Simon Jones Posted 31 July , 2016 Share Posted 31 July , 2016 I've put some photos from my trip last month to the Dolomites on my blog. These are of the trenches and underground galleries at Col di Lana, where a 45 tonne Austro-Hungarian mine charge blew a crater which is visible for miles around. Here's a taste. More here. More Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 31 July , 2016 Share Posted 31 July , 2016 Simon, Some very impressive photos. They show what difficult terrain it was in which to do battle. I particularly like the dry stone trenches, they wouldn't look out of place where I live, in fact I may dust off my walling hammer and recreate some in my garden in case the war of the roses kicks off again! Regards Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Jones Posted 1 August , 2016 Author Share Posted 1 August , 2016 Thanks Simon! To save people the effort of clicking, here's more of the Austro-Hungarian dry stone trench wall with a loophole, and the hole left in the mountain after the detonation of 45 tonnes of explosives. More here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 1 August , 2016 Share Posted 1 August , 2016 Simon Some very evocative photography from one of the fronts that is often overlooked, thank you for sharing them. And thank you for the additional links on your website, made for an interesting read. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 1 August , 2016 Share Posted 1 August , 2016 More superb photographs Simon, thank you. I was extoling the subtle landscapes of France and Belgium this morning but these are magnificent. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 1 August , 2016 Share Posted 1 August , 2016 Simon, Who on earth carted 45tonnes of explosives all the way up there? Even with my eyesight I reckon I'd have seen it coming (and then ducked)☺ Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob lembke Posted 5 August , 2016 Share Posted 5 August , 2016 On 8/1/2016 at 17:03, mancpal said: Simon, Who on earth carted 45tonnes of explosives all the way up there? Even with my eyesight I reckon I'd have seen it coming (and then ducked)☺ Simon Quite possibly Russian POWs, who did a lot of heavy construction work for the kuk armies in the area. I used to go to Switzerland to climb every summer for five years, and I took a Slovene mountain guide with me, Tony Sazonov, whose name, to the perceptive, is Russian, not Slovene. His father was a Russian POW held in Slovenija, and when the war ended he realized that it would be stupid to go back to Russia, and somehow stayed. I met him once, when he was 95. The POWs built the amazing switchback road climbing about a mile vertically to reach and cross the Soca Pass; that road now continues on to reach the Slovene Kobarid, or Caporetto. I drove thru Kobarid about ten times before I realized that it was Caporetto, which I knew from Hemmingway. On the north side of the Soca Pass, on the side of that switchback road, is a Russian-style church (west side of the road) built in memory of about 300 Russian POWs killed in an awful avalanche on the workers building that road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petwes Posted 5 August , 2016 Share Posted 5 August , 2016 Simon Thanks for the evocative photos. I visited the Col de Lana in the early 1980's on a rest day during a climbing holiday; I remember I found the film had run out in my camera when we got there so have only memories of the trip. I had no knowledge or interest in the great war at that time so knew very little of the history although could not help to be struck throughout the region by the engineering works and construction of "via ferrattas" to gain access to all manner of unlikely locations. We found a long steeply inclined tunnel descending form just off the ridge near the Col in one location and followed it downwards for some way until discretion overcame our curiosity! With hindsight I wonder if it was an attempt at a counter mine. Regarding the loading of mines with explosives I assume access to the chambers was via tunnel so would have been unobserved. I guess in most cases the advantage in all tunneling in this area was to the side tunneling upwards. Progress would have been by pneumatic rock drilling and blasting, gravity then partly solving the problem of spoil removal. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flondar Posted 1 October , 2016 Share Posted 1 October , 2016 (edited) Hello, I just registered on this forum. I live in Italy and have (of course) a great interest about Great War on the Italian Front. The BIG Austro-Hungaria mine was on 21 October1917. Here is a diagram of the mine tunnels and the explosion craters between the Sief and Dente del Sief ("Knotz" for the Austro-Hungarians named after a Leutnant who fell there) in 1917: (Italians on the left - Austro-Hungarians on the right) Italian 6 march 17 - Aust.H.21 October 17 - Italian 27 September 17. Ciao Edited 1 October , 2016 by Flondar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 2 October , 2016 Share Posted 2 October , 2016 Great thread - terrific pictures. Thanks David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Jones Posted 2 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 2 October , 2016 Hello Flondar, Thank you for the diagram and information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 2 October , 2016 Share Posted 2 October , 2016 Hi Flondar, welcome to the forum and thank you for the diagram. Your knowlede of the Italian front will be a real asset; I'll look forward to more posts. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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