An Unfortunate Region - Italy travelguide part 3

Italy and the Great War:
A travel Guide (part 3)

Kaiserjäger Museum Innsbruck, Mt. Grappa, Mt. Tomba, Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Feltre, Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Quero, French Memorial / Ossuary of Pederobba, Lavarone, Austro-Hungarian Command Center, Slaghenauf Soldatenfriedhof, Werk Gschwent, Col di Lana (Blood Mountain).

Introduction
Having spend two holidays in this very interesting World War One front in 2001 and 2005 (see Italy and the Great War: a travel guide part 1 and part 2) we decided to visit once more some Italian battlefields before age prevents us from walking up these mountains!

The tour
This 2006 trip came in the form of a 14 days roundtrip starting in Germany (to visit the Bayerisches Armee Museum at Ingolstadt near Munich), Austria (Kaiserjäger Museum Innsbruck), Italy, Switzerland (Swiss Air Force Museum at Zurich) and France (see Vosges Travel guide part 2).
We spent 7 days in Italy this time. Our base for this tour was Roncegno (east of Trento, on the N47). Roncegno is half way between the larger towns of Levico Terme and Borgo Valsugana which are both excellent bases of operations as well. From here Mt. Grappa, Mt. Tomba, Lavarone and the interesting cities of Trento, Verona and Venice are within reach. We also visited Col di Lana, but that was a mistake (see below under 6).

For Travel advice, Before we start... and The Italian War in general please see Part 1 of the Italian travel guide.
For this tour the Touring Club Italiano map 'Trentino Alto Adige' (1:200.000) is the map to have. Once you are in the general area for your visit you will need the Kompass (1:50.000) series maps like #101 Rovereto - Monte Pasubio (for Lavaronne), #78 Altopiano dei Sette Comuni (Mt. Grappa) and #55 Cortina d' Ampezzo (Col di Lana) which are sold locally at gas stations and the like. There is also a Kompass 1:25.000 series. The placed mentioned in this article are also shown on this map (follow link).

1: Kaiserjäger Museum Innsbruck
Coming from The Netherlands we went through Germany and Austria to get to Italy, passing the Austrian town of Innsbruck. We made a small detour by visiting the Kaiserjäger Museum. It is located on Berginsel next to the ramp for ski-jumping. This well signposted. The museum is small but has some excellent displays and a large collection of paintings concerning the Great War. It gets points deducted though because photography is not allowed. We hate that especially when nothing like a museum guide or postcards are sold in the shop, as is the case here.

Kaiserjäger Museum, Innsbruck, Austria

The museum is in a park with several impressive statues, some of which are Great War related.

Kaiser Franz Joseph I (1830-1916)

A week in Italy means for us that we have 4 days to visit Great War related sites. The remainder are rest days or days when something cultural is done. From Roncegno the towns of Trento, Venice or Verona (Roman arena) are within reach.

2: Mt. Tomba (868 meters)
An easy day today. From Rocegno take the N47, turning onto the N50 just before Enego towards Feltre. In Feltre take the N348 towards Quero. Keep your eyes open for the sign for Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Feltre (follow link) on a roundabout just outside the town. The cemetery is in the E. outskirts of the town.
The town was an important German base when the 1917 Piave offensive was halted. The town and villages in the surrounding area contained many German burial sites. All were removed to Quero with the exception of Feltre.

Continue on the N348 towards Quero, turn right towards the town center and keep your eyes open for the sign to the right for Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Quero (follow link). If you only want to visit one cemetery during this trip this should be the one. It contains casualties from surrounding cemeteries which were cleared from 1936 onwards. A very unusual cemetery, looking like a fortress on its mount. The interior also represents a fortress and a trench. The cemetery was dedicated on 25 May 1939 and clearly shows the Nazi architecture of that time. It includes for example a German Eagle which clearly has its feet tempered with. Probably a Swastika used to be there.

Mosaic of mourning soldiers at Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Quero

Continue on the N348 towards Pederobba. Turn right towards Pederobba and park in the verge. You now should be on the right of the Large French Memorial / Ossuary of Pederobba (follow link). If you have driven too far park in front of the memorial and after your visit turn around. The N348 can be very busy so take care when performing this maneuver! The ossuary contains among others casualties from the French ('Chasseurs des Alpes') offensive of Dec. 1917 to dislodge the Germans from Mt. Tomba (see below).

