WITH BRITISH GUNS IN ITALY A TRIBUTE TO ITALIAN ACHIEVEMENT

WITH BRITISH GUNS IN ITALYA TRIBUTE TO ITALIANACHIEVEMENT BY HUGH DALTON SOMETIME LIEUTENANT IN THE ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY WITH 12 ILLUSTRATIONS AND 3 MAPS First Published in 1919 TO THE HIGH CAUSE OF ANGLO-ITALIAN FRIENDSHIP AND UNDERSTANDING "Nella primavera si combatte e si muore, o soldato." M. PUCCINI, Dal Carso al Piave. "So they gave their bodies to the commonwealth and received, each for his own memory, praise that will never die, and with it the grandest of all sepulchres; not that in which their mortal bones are laid, but a home in the minds of men, where their glory remains fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion comes by. For the whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men; and their story is not graven only on stone over their native earth, but lives on far away, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men`s lives." Funeral Speech of Pericles. "Dying here is not death; it is flying into the dawn." MEREDITH, Vittoria. PREFACE So far as I know, no British soldier who served on the Italian Front has yet published a book about his experiences. Ten British Batteries went to Italy in the spring of 1917 and passed through memorable days. But their story has not yet been told. Nor, except in the language of official dispatches, has that of the British Divisions which went to Italy six months later, some of which remained and took part in the final and decisive phases of the war against Austria. Something more should soon be written concerning the doings of the British troops in Italy, for they deserve to stand out clearly in the history of the war. This little book of mine is only an account, more or less in the form of a Diary, of what one British soldier saw and felt, who served for eighteen months on the Italian Front as a Subaltern officer in a Siege Battery. But it was my luck to see a good deal during that time. Mine had been the first British Battery to come into action and open fire on the Italian Front. And, as my story will show, it was either the first or among the first on most other important occasions, except in the Caporetto retreat, and then it was the last. I have camouflaged the names of all persons mentioned throughout the book, except those of Cabinet Ministers, Generals and a few other notabilities. For permission to reproduce photographs, I wish to thank the representatives in London of the Italian State Railways (12 Waterloo Place, S.W.), and my friend and brother officer, Mr Stuart Osborn. H. D. LONDON, February 1919 CONTENTS PREFACE PART I INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER I THE ANGLO-ITALIAN TRADITION AND ITALY`S PART IN THE WAR PART II SOME EARLY IMPRESSIONS CHAPTER II FROM FOLKESTONE TO VENICE CHAPTER III FROM VENICE TO THE ISONZO FRONT CHAPTER IV THE WAR ON THE ISONZO FRONT CHAPTER V PALMANOVA CHAPTER VI AQUILEIA AND GRADO CHAPTER VII A GRAMOPHONE AND A CHAPLAIN ON THE CARSO CHAPTER VIII A FRONT LINE RECONNAISSANCE CHAPTER IX AN EVENING AT GORIZIA CHAPTER X A CEMETERY AT VERSA CHAPTER XI UDINE CHAPTER XII THE BRITISH AND THE ITALIAN SOLDIER CHAPTER XIII I JOIN THE FIRST BRITISH BATTERY IN ITALY PART III THE ITALIAN SUMMER OFFENSIVE, 1917 CHAPTER XIV THE OFFENSIVE OPENS CHAPTER XV WE SWITCH OUR GUNS NORTHWARD CHAPTER XVI THE FALL OF MONTE SANTO CHAPTER XVII THE CONQUEST OF THE BAINSIZZA PLATEAU CHAPTER XVIII THE FIGHTING DIES DOWN CHAPTER XIX A LULL BETWEEN TWO STORMS PART IV THE ITALIAN RETREAT AND RECOVERY CHAPTER XX THE BEGINNING OF THE ENEMY OFFENSIVE CHAPTER XXI FROM THE VIPPACCO TO SAN GIORGIO DI NOGARA CHAPTER XXII FROM SAN GIORGIO TO THE TAGLIAMENTO CHAPTER XXIII FROM THE TAGLIAMENTO TO TREVISO CHAPTER XXIV THOUGHTS AFTER THE DISASTER CHAPTER XXV FERRARA, ARQUATA AND THE CORNICE ROAD CHAPTER XXVI REFITTING AT FERRARA PART V A YEAR OF RESISTANCE AND OF PREPARATION CHAPTER XXVII IN STRATEGIC RESERVE CHAPTER XXVIII THE FIRST BRITISH BATTERY UP THE MOUNTAINS CHAPTER XXIX THE ASIAGO PLATEAU CHAPTER XXX SOME NOTES ON NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS CHAPTER XXXI ROME IN THE SPRING CHAPTER XXXII THE FIFTEENTH OF JUNE, 1918 CHAPTER XXXIII IN THE TRENTINO CHAPTER XXXIV SIRMIONE AND SOLFERINO CHAPTER XXXV THE ASIAGO PLATEAU ONCE MORE PART VI THE LAST PHASE CHAPTER XXXVI THE MOVE TO THE PIAVE CHAPTER XXXVII THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST BATTLE CHAPTER XXXVIII ACROSS THE RIVER CHAPTER XXXIX LIBERATORI CHAPTER XL THE COMPLETENESS OF VICTORY CHAPTER XLI IN THE EUGANEAN HILLS CHAPTER XLII LAST THOUGHTS ON LEAVING ITALY LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Italian Troops Crossing a Snowfield in the Trentino Railway Bridge over the Isonzo Wrecked by Austrian Shell Fire Italian Mule Transport on the Carso No. 3 Gun of the First British Battery in Italy Casa Girardi and Italian Huts Some of Our Battery Huts near Casa Girardi The Eastern Portion of The Asiago Plateau Road Behind Our Battery Position Leading to Pria Dell` Acqua Chapel at San Sisto and Italian Graves Huts on a Mountain Side in the Trentino ... - tailieumienphi.vn