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Six months on the Italian front cover

Six months on the Italian front

Chapter 12: CHAPTER X
By Julius M. Price
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About This Book

A war-artist correspondent records six months spent with the Italian army at the front, blending travel notes, illustrated sketches, and immediate battlefield reportage. He describes movement from major cities to frontline towns, dealings with military authorities and press censorship, everyday life under mobilisation, the challenges of mountain and Adriatic sectors, aerial raids on urban centres, and the logistical and tactical preparations that preceded assaults culminating in the capture of Gorizia. The narrative interweaves descriptive vignettes of trenches, troop movements, medical and supply work, and portraits of leadership and soldiery, offering vivid, on-the-spot impressions rather than technical strategic analysis.

CHAPTER X

Belluno—Venadoro in the heart of the Dolomites—A fine hotel—Tame excursions—Visit to Cortina d’Ampezzo—Austrian attempts to recapture it—305mm. guns on the Schluderbach—Long range bombardment—Austrian women and children in the town—Italians capture Monte Cristallo—Aeroplanes and observation balloons impossible here—Tofana in hands of Italians—Serenity of garrison—Cortina d’Ampezzo—General invites us to a déjeuner—Living at Venadoro—Delightful camaraderie—Evenings in the big saloon—From Belluno to Gemona—Description of Front in this Sector—Our excursion to Pal Grande—The road—On mules up the mountain—A warning—Rough track—Peasant women carrying barbed wire up to the trenches—Pay of the women—Much competition for “vacancies”—The climb from Pal Piccolo to Pal Grande—A wonderful old man—“Some” climb—The entrenched position on Pal Grande—Spice of danger—Violent artillery duel—The noise of the passing shells—Magnificent view—Timau—The Freikoffel—Its capture by the Alpini—Wounded lowered by ropes—Capture of Pal Grande—Presence of mind of a doctor—A telling incident—Extraordinary enthusiasm of the troops—Food convoys—The soldier’s menu—Daily rations—Rancio; the plat du jour—Officers mess arrangements—An al fresco lunch on Pal Grande—The “mess-room”—“Pot Luck”—A wonderful meal—A stroll round the position—An improvised bowling alley—Use is second nature—In the trenches—A veteran warrior—The pet of the position—Gemona—The list of lodgings—My landlady—Good restaurants in Gemona—The Alpini quartered there—The military tatoo in the evenings—Reception by the Mayor—A delightful week.