Missed that post. Never read an English book about the Italian front and specificially the ferrate, so I can not recommend one. While I don't go mountaineering to explore military history you can easily combine it in some cases. Certain military roads and routes have become actually rather famous.Originally Posted by ganulv
I plan to get 'Storia della Grande Guerra sul fronte italiano', but only as a reference as I just don't have the time to read as much as I would like.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
Been meaning to get to this one, but haven't yet. The reviews look promising:
http://www.amazon.com/The-White-War-.../dp/0465020372
Thanks, Tequila. Just checked that one out from the local library.
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
There is actually very little in it about the 'White War' or the high-alpine front. For good reasons, one should add, as that area wasn't the Schwerpunkt of the war apart form the Austrian offensive also often called 'Strafexpedition' in Italian even if this wasn't the official Austrian name. Sounds suitably Germanic and can still be roughly correctly pronounced. I did download it for my tablet after the question and glanced over the book so far.
One of the most impressive aspects of the Dolimite front was the military engineering, especially from the Italians. The Strada delle 52 gallerie is worth a (bike) trip. Perhaps not so much know is the clever use of the cooling water for the rock drills, which were so incredibly important to 'drill in', to provide in some locations the troops with warm water in the barracks right against (or in) the walls.
Last edited by Firn; 08-10-2014 at 10:20 AM.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
I just wanted to add that the road itself is officially closed for bikes, but you still can get a great ride&walk trip. As so often there have been some guys which didn't respect the guys on foot and others which didn't pay enough attention. It is a bit of a shame for the mtb community, at least there are still great trails out there. Sadly the weather has been terrible so far this year.
Last edited by Firn; 08-10-2014 at 11:23 AM.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
In looking over Thompson’s book yesterday afternoon the thing that most jumped out at me was that 3x as many Italians died during WWI as during WWII. I had no idea.
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
The Italian Front in WW1
I have been to the region twice, once based in Italy and then years later based in Slovenia - a good part of the study tour was spent in the mountains.
I became aware that after the Italian collapse at Caporetto, corps sized British and French formations were sent as reinforcements. My local infantry regiment, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment were on the Asiago Plateau when attacked later. There is a UK historian who writes on this period, but being a Sunday my memory cannot recall him.
Rommel was there too, with his Alpine infantry unit and IIRC his WW1 memoirs are largely about his time on the Italian Front.
Italian losses were horrendous, partly as their leaders just kept on attacking and appear oblivious to learning any lessons.
The study tours enabled me to follow one of my interests, the study of military architecture since the advent of artillery via the Fortress Study Group:http://www.fsgfort.com/
davidbfpo
Just finished "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. First third was pure fun and educative too, second part dissapointment by author and his companion giving up, and third part even bigger dissapointment as they gave up again. But Mr. Bryson definately has a very readable style of writing. Now I got "Blackwater" from Eric Prince under way.
The contribution of allied troops in Italy is perhaps one of most neglected elements of the Great War from an 'Italian' perspective. The rise of fascism did more then it's share there through the instrumentalisation of the Great War and in addtion the allies of those years became the competitors and afterwards enemies in the next big thing. The most visible traces of fascist glorification can be seen on prominent hills or mountain tops along the front. In some cases a few 'ossari' were also built far away from it, close to the new border. The Italian Wikipedia offers a rather long article on those sites and their story.
It is more 2.5 IIRC, but higher then that percentage-wise.
Last edited by Firn; 08-11-2014 at 12:14 PM.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
The Human Face of War (Birmingham War Studies) by Jim Storr. For me so far a very insightful 'dense' read which takes more time then usual, which is a good sign. Got the kindle edition, which seems cheap for the value you get.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks