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Photographs and drawings from the First World War might catch the eye, but the letters and diaries of the participants can give a far more detailed understanding of how it felt to actually fight under the grim conditions of 1914-1918. Letters and diaries allow us to reconstruct battles like the fighting for the Castelletto a fortified Austro-Hungarian position with a commanding position over strategically important supply routes. Despite the strength of the position, it was exposed and Austro-Hungarian commanders felt it was only a matter of time before the Italians took it.
Following multiple failed attacks, the Italian Alpini resorted to mining into the mountain below the Austro-Hungarian positions, first using picks and eventually pneumatic drills. The Austro-Hungarian commander of the Castelletto at the time was a 19-year-old given the posting because he was young with no family. Hans Schneeberger wrote letters describing the fighting around the position. Eventually the Italians finished their tunnel, which the Austro-Hungarians learnt about from an intercepted transmission. Schneeberger wrote: Everything is like yesterday, except that another 24 hours have passed and we are 24 hours closer to death.
A mine detonated beneath a mountain position, from Itinerari Della Grande Guerra. They include it with an article about the Castelletto, but it seems more likely to be an Austro-Hungarian mine at Monte Lagazuoi.
Miraculously, Schneeberger would survive having 35 tons of explosions set off beneath him while he slept in the Austro-Hungarian barracks on the Castelletto, fight off an Italian assault, and then eventually withdraw under cover of night. War diaries like those of Erwin Rommel, who was a young officer during WW1 and fought on the Italian Front, often go into great depth about the challenges of battle in the mountains.
An Italian assault on Austro-Hungarian positions on the Marmolada map in Isonzo.
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