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The
Italian attack
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It may be doubted yet
whether Italy has fully realized the opportunities presented to her by the
surrender of Bulgaria and the remarkable successes of the Serbs
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The Italian attack reported today is a successful local operation which may lead later to important results. If it is not as yet on a scale to justify us in regarding it as a formal offensive, it is only fair to realize the exceptional military difficulties of the Italian position.
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The province of Venetia is surrounded on the land side by a huge semicircle of hills, the highest points of which are in possession of the enemy; and the Italians cannot begin to recover their old position towards the Carso until they have cleared away the enemy on their flanks and established strong positions where they can at any rate hold him securely. Yesterday and the day before, operating in country of extreme difficulty, they captured Monte Solarolo and Monte Sisemol, which is the key to the town of Asiago. Here, towards Monte Grappa, the Austrians made their greatest and most dangerous thrust towards the Venetian plain, and the recent operations, local as their scope seems to be, should go far to relieve our Allies of their natural nervousness as to the security of this flank.
It must be remembered, too, in fairness, that as yet there is no evidence that the moral of the Austrian Army in the field has weakened to the same extent as that of the people at home. It is still, on its own ground and on the defence, a very formidable fighting machine. As an offensive force, however, it cannot now be taken very seriously.
Events have moved very rapidly of late. At the beginning of this year it seemed quite possible that the main German offensive would be directed against Italy. Germany, to her sorrow, chose France instead, but even later it wars still conceivable that Germany, foiled in her offensive on the West, might throw herself on Italy. From that danger Italy has been saved by the persistence of the Allied offensive on the West.
An even better stroke of luck for her is the defection of Bulgaria, which has exposed Austria to attack from another front, that of the Danube, and so relieved the pressure of the Austrians on the Italian front. Italy has no longer to face the entire strength of the Austrian Army, as was for a time her case after Russia dropped out of the war.
We must think of all these fronts - France, Italy, and the Balkans - as really one; and Italy, in the centre, has been relieved by English, French, and Belgian victories on her left, and by Greek, Slav, and Entente victories on her right wing, just as if their troops had all been fighting on the soil of Italy.
It may be doubted yet whether Italy has fully realized the opportunities presented to her by the surrender of Bulgaria and the remarkable successes of the Serbs. Today comes the news of a mutiny of Croat soldiers at Fiume, a port second in importance only to Trieste. The mutineers have entered the barracks and disarmed the other soldiers, and the disaffection is said to be spreading to other places along the coast. If Italy had worked out the strategy of the united front in the Adriatic, she would have been ready to take advantage of an opportunity so promising, and would have given the mutineers every assistance in her power. So doubtless she will do later, but such opportunities are best taken the moment they present themselves.
The Italian Premier has shown how keenly he sympathizes with the cause of the Slavs of the Eastern Adriatic, and whatever political misunderstandings there may have been in the past have long since been removed. Italy is the most loyal and generous-souled of Allies. But what is still needed is that this political understanding should be translated into terms of active military cooperation. The rewards might well be enormous.
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The battle
in Venezia
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The Londoners and the
Welshmen had been brought from the Asiago sector, were disguised in Italian
uniforms, and appear to have performed a notable feat of arms
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The operations on the Italian front, which began rather quietly last Thursday in the mountain sectors between the Astico and the Piave, have rapidly developed and extended. If they continue to meet with the success which has attended their enlargement during the last three days they will unquestionably have a considerable effect upon the critical internal situation in Austria. They also contain possibilities of serious menace to the Austrian forces in Cadore and the Trentino.
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The battle now extends in a continuous line from the Asiago plateau to the open plain south-east of Conegliano, beyond the Middle Piave. It opened with Thursday’s attacks on the enemy’s positions near Asiago, which resulted in the capture of Monte Sisemol, an important key-point. Simultaneously an advance was begun in the Monte Grappa region, east of the River Brenta, and the commanding height of Monte Pertica was stormed. Substantial progress was also made beyond Monte Tomba, at the point where the Ornic torrent flows into the Piave. Our Italian Allies have thus begun to reap the fruits of the tenacity with which they have clung to the last line of hills bordering the Venetian plain. All these movements were apparently preliminary, and were evidently designed to pin down the enemy forces in the mountain sectors before developing an attack farther east. They had a significant sequel on Monday night at one point, when British units on the plateau raided the enemy’s trenches opposite Asiago and found them empty.
