The war on Mount Baldo

Exhibition: The war on Mount Baldo

Book: Piccole memorie. Diario di guerra e di prigionia. Trentino, Carso, Serbia (Minor memoirs. Diary of war and imprisonment. Trentino, Karst, Serbia) by Alessandro Silvestri. Curated by: Loreta Morandini, Nicola Fontana, Camillo Zadra. Published by: Municipality of Brentonico and Italian war history Museum - Rovereto, 2017

During the First World War, the fighting on Baldo was less intense than on the Karst Plateau, the River Isonzo and on the mountains of Pasubio and Zugna. However, it was no less strategically important.
Italian troops occupied its slopes and its summit in 1915, covering a wide area of the front with their artillery batteries – from the Ledro Valley to the mountains of Brione, Stivo and Zugna.
The photos show the transportation and positioning of the artillery, the effects of the bombing, the precarious living and working conditions of the soldiers, and the evacuation and internment of civilians.
The Battalion of Volunteer Cyclists and Motorists fought on Mount Baldo in 1915, whose ranks included several futurist artists. They served on the north side of the range, particularly towards Dos Casina and Dos Remit.
In 1918, on the northern part of Baldo, units of Czech and Slovak volunteers who had deserted the Austro-Hungarian Army fought on the side of the Italian troops. Four battles took place on Dosso Alto, a small hill above Lake Loppio, that are still remembered in the annals of the history of independence of the Czech and Slovak Republics.

The war here was like on all other fronts, alternating danger and hardship; a war often endured, unwelcome and hated, reads the diary of Alessandro Silvestri, whose words accompany the images on display.

Alessandro Silvestri (Marano di Valpolicella, 1887-1966) was a composer and organist. In 1912, to avoid being sent to Libya, he deserted. After serving his sentence, he fought on Baldo, first on the Lake Garda side, then in Vallagarina. In the autumn of 1916, he was transferred to the Karst Plateau, where he was taken prisoner. He left a war diary which was recently published by the War Museum and the Comune di Brentonico:

Source: www.trentinograndeguerra.it