The mines on the Italian front during the First World War comprised a series of underground explosive charges of varying sizes, secretly planted between 1916 and 1918 by Austro-Hungarian and Italiantunneling units beneath their enemy's lines along the Italian front in the Dolomite section of the Alps.
Background
From 1915, the high peaks of the Dolomites range were an area of fierce mountain warfare. In order to protect their soldiers from enemy fire and the hostile alpine environment, both Austro-Hungarian and Italian military engineers constructed fighting tunnels which offered a degree of cover and allowed better logistics support. In addition to building underground shelters and covered supply routes for their soldiers (like the Italian Strada delle 52 Gallerie), both sides also attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare by tunneling under no man's land and laying large quantities of explosives beneath the enemy's positions.
Between 1 January 1916 and 13 March 1918, a total of 34 mines were detonated in this theatre of war. Of these, 20 were Italian mines aimed at Austro-Hungarian targets and 14 were Austro-Hungarian mines aimed at Italian targets. The size of the explosive charges ranged from 110 kilograms (240 lb) to 50,000 kilograms (110,000 lb) of blasting gelatin. The largest Italian mine held 35,000 kilograms (77,000 lb) of explosive.
Focal points of the underground fighting during the War in the Dolomites were Pasubio with 10 mines, Lagazuoi with 5, Col di Lana/Monte Sief also with 5, and Marmolada with 4 mines. The most intense episode was the seven-week period from 16 September to 3 November 1917 which saw 12 mine explosions. After November 1917 and the Italian retreat to Monte Grappa and the Piave river in the aftermath of the Battle of Caporetto, Pasubio with its elevation of 2,239 metres (2,449 yd)[1] remained the only underground war area on the Austro-Italian front.[2]
Pasubio, mine rubble on Selletta (Ital) / Eselsrücken (Ger)
Schärding, family memorial mentioning sappercorporal Hans Vees, killed in action on Col di Lana on 8 December 1915
Popular culture
The Austro-Hungarian and Italian mining efforts in the high mountain peaks of the Italian front were portrayed in fiction in Luis Trenker's film Mountains on Fire of 1931.
^"Pasubio". tr3ntino.it. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah aiRobert Striffler, Die 34 Minensprengungen an der Tiroler Gebirgsfront 1916-1918 (1993), online Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine, access date 2016-08-03
^Among the Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed in the explosion was Father Anselm Blumenschein (born 1884), a Benedictine monk from Kremsmünster Abbey and Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph, who served as a military chaplain. See http://www.specula.at/adv/biograph.htm, access date 2016-09-04.
^Robert Striffler, Die 34 Minensprengungen an der Tiroler Gebirgsfront 1916-1918 (1993, online Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine) gives 3 March 1917 as the date of the explosion of this mine, while 6 March 1917 is found in a plan of the Austro-Hungarian tunnel system on Monte Sief (see here).
^See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6snZaBmaR4A9, access date 2016-09-04.
Books
Striffler, Robert (1993). Der Minenkrieg in den Dolomiten: Lagazuoi, Schreckenstein. Kienesberger. ISBN 978-3-9239-9508-0.
Striffler, Robert (1988). Der Minenkrieg in Tirol: Colbricon, Buso del Oro, Marmolata. Kienesberger. ISBN 978-3-9239-9507-3.
Striffler, Robert (1996). Der Minenkrieg in Ladinien: Col di Lana 1915-1916. Kienesberger. ISBN 978-3-9239-9511-0.
Striffler, Robert (1999). Der Minenkrieg in Ladinien: Monte Sief 1916-1917. Kienesberger. ISBN 978-3-9239-9517-2.
Striffler, Robert (2001). Der Minenkrieg auf dem Monte Cimone 1916-1918. Kienesberger. ISBN 978-3-9239-9521-9.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mines on the Italian Front (WW I).
Robert Striffler, Die 34 Minensprengungen an der Tiroler Gebirgsfront 1916-1918 (1993), online here Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine and here (German)
Der Pasubio und die 59er (German article on the 59th Austrian Infantry Regiment „Archduke Rainer“)
Simon Jones, Col di Lana and Monte Sief (battlefield imagery)
Positions on the Col di Lana, 1915
Plan of the Italian mine fired on Col di Lana, 1916 (1)
Plan of the Italian mine fired on Col di Lana, 1916 (2)
View of the access to the Italian mine fired on Col di Lana, 1916
Plan of the Austro-Hungarian tunnel system on Monte Sief
Plan of the Austro-Hungarian tunnel system on Pasubio