Austrian Mountain Rangers 'resting in the shade of southern flora' on the Italian front. The card was postmarked from Berlin on January 5, 1916.
Reverse:Vom Italienischen KriegsschauplatzRast im Schallen der südlichen Flora.From the Italian frontRest in the shade of southern flora.
"The Austrians would, though, have the last word. On 4 June, Baroević used his reinforcements from the East to launch surprise attacks north of Hermada, regaining some of the ground lost to the Third Army. The Italian losses were huge: 22,000 men, including 10,000 prisoners. Rumour had it that three regiments had surrendered without fighting, complete with the officers and equipment. Cadorna railed at the treachery of men who chose surrender rather than death. Privately, he wished he could ask Baroević to have them flogged. Officially, he wrote a furious letter to Prime Minister Boselli, blaming the government for laxity towards domestic opponents of the war. After three weeks, the Italians had taken more than 150,000 casualties, including 36,000 killed. The Austrians had only 7,300 killed."
Italian commander in chief Luigi Cadorna had launched his Tenth Battle of the Isonzo on May 12, 1917, and by the 14th it looked to be another failure despite the heaviest Italian artillery barrage of the war to date. Italian deserters had alerted the Austro-Hungarians to the impending attack, and, with their Russian front quiet after the February Revolution, the Austrians had transferred reinforcements to the west. The defenders held the peaks, and the Italians were attacking, as they had since the beginning of the war, an enemy above them, oftentimes well entrenched.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 254, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
1917-06-04, 1917, June, Tenth Battle of the Isonzo, Battle of the Isonzo, Isonzo, Cadorna, Baroević, Austro-Hungarian Army, Austro-Hungarian Ranger