Drive through Pederobba in the direction of Cavaso di Tomba. Just after the hamlet of Vipago turn right towards Mt. Tomba. It is possible to drive to the summit. On the way you will pass several memorials commemorating the battles for Mt. Tomba. Park on the parking space near the flagpoles on the summit. In regards to remains we have to admit admit that these are sparse here. On the parking face the flagpoles en turn ¼ to your left. Follow this footbath for a few hundred meters until under the summit. This face of the summit shows what looks like shallow trench remains. Walk back, visit the small memorial on the summit (with damaged sign, 2006) and visit the church. Next to the church is an information panel in Italian, German and English.

Battle for Mt. Tomba

Memorial at the side of the road towards Mt. Tomba summit

Summit of Mt. Tomba with parking in the forground

Both Mt. Tomba and Mt. Grappa (see below) are not high compared to the other mountains visited in our Italian travels. But the Grappa range is the first elevation that is encountered when coming from the Venetian plain and they lie just after the river Piave. The Venetian plain was exactly where the Austro-Hungarians and Germans came from after their successful 12th Isonzo (Caporetto) offensive in November 1917 when the Italian army routed. However the Italian Army, especially the 4th Army, re-found itself when they reached the Grappa range. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans were stopped at the Piave and looked up against the Grappa range: it had to be taken as to break Italy completely. The Italians on their part reinforced these mountains for their last stand with Alpini and Bersaglieri troops that came from the Dolomites fronts.
A direct attack on Mt. Grappa was out of the question due to the natural fortress constructed just under the summit of Mt. Grappa. The attack had to be made over the eastern and western flanks. The southeastern objective was the Mt. Tomba - Monferena crest line. From its 868 meters the Piave river and its trenches were in full sight. A strategic position to have.

Austro-Hungarians, Bosnian and German troops captured the crest in November 1917. One of the soldiers involved was the young Lieutenant Erwin Rommel.
On 30 December 1917 the French 47th Div. of Chasseurs des Alpes went into action with three battalions against two Austro-Hungarian mountain brigades of the 50th Division which had recently replaced the German Jäger troops. The French used a gathering of 450 French, Italian and British guns for their barrage on a 4 km wide front. Normal numbers for the Western Front in France and Flanders but an unheard of number in the mountains of Italy. They bombarded the Austro-Hungarians from the crest and took the position within an hour. French casualties were less then 250, the Austro-Hungarians had 500 dead and 1.400 were taken prisoner.

3: Monferena
Get back to your car and follow the road towards Possagno. Keep your eyes open for a sign in a bend in the road pointing towards 'Galleria 1915-18'. This is Monferena. Park your car and follow the footpath. It leads to a memorial church (Chiesa di S. Sebastiano), a trench which looks rather artificial and something that looks like an (air?) mortar being fixed as artillery piece. There is an underground gallery but this is closed and can only be visited with a guide. At the entrance of the gallery there is an explanation sign.

Trench (?) on Monferena

The site also has a viewing platform where trees have been cut down to give you a view over the Piave river. This extended view was the reason for the hard fighting on Mt. Tomba and Monferena.

Piave river seen from Monfenera

The Austro-Hungarians retook the western slopes of Mt. Tomba in March 1918 with several other nearby mountains. They prepared for an attack against Mt. Grappa itself to finish Italy off.

Through Possagno and Pederobba get back on the N348 and head towards home the same route you came.

4: Mt. Grappa (1.775 meters)
From Roncegno take the N47 towards Bassano del Grappa and there take the N141 towards Mt. Grappa. In a bend in the road the memorial/sign to the Gallerie Osservatorio can be seen. Park here.

On the N141 towards Mt. Grappa summit

Observation gallery on the approach to the summit of Mt. Grappa

Continue towards the summit of Mt. Grappa (Rifugio Bassano, #3 on Mt. Grappa map below). Park at the parking (#4).

Mt. Grappa map showing the different sites

Just before the parking you will pass the Caserne Milano which houses a small Museum (#1) dedicated to the fighting on Mt. Grappa. Entrance is free. Parking spaces here are very limited and the large parking space on the summit can fill up rapidly in weekends and during Italian holidays. It is therefore best to find a space in the large parking area (#4) first and walk to the museum.

Caserne Milano which houses the Mt. Grappa museum

Take your time visiting the memorials, ossuary (#20) and artillery caverns (#7-14).

