Thursday, November 16, 2017

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXX

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The End of the Battles of the Isonzo, Part IX
11 November-23 December 1917: The First Battle of Monte Grappa—The Italian retreat was finally halted when the Austro-Hungarians & Germans could not conquer the fortified summit of Monte Grappa; the Central Powers' triumph at Caporetto was greater than anticipated & their logistics were overstretched; France & Britain had rushed troops to Italy, but this was entirely an Italian victory.





Lest we forget.

Bonus: Austro-Hungarian mountain troops were called the Gibergstruppe. Italian mountain troops were called the Alpini. German mountain troops were called the Alpenkorps.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Twelve Battles of the Isonzo
№ CDLIX: The First & Second Battles of the Isonzo (Part I)
№ CDLXX: The Third & Fourth Battles of the Isonzo (Part II)
№ CDLXXXVIII: The Fifth Battle of the Isonzo (Part III)
№ DX: The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo (Part IV)
№ DXVIII: The Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth Battles of the Isonzo (Part V)
№ DL: The Tenth Battle of the Isonzo (Part VI)
№ DLXV: The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo (Part VII)
№ DLXXV: The Battle of Caporetto (Part VIII)

Commentary: The Central Powers' failure to conquer Monte Grappa strongly resembled Italy's failure to conquer Mount Saint Gabriel in the Eleventh Battle of Isonzo. So close to victory, & yet so far.

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