18 June: failed Italian attack at Forcella V.9 June: heavy combat on the Collinetta della Morte (Little Hill of Death) (Mesola sector).3 June: Austrian attack on the Mesolina.10 May – 9 July: Austrian-Hungarian Straf expedition against Italy.30 April: definitive occupation of Serauta by the Italians.Up until 17 April: the area of Serauta passes continually from Italian to Austrian control.8 April: first Italian occupation of Forcella Serauta.20 March: Austrians occupy Forcella Marmolada.21 February -18 December: Battle of Verdun.17 October – 20 December: failed Italian attempts to capture the Mesola.8 June: Italians capture Ombretta – Ombrettola sector.24 May: Italy goes to war against Austria-Hungary.2 May -27 June: Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow.22 March: Austrians surrender to Russians at the Przemlysl fort.7-21 January: Battle of the Masuri Lakes.20 December 1914 -10 March 1915: Battle of Champagne.30 October -24 November: Battle of Ypres.9-14 September: Battle of the Masuri Lakes.7 December: United States against Austria-Hungary.6 April: United States against Central Empires.6 November: France and Great Britain against Turkey.12 August: Great Britain against Austria-Hungary.10 August: France against Austria-Hungary.6 August: Austria-Hungary against Russia.4 August: Great Britain against Germany.
28 July: Austria-Hungary against Serbia.Silence returned to the eternal snows of the Marmolada. The massacre ended with the breakthrough at Caporetto (October 25th to November 10th, 1917): the Italians retreated to Grappa and Piave, and the Austrians abandoned their City of Ice. On the Marmolada, there were neither victors nor vanquished, only victims. He was rewarded for his actions with the Silver medal for Military Valour. Flavio Rosso captured the upper Austrian cavern on the eastern wall of the forcella. A platoon from the 51st infantry commanded by Lt. On September 21st, 1917, after 79 days of hard work, the last slab of rock fell through and a furious hand to hand battle ensued. The opposing sides were busy reinforcing their respective positions until July 4th, when the Italians, after repeated, fruitless and bloody attacks on the Forcella Vu, dug a tunnel through which they attacked and captured it once and for all. Third phase: from February to November 4th, 1917 The most disastrous slide, on December 13th, 1916, buried the labyrinthine barracks of the “Gran Poz”, causing the death of more than 300 Austrians. In March 1916, they took countless military and civilian Italian lives at Tabià Palazza, Malga Ciapèla and the Serrai di Sottoguda. There were colossal avalanches on both sides of the Marmolada. Leo Handl, an engineer, conceived the idea for “Eisstadt”, The City of Ice, to be built within the numerous crevices in the glacier, invisible to the enemy and protected from cannon fire: a combination of wooden barracks set up as dormitories, warehouses, meeting halls, infirmary, chapel, etc. Thus began an extensive war for position, with the additional enemy called General Winter.
On May 2nd, Italians occupied the summit “Quota 3065”, beating back the Austrians on Forcella Vu, a position of fundamental strategic importance for control of the ice. On April 30th, 1916, Alpines from the 7th and infantrymen from the 51st took the Austrian outpost on Forcella Serauta (2875) after a frontal attack. The Italian troops dug in on Forcella Serauta (2875) and at the Summit “Quota 3065” with a stronghold of the 51st infantry division, Alpine battalion (“Alpi”), but they were soon evicted by an Austrian counteroffensive. The Austrians occupied Forcella Marmolada (2910), Punta Penia (3343), Punta Rocca (3259), Sass delle Undici (2792, “U” Stellung), Sass delle Dodici (2720, “D” Stellung) and Forcella Vu (“Vesura” Scharte). Second phase: from March,1916, to February 1917Ī peculiar military dynamic developed after the discovery of the Marmolada. This period was marked by wartime activities concentrated on the mountain chains parallel to Mounts Padon (2511) and Mesola (2536) to the North in between were Costabella (2759), Cima Uomo (3003) and Passo Ombretta (2704).
The war manoeuvres in Marmolada can be separated in to three timeframes.įirst phase: from May 24, 1915, to spring 1916