The principal advance began on Sunday morning, when the Italian Tenth Army, which has been placed under the command of Lord Cavan, made the passage of the Piave in conjunction with the British forces. During the preceding day or two the Honourable Artillery Company and the Welsh Fusiliers had with great daring and ingenuity effected lodgment upon the island of Papadopoli, one of the many islands round which the Piave flows. The Londoners and the Welshmen had been brought from the Asiago sector, were disguised in Italian uniforms, and appear to have performed a notable feat of arms. They cleared the island, and the way was open for the main advance. Once across the river, the Tenth Army spread out in a fan-shaped line and moved rapidly forward. It has reached the Monticano, a tributary of the Livenza, and its flanks are nearing Conegliano on the one hand and Oderzo on the other. A later bulletin states that British cavalry and infantry have crossed the Monticano, and the general direction of the thrust appears to be towards Pordenone.
Meanwhile the Italian Eighth and Twelfth Armies, with some French units, crossed the Piave at various points between the Monte Grappa sector and the attack directed by Lord Cavan. On the whole front the offensive is making progress. The heights beyond Valdobbiadene have been stormed, the Sernaglia plain (north of the Montello) is being overrun, and the town of Susegana has been taken. The number of prisoners captured already exceeds ten thousand, while our own losses, as well as those of the Italians, are said to be light. The broad meaning of the battle is that an excellent start has been made with the liberation of the occupied territories of Italy, and there is every reason for thinking that the process will now be rapid. Already Lord Cavan announces that “the enemy’s resistance appears to be weakening considerably”, which is precisely what was to be expected.
We are reaching a stage of the war when it is necessary to bear constantly in mind the effect of political developments upon the enemy’s forces in the field. It is understood that the Tenth Army, at any rate, is chiefly confronted by German and Magyar units, which in ordinary times would have been formidable enough. But are the Magyars likely to fight stubbornly now, when their chief desire is to return home in order to conserve their separate interests? And will German divisions be willing to sell their lives dearly on Italian soil for an Austrian cause at the moment when Austria has announced her intention of seeking peace with or without her German confederates?
It is these considerations, rather than any large strategical plan, which ought to be the determining factor in the Italian offensive. Behind them, in their southern provinces, the enemy are confronted with revolts which continue to spread. In Albania other Italian forces are nearing Alessio and San Giovanni di Medua, and should soon be menacing Cattaro itself. Montenegro is on the verge of complete liberation, and it cannot be long before the left wing of the Allied forces in Serbia will emerge upon the Adriatic through the Herzegovina. From Bruges to Belgrade the task of rescue is proceeding apace, and we trust that Italy also will soon be freed from the invaders.
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How the
Piave was crossed
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At 6.45 came the signal.
Off they moved, and were immediately struggling in the bitterly cold and
furious current. Some who couldn't grasp hands, were swept away and drowned
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The crossing of the Piave by the British was no easy task. You have already heard how the Honourable Artillery Company, and the Welsh Fusiliers reached Papadopoli Island. They had been pushed down from the mountains to this new sector, an entirely unknown sector of line. Even the small contingent sent ahead to get the bearings and prepare the way for the others had not been there more than 10 days.
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When the night for action came they had to get into strange little boats, each holding six. Imagine all the interminable half-dozens lining up and scrambling in from the dark bank. In they got and were shoved off. In the fierce current the wobbling craft - for quite a few were spilt - swerved wildly out, and was somehow thrust by its Italian pilot onto the far spit of a half-submerged shingle bank. These were not exactly the best conditions for fully-armed men to land noiselessly, but somehow they did. And then they had to trudge through yielding shingle all the way back to the other end of their wet islet, and again pack themselves into another small flat-bottomed craft and plunge out again through the troubled Piave to the limit of yet another shingle bank. Boats were plying from all parts, but a number of men had to make this fantastic journey from isle to isle three times. And all had to pass the 40-yard wide main branch of the river.
