Italy's armed forces at the ready in a 1915 postcard. In the foreground the artillery, infantry, an Alpine soldier (in feathered hat), and a Bersaglieri (in plumed headgear). Behind them are a bugler and lancer; in the distance marines and colonial troops. The Italian navy is off shore, an airship and planes overhead. On the reverse are the lyrics of a patriotic Italian March by Angelo Balladori, lyrics by Enrico Mercatali. It ends with a call to the brothers of Trento and Trieste, Austro-Hungarian territory with large ethnic Italian populations.

Reverse:

Marcia Italica

D'Italia flammeggin le sante bandiere

Baciate dal sole, baciate dal vento,

Su l'aspro sentier di Bezzecca e di Trento

De l'alma Trieste, sul cerulo mar.

. . .

Fratelli di Trento, Triestini fratelli,

La patria s'è desta alla grande riscossa!

Dell'aquila ingorda la barbara possa

Dai liberi petti domata sarà!





Parole di Enrico Mercatali

Musica di Angelo Balladori.



Casa Editrice Sonzogno - Milano. 1915.

Other views: Larger, Back

Thursday, July 1, 1915

"The regimental colours flutter freely. Silence. Then a trumpet sounds, the men bellow 'Savoy!' as from one throat, the band strikes up the Royal March. Carrying knapsacks that weigh 35 kilograms, the men attack up the steep slope, in the teeth of accurate fire from positions that the Italians cannot see. An officer brandishing his sabre in his right hand has to use his left hand to stop the scabbard from tripping him up. The men are too heavily laden to move quickly. Renato remembered the scene as a vision of the end of an era: 'In a whirl of death and glory, within a few moments, the epic Garibaldian style of warfare is crushed and consigned to the shadows of history!' The regimental music turns discordant, then fades. The officers are bowled down by machine-gun fire while the men crawl for cover on hands and knees. The battle is lost before it begins."

Quotation Context

On July 1, 1915, the Italians failed in their attempt to seize Mount San Michele on the western side of the Carso plateau from the Austro-Hungarians. Renato di Stolfo was a junior officer in the initial attack. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy was of the House of Savoy. General Giuseppe Garibaldi was one of the leaders in the fight for Italian independence.

Source

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 90, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009

Tags

1915-07-01, 1915, July,