Halvor Taralson
Private
who died on March 15, 1944.
Service Number: M/105953
Age: 20
Force: Army
Regiment: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry,
R.C.I.C.
Unit: N/A
Citation: N/A
Additional
Information: Son of Halvor and Tone Taralson, of Franchere, Alberta.
Honours and Awards: N/A
Commemorated on Page 458 of the
Second
World War Book of Remembrance.
Burial Information:
Cemetery:
MORO RIVER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY
Italy
Grave Reference: XI. E. 9.

MORO RIVER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY
Location: The Moro River
Canadian War Cemetery lies in the locality of San Donato in the Commune of
Ortona, Province of Chieti, and is sited on high ground near the sea just east
of the main Adriatic coast road (SS16). The cemetery can be reached from Rome on
the autostrada A25 (Rome-Pescara) by branching on the autostrada A14 and leaving
it at Ortona. The approach road to the cemetery from the main road passes under
an arch forming part of the little church of San Donato. The cemetery is
permanently open and may be visited anytime.
By the winter of 1943, the German armies in Italy were defending a line stretching from the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Naples, to the Adriatic Sea south of Ortona. The Allies prepared to break through this line to capture Rome. For its part, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was to cross the Moro River and take Ortona. In January 1944 the Canadian Corps selected this site, intending that it would contain the graves of those who died during the Ortona battle and in the fighting in the weeks before and after it. Today, there are 1,615 graves in the cemetery, of which over 50 are unidentified and 1, 375 are Canadian.