They were necessarily landed somewhat higgledy-piggledy at the end, and when they advanced some got separated from the main body and had single combats of their own. One man was made prisoner by the Austrians, and it must be said they did their best by him, taking, him to the nearest approach to a cosy corner they had on the southern side, of Papadopoli and binding up his wound. There he had some melancholy hours till next day, when he heard the whistle of British bullets and through a window saw his own comrades of the Honourable Artillery Company coming forward over the shingle, their colonel at their head, and the prisoner was soon set free.
When the time came for a final crossing to the Piave’s farther bank the Honourable Artillery Company and the Welsh Fusiliers showed great courage while crossing the river under fire and in counter-attacks, all of which they beat off, though the first came within 10 minutes of their getting ashore. Later they gave place to a larger company of many regiments whose names are dear to Britain - Northumberland Fusiliers and York and Lancs and Durham Light Infantry, Queen’s South Staffordshires and Manchesters, Borderers, men of Devon, and Gordons, as ever in the first line. They had come over on to Papadopoli for the assault, and got thoroughly wet and bemudded.
UNDER RAIN AND SHELL FIRE
The hour fixed for the assault was just before 7am. Just toward midnight the British artillery began its preparation. Rain came pouring down soon after. It was like a sea drenching the earth. The attackers moved up from the western side of the island to its eastern rim at 5.30. When they got to their taking-off place, drenched as they were, they sat on the sodden shingle to wait for the order to advance. There was nothing else to do. They had to endure four hours of the enemy’s barrage on the island “an intense, a hellish barrage,” says an officer who endured it.
There were no trenches, no shelters, just bare shingle and water all round and the barrage on the top of all. At 6.45 came the signal. Off they moved, and were immediately struggling in the bitterly cold and furious current. The men gave hands to each other. Some who couldn’t grasp hands, were swept away and drowned. All this in great darkness and a still pitiless rain. Several reached the bank, and, clinging to it, stretched arms to those nearest them, who in turn stretched out their hands, so chains were formed; chains not crossing the river straight, but almost at narrow angles to the bank they had just left.
Presently every man had his footing on the opposite side of the Piave. The Austrians seemed to have abandoned their trenches by the river, though great quantities of munitions were lying all around, and there was an indescribable mass of heaped-up war material. Our men had about 800 yards to swim, wade, and trudge before they got into the shelter of their own barrage.
Once ashore, their way was through rough underwood, scrub, and hedges, and thick-growing acacia trees, which the Austrians had been able to join up with barbed wire, obstacles standing at all heights and in all places and angles. The Austrians, of course, though they did not attack the first groups arriving on their.bank, soon made their presence felt. They had entrenched themselves on one of the raised roads so common in this flat, marshy country. This embankment was chock full of machine guns and the men lining it were mainly snipers, so that any approach was deadly. But our men had brought their Lewis guns and bombs as well, and met the deadly spray with a spray as deadly and engine with engine.
LINES OF BLOCKHOUSES
Once this first road barrier was passed, however, they came into a zone of equal difficulty, as far as ground was concerned, and one defended with every intricate device that can be imagined. Most of the houses had been gutted and the inside partly filled with concrete and lined with dozens of machine-guns. These blockhouses had strong wire stretching from them sometimes for the space of two or three fields, so that a whole quadrilateral of land was a deadly maze. Caverns and cellars were used as freely as they always do in the Austrian defence system.
The defenders, in many cases, showed-great courage. In others they weakened, after first efforts. Once they saw that the British were not deterred by all their man traps, they yielded more easily. They were mostly Hungarians. But after being captured they are no longer the Hungarians of former days. They shook their heads, and said, “’Piave no good.” They tell stories of revolts in their ranks.
To-day has been for the British force to some extent a day of marking time to allow for due co-ordination of movements; but excellent progress has been made by the Italians on both flanks of the British troops, and altogether the 10th Army has made a solid bridgehead of about six miles by four.
The Austrians are burning stores round Conegliano, and their artillery is in retreat on the rear lines. Prospects are bright for Italy.
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