MOUNTAIN WARFARE
The new line ran along the forward slope of the hills, which had just
been so painfully climbed, and whose reverse sides sheltered in their
folds, densely populated with pine forests, the local reserves. The
trenches themselves were strangely unlike any as yet inhabited, being
blasted out of the solid rock. An impressive and, indeed, magnificent
panorama extended itself in front. The valley of the Seven Communes,
that curious little tongue of German-speaking territory projecting
into pre-war Italy, ran across the foreground. Barren and almost
treeless, it had been in the battle-line since the Austrian offensive
of May, 1916, which had nearly broken successfully into the Venetian
plain. Many villages and hamlets dotted the plain, especially towards
the western end, the most imposing of which was Asiago. Though knocked
about to a certain extent, they offered a regular and habitable
outline as compared with the blank desolation of France. On the
further side of the valley the pine-clad shoulders of the mountains
were gradually merged in the great snow-covered, cloud-capped bastions
of the Alps. Between the lines a vast No Man's Land extended, in many
places nearly a mile in width, with miniature hills and valleys, and
studded with houses and copses, over which our patrols were able to
roam almost at will unmolested. Such was the general calm prevailing
that officers in the front line were accustomed to sleep in their
pyjamas. The entire casualties during May, most of which month was
spent in the line, were three wounded. In a successful raid carried
out on the 12th by two platoons of D Company, 2nd Lieut. Stott,
slightly wounded, was the only victim. He obtained the M.C. and the
Italian Silver Medal for Valour as a reward for his work. It was
somewhat difficult to capture the prisoner required for
identification, as the only post encountered promptly ran away; one,
however, of the elderly Hungarians of the 24th Honved Regiment, who
composed it, tripped and fell into a shell-hole, and was carried off
by the raiders. The enemy made up for their lack of resistance by
bombing their own wire and shouting assiduously until daybreak. On the
22nd the Battalion returned to Cornedo, in the plains; summer had by
now fully set in; the vines, the maize, the mulberry and the orange,
with many other diverse forms of luxuriant foliage, had completely
changed the aspect of the country. The men were glad to wear the suits
of drill and the sun-helmet which had now been issued. Thus May merged
into June; the fourth great German attack was battering at the gates
of Compiègne, but the Italian front had as yet given no sign. On our
next visit, however, to the line, it became known that a British
offensive was to be launched in the middle of June. The usual
conferences and rehearsals took place; detailed orders were issued,
the very date became known. It was to take place on the 16th of June.
Twenty-four hours beforehand the Austrians, goaded at length out of
their long sleep by the prodding of their Allies, suddenly launched
that great attack on practically the whole of the front, which was the
last offensive effort of the Hapsburg dynasty. After a somewhat
alarming initial success on the Montello and the lower Piave, it
changed into a complete failure. We have now to see how it affected
the fortunes of our Battalion.
The Austrian attack was planned after the model of Ludendorf's great
offensive of March 21st; that is to say, it was preceded by a short
but violent bombardment of high explosive and gas directed
particularly on the back areas and gun-positions. Its effectiveness
was not, however, great, partly owing to the extreme difficulty of
searching all the crannies of the mountain country, partly because the
level of Austrian efficiency was low. Their gas-shells, in particular,
seem to have been almost innocuous. The shelling began about 3 a.m.,
and lasted for three hours, when the infantry left the trenches. The
two British Divisions in the line, 23rd and 48th, were attacked by
portions of four Austrian Divisions; it is said that the latter had
been brought up immediately before the battle in lorries, and told
that their objective was weakly held by Italians, as their
disinclination to face British and French troops was notorious.
However that may be, they advanced against our Division with
considerable energy at the outset. The two Battalions of the 145th
Brigade in the line were from right to left, the 1st/4th Oxfords and
1st/5th Gloucesters. The enemy succeeded in driving in the outer
flanks of both Battalions, and also in pushing a wedge between them to
a maximum depth of about 1,000 yards. But attacking uphill over
unfamiliar and blind country, exposed to cross-fire from rifles and
machine-guns, and heavily bombarded, their progress was soon arrested.
Our Battalion was in Brigade Reserve, and did useful work during the
day in joining hands with the two assaulted Battalions. D Company
joined the Oxfords at noon, and suffered some loss during the
afternoon while forming up in the open to counter-attack. Here its
commander, Captain C. Buck, a good and conscientious officer, was
killed. He had served unhurt through the whole of the third Battle of
Ypres, and was the only officer whom we lost by death during the
Italian year.
Next morning very early, with the co-operation of C Company and one
platoon of A, a completely successful advance was made to the old
front line. All the heart had now gone out of the enemy, the failure
of whose effort was patent. They made scarcely a shadow of resistance,
and more than 60 prisoners remained in our hands. During the previous
day C Company had been already engaged in stopping the gap between the
Oxfords and Gloucesters. The latter, who had been isolated on both
flanks, were in danger of complete encirclement during the morning and
early afternoon, but extricated themselves and joined hands with C
Company at 5.30 p.m.
During the 16th the whole divisional front was without exception
re-established, and patrols were pushed forward into No Man's Land;
the Austrians continued to surrender in little bodies, until the
Division had collected over 1,000, with eight mountain guns abandoned
and picked up. The casualty list of the Battalion afforded happy proof
of the ineffectiveness of the enemy. We lost no more than five killed
and 13 wounded. Thus ended ignominiously the great Austrian attack.