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Tom Isitt 🐝 Profile picture
Tom Isitt 🐝
@masaccio60
Author, historian, cyclist, idiot adventurer. Currently working on a book about WW1 in Italy (to be published by Helion & Co), and a book about the Balkans.
Jul 19, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I’ve stumbled across a video I’d forgotten I’d shot (similar to the one I’ve shared before, but slightly different). It’s of a WW1 Italian 149mm Ansaldo howitzer, sited at 3300m on a ridge above the Adamello glacier. It’s been up there for 107 years. And if you think that’s mad, there are three more on a rock in the middle of the Cevedale glacier.
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Jun 19, 2022 • 11 tweets • 8 min read
A 🧵 about #WW1 cemeteries on the Italian front that no longer exist. After the war the fascists cleared battlefield cemeteries and moved hundreds of thousands of men to huge ossuaries. This Austro-Hungarian cemetery at Passo Pordoi was cleared and an ossuary built nearby. ImageImage Next, Falcade, now with just the chapel. It was a cemetery for a large field hospital, the most famous occupant being Francesco Barbieri (Gold Medal for valour). They were all moved to the Pocol ossuary after the war. ImageImageImage
Apr 29, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Researching the astonishing logistics involved in WW1 on the Italian Front.

The requirements of an Army group (200,000 men and 30,000 horses) were:

140 tonnes of bread
48 tonnes of meat
240 tonnes of animal feed
50,000 litres of wine
1.5 million litres of water

Every day. ImageImage An Army group also required:

8000km telegraph wire
2000km telephone wire
3000 telephones
200 telephone switchboards
10,000 telegrams were sent daily
10,000 phone calls were made daily

A front-line Alpine brigade needed 200 tonnes of supplies every day... ImageImage
Mar 29, 2020 • 6 tweets • 6 min read
Tom’s WW1 Italian Front listicle, part 4

Top 5 Via Ferratas

For some troops, the via ferrata/klettersteig (iron road) was the only way to get to and from the front line. They still exist, but require proper safety gear and a head for heights. Graded 1A (easy) to 4D (hard). 5. VF Senza Confini (4C). Terrifying climb up to positions above the Plöckenpass in the Carnic Alps. Caverns and shelters at the top, astonishing views of Pal Piccolo battlefield. Don’t do it. Seriously, don’t...
Mar 27, 2020 • 6 tweets • 6 min read
Listicle alert! Tom’s Top Fives of the WW1 Italian Front.

Today, Top 5 Battlefields:

5. Kolovrat. Italian third line on a ridge 3000ft above the Isonzo, taken by Rommel during Caporetto. Numerous trenches and shelters, stunning views across to Monte Nero and the Mrzli ridge... 4. Lagazuoi. Austro-Hungarian trenches and tunnels at 9000ft and Italian positions on a ledge a few hundred feet below them. Great views of Cinque Torri, the Castelletto and the Tofana. Take cable car up, walk back down through the tunnels...