Italian Ossuary (follow link) on Mt. Grappa (#20 on map)

Italian 149 mm 149/13 field gun on the Via Eroica

In March 1918 an Austro-Hungarian offensive took several mountains East and North of Mt. Grappa Mt. Fontanasecca, Mt Pertica and northwestern slopes of Monte Tomba. Then they paused to contemplate their next move.
On the 15th of June 1918, Austria's final offensive began on three areas of the Italian Front. One of these, 'Operation Albrecht', centered on the Grappa-Piave area. There were three fronts which influenced the fighting for Mt. Grappa. First the fighting on the Grappa range itself, then the fighting along the Piave river (east of Mt. Grappa) and on the Asiago plateau (west of Mt. Grappa). The last two could make it possible to cut the defenders on the crest off from their own lines. Austrian gas shells, accompanied with high explosive rounds rained on the Grappa-Piave line in the opening barrage.
The offensive on Mt. Grappa itself went well for the Austro-Hungarians who finally captured the summit. However their assault along the Piave river was a disaster which made supplying the troops attacking Mt. Grappa difficult. In the end the Austro-Hungarians lost 35.000 soldiers on Mt. Grappa, the Italians defenders 14,000.

Memorial to three soldiers who died on Mt. Grappa

Hungarian monument on Mt. Grappa near the Austro-Hungarian Ossuary

Mt. Grappa: Italian 75 mm 75/27 M1906 field gun in cavern (#7-14 on map)

Walk from the Hungarian ossuary (#16) along the ridge towards the abandoned modern military site. Along these ridge trench remains can be seen.

Trench running along the ridge of Mt. Grappa

After having explored the top take the footpath which starts at the parking and which passes below the artillery caverns ('Sentiero Anello Cima Grappa'). This path splits towards the 'Croce dei Lebi' and 'Percorso dell' osservatorio'. We took the latter. This takes you past a ridge full of observation, Machine gun and artillery caverns and memorials such as one to the Italian 45th Battery Mountain Artillery.

Croce dei Lebi on the right, Percorso dell' Osservatorio on the left

Mt. Grappa: Observation gallery

Map showing the different sites on Percorso dell' Osservatorio

As can be seen on the map it is possible to make a round trip or you can turn around when the going gets too difficult. Head back towards Rifugio Bassano.

On 24 October 1918 the final battle for Mt. Grappa took place. Although it should have been an Italian diversionary attack for the main offensive on the upper Piave river but the fighting escalated with Austro-Hungary sending 6 divisions as reinforcements to the 9 that were already there. Both sides made use of elite formations to try and push the other off the summit. At high cost the Italians managed to capture Mt. Grappa once again. It was however on the Piave river that the war was decided and where Austro-Hungarian troops finally routed.

Head back to home the way you came.

5: Lavarone
The sites visited today are clearly marked on Kompass map #101 (Rovereto). It is difficult (but we will try) to describe the route in words since the roads in Lavarone form a circular route and are not numbered on the map. The 'main' route is the N349.
From Rocegno take the N47 towards Levico terme, turn to Caldonazzo and follow the signs for Bosentino. Continue on this road until it hits the N349. Turn left towards Carbonare. In Carbonare follow the signs for Virti. About 500 meters after Virti there is a large brown sign 'Altopiano Lavarone' on your right just before a sharp bend in the road (see below). Just drive past it and park in the verge on the left (where you see the car in the picture below).

The Lavarone area was the Austrian-Hungarian territory before the war and was a base for the war years 1915-1916. The three sites we will visit today reflect this.

When you have parked walk back where you came from. On your right there is a small sign (see below).

Follow the path which will take you in a few minutes to a former Austro-Hungarian Command Center located in a natural gorge. Chambers have been blown in the rock face on the left. At the end of the gorge there are remains of a building.

Austrian Command Center, Lavarone

Austrian Command Center, Lavarone

Continue on the road and turn left towards Bertoldi and again left towards the hamlet of Slaghenauf. This road ends in Slaghenauf. Park at the large parking and follow the signs for Slaghenauf Soldatenfriedhof (follow link). Slaghenauf contained a huge Austrian hospital during the war and the cemetery contains the burials of this cemetery.

Slaghenauf during the war

Note the original stones and that many of these are gunners of Fort (Werk) Gschwent which will be visited later.

Grave of Gunner Joh. Krenn
FS. A. BAON-6. Werk Gschwent
Died 15 April 1916

The Fort of Belverdere is well signposted as Werk Gschwent. Return to the junction and head towards Chiesa and further in the direction of Nosellari. Turn left towards Birti. A large parking is about 500 meters beyond the hamlet of Birti, it is a few minutes walk to the fort. The opening hours in 2006 are from Tuesday till Sunday 10.00-12.00 and 14.00-17.00 hrs. You can also check their website: http://www.fortebelvedere.org/. In 2006 this website was available in Italian and German only.