Forum Eerste Wereldoorlog

[AOK4]

In mei trok ik met een goeie vriend en zijn vriendin naar Noord-Italië (Monte Grappa, Bassano del Grappa en de omgeving van Asiago) om daar één en ander te bezoeken.
Ik heb een aantal foto's op het net geplaatst: http://foto.telenet.be/1091945899

[vetje]

mooi mooi

[Merlijn]

*pakt to do lijst*
Daar moeten we dus ook nog heen

[AOK4]

Echt behoorlijk de moeite, die verschillende bergen en forten. Er zijn momenteel grootse werken daar aan de gang (o.m. de heraanleg van dat Italiaans kerkhof, waarbij ze op menselijke resten stootten) in het kader van 2007, 2008 of was het nog een ander jaar, alleszins een zoveel-jarig "jubileum" van de gevechten daar. Ik zou eens moeten kijken in mijn foto's, heb een foto genomen van de gegevens van dat project. Ze kijken er alleszins niet voor op een euro...

[Yvonne]

Mooi, mooi, mooi!
Dit gaat op m'n verlanglijstje.
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Met hart en ziel
De enige echte

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[Patrick Mestdag]

Bedankt om die foto's met ons te delen Jan
want er zijn hier op het Forum een aantal
fervente Isonzo Fans die dat zullen weten te waarderen .

Verdorie heb je die Pizza volledig verorberd
grote honger na al dat klimmen zekers ?





@+
Patrick
_________________
Verdun ….papperlapapp! Louis Fernand Celine
Ein Schlachten war’s, nicht eine Schlacht zu nennen“ Ernst Junger .
Oublier c'est trahir ! marechal Foch

[AOK4]

Die pizza was niets, die wijn en lemoncello waren een ander paar mouwen...

[Fedor]

Indrukwekkend. Wist niet dat daar zoveel britten gesneuveld waren.

Waar ligt e.e.a?

[Hauptmann]

[Tandorini]

The Battle of Asiago (Battle of the Plateaux) or the Trentino Offensive (in Italian: Battaglia degli Altipiani), nicknamed Strafexpedition ("Punitive expedition") by the Austrians, was a counteroffensive launched by the Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front on May 15, 1916, during World War I. It was an unexpected attack that took place near Asiago in the province of Vicenza (now in northeast Italy, then on the Italian side of the border between the Kingdom of Italy and Austria-Hungary) after the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo (March 1916).



The remaining alpine vegetation after the attack on Asiago.

Background
Already for some time the Austrian commander-in-chief, General Conrad von Hötzendorf, had been proposing the idea of a Strafexpedition that would lethally cripple the Italian ex-ally, claimed to be guilty of having betrayed the Triple Alliance, and in previous years he had had the frontier studied in order to formulate studies with regard to a possible invasion.

The problem had appeared to be serious, mostly because the frontier ran through high mountains and the limited Italian advances of 1915 had worsened the situation and excluded a great advance beyond the valleys of Valsuganaand Val Lagarina (both connected by railway) and the plateaus of Lavarone, Folgaria and Asiago.

The geographic location of the routes of advance was condusive to the original plan which called for an advance from Trent to Venice, isolating the Italian 2nd and 3rd Armies who were fighting on the Isonzo and the Italian 4th Army who was defending the Belluno region and the eastern Trentino.

The preparations for the battle began in December 1915, when Conrad von Hötzendorf proposed to his German opposite number, General Erich von Falkenhayn, shifting divisions from the Eastern Front in Galicia to the Tyrol, substituting them with German divisions. After having received a negative reply from the German, who refused the proposed replacement and actively tried to discourage the Austro-Hungarian proposed attack, Conrad von Hötzendorf decided to operate autonomiously. The 11th Austro-Hungarian Army, under the command of Count Victor Dankl, would carry out the offensive followed by the 3rd Army under Hermann Kovess.

It was not so easy, however, because the Italians had deployed in the area about 250,000 troops (General Brusati's First Army and part of the Fourth Army). Hötzendorf had asked Germany for help, but his request was denied because Germany was not yet at war with Italy (which would declare war on Germany three months later), and because redeploying German units on the Italian Front would have diminished German offensive capability against Russia.

Italian intelligence had been gathering information about an impending enemy offensive in Trentino — and a big one — for about a month, but Cadorna dismissed those reports, persuaded as he was that nothing could happen in that region.

Battle
On May 15, 2,000 Austrian artillery guns opened a heavy barrage against the Italian lines, setting Trentino afire. The Austrian infantry attacked along a 50km front. The Italian wings stood their ground, but the center yielded, and the Austrians broke through, reaching the beginning of the Venetian plain. With Vicenza about 30 km away, all the Italian forces on the Isonzo faced outflanking.

Cadorna hastily sent reinforcements to the First Army, and deployed the newly formed Fifth Army to engage the enemy in case they succeeded in entering the plain. The situation was critical.

However, on June 4, the Russians unexpectedly took the initiative in Galicia, where they managed to enter Austrian soil. Although they were effectively countered by German troops, Hötzendorf was forced quickly to withdraw half of his divisions from Trentino. With that, the Strafexpedition could no longer be sustained and the Austrians retired from many of their positions. Italian troops in the region were increased to 400,000 to counter the Austrian positions.

Although the Strafexpedition had been checked, it had political consequences in Italy: the Salandra Cabinet fell, and Paolo Boselli became the new Prime Minister.

http://www.enotes.com/topic/Battle_of_Asiago

[Yvonne]

Asiago June 15th 1918, revisited
Armed with maps, war diary entries and as much material as we could carry, I set off with Rocco to find Harry's location on the day of the Austrian attack, 15th June 1918.

http://wwar1.blogspot.com/2009/09/asiago-june-15th-1918-revisited.html
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[Yvonne]

Casualties and losses
Italian:

140,000 casualties (12,000 dead, 80,000 wounded, 50,000 taken prisoner)

Austria-Hungary
100,000 casualties (15,000 dead, 75,000 wounded, 15,000 missing and taken prisoner)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Asiago
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Met hart en ziel
De enige echte

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[Tandorini]

Nog foto's, de foto's staan onder copyright. Heb gevraagd om één foto te plaatsen en dan de link, kreeg enkel toestemming om de link te plaatsen. Dus bij deze:

Clicca qui

Hier een beetje naar beneden scrollen, dan vindt je een kaartje van de bunkers, loopgraven en tunnels op de Monte Grappa (klikken op het kaartje):

Clicca qui