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Austro-Hungarian soldiers marching through a city, their officers bawling orders. Women and a child watch and talk, possibly shouting to be heard over the marching feet. An original watercolor on blue paper, signed W. Rittermann or Pittermann, December 26, 1915.

Austro-Hungarian soldiers marching through a city, their officers bawling orders. Women and a child watch and talk, possibly shouting to be heard over the marching feet. An original watercolor on blue paper, signed W. Rittermann or Pittermann, December 26, 1915.

Image text

signed W. Rittermann or Pittermann, December 26, 1915.

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Thursday, October 21, 1915

"When the Italians moved out of their trenches on the 21st, they expected large gains. The Austrians, however, were more than ready. Enough machine guns always survived to check the Italians — even when they advanced in armour of steel plates, as they did in some places. Very little was achieved on the northern Isonzo. The Italians had briefly recaptured the 'Big Trench' on Mrzli at the end of September, only to lose it to the usual ferocious counter-attack. They hauled artillery onto Krn to pound the summit of Mrzli and its rear lines from the north while the infantry drove up from the south and west. Assisted in this way, the Salerno Brigade took the Big Trench on 21 October."

Quotation Context

Italy began a new offensive on the Isonzo Front — the Third Battle of the Isonzo — with a preliminary bombardment on October 18, 1915, but much of the artillery was 75 mm. field guns which did little damage to trenches or barbed wire.

Source

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 128, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009

Tags

1915-10-21, 1915, October, Third Battle of the Isonzo, Third Isonzo, Isonzo, Isonzo River, Isonzo Front