 hours, 18 December for the 48th and the 1st Brigade’s first set-piece battle of the war. It would be text-book in execution and in artillery-infantry-tank integration. The Highlanders would attack in Y-formation, Dog left, Able right, Charlie following, then the CO “reading the battle” perched on his jeep, then Baker. A World War I barrage commenced: pre-bombardment of twenty minutes, then forty batteries, lifting in 100 metre intervals every five minutes for 1,000 metres, a total of 23,000 shells. They rose as one, NCOs and officers leading, field-arm signals directing, eyes alert, ears deafened and the discipline of the last three years moving them forward. The lead companies passed and cleared smashed-in trenches, firing Brens from the hip, always in control. Behind them, Charlie was fighting as if in the lead as by-passed enemy rose to resist. Serious pockets still remained for Baker to silence. They kept tight to the barrage, trusting to the forward direction of each blast, control in evidence when one lift was late, holding then moving again with discipline. Everything was on time; they were in place and consolidated by 1100 hours. Colonel Johnston was awarded the DSO, which he accepted for “the body of men whose deeds have won the award.”
In the early afternoon the brigade set out to repeat the set-piece with the RCR. It met disaster. The barrage was wrongly sited due to inaccurate maps and lack of time for pre-siting. The RCR lost their commanding officer, second-in-command, two company commanders and all but about a dozen men in each of D and C Companies, a sobering end to a day that had started so brilliantly.
For the next two days the 48th expanded their position, advancing to Cider Crossroads and securing the position for the attack on Ortona to follow.
It was on the 20th, the last day of the consolidation, that Pte Ostoupyz was wounded and struck of strength and sent to hospital.
Service records required for the other periods of service.