Forte Coldarco

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coldarco cavern battery: entrance to the main gallery

The Coldarco cavern battery, also known as Forte Coldarco or Fortino Stella , is an Italian artillery position driven into the rock from the time of the First World War in the northern Italian province of Vicenza . It was built on the northeastern foothills of the plateau of the Seven Municipalities in the municipality of Enego .

location

The caverns battery Coldarco is located in the north belonging to the municipality of Enego fraction Coldarco between the two hamlets Coldarco di Sotto and Coldarco di Mezzo. It was built in a rock face at 587  m slm above the Canale di Brenta, as the south-eastern continuation of the Valsugana is called.

history

As early as the end of the 19th century, the commissions commissioned by the Italian General Staff to build alpine barriers had included the area around Coldarco in their planning for the Brenta – Cismon barrier. Coldarco was supposed to serve in particular to protect the underlying roadblocks della Scala and Fontanelle, since the resistance of these two works to being hit by modern artillery was questioned.

Thus, before 1896, the first open battery position for 149 G cannons was built north of Coldarco directly above the Valsugana, to protect the flanks of the systems below at Primolano. When the construction of the Forte Lisser of the same name on Monte Lisser was started in 1911, work was also carried out to modernize the field gun position below at Coldarco. However, after a few site visits, a commission commissioned by the Genie -Direktion Padua rejected the plans to erect a modern concrete gun emplacement here, due to the expected costs, which would not be in proportion to the benefits of the facility, and due to the difficulties of implementation would have caused such a desired solution. On the other hand, it was seen as necessary to find a solution, since an open field position offered no protection against shrapnel fire , so that in the end it was decided to build a cavernous battery position for four model 75 A cannons and an artillery observation post. The facility to be constructed was given the task of preventing any infantry advances from the Valsugana in the direction of Primolano and of painting the areas in the blind spot of Forte Leone.

Construction began in 1912, leaving the loopholes for the guns relatively small, as it was initially assumed that the four cannons intended for the system would be placed on wall mounts , which was ultimately rejected. The firing holes could in turn be closed with nickel- alloyed steel armor. The work on the cavern battery was not finished until the summer of 1914, so that when the war broke out, the system was not yet armored and people hurried to arm the battery accordingly, which was finally completed in autumn of the same year.

With the beginning of the war on May 24, 1915 on the Italian-Austrian front, Coldarco was supposed to support the advance of the Italian troops with his artillery - like the other works and batteries of the Brenta – Cismon barrier - and fight any counterattacks from the Tezze area. This did not happen because the front line was relocated from Austria-Hungary and the Coldarco battery did not fire a single shot in the end. Ten days after the start of the war, the Italian troops had advanced so far that they were out of range of the Coldarco guns, making the facility of all importance.

The Austro-Hungarian South Tyrol offensive that began in May 1916 did nothing to change this. In the same year the official end of Forte Coldarco came, which was simply given up with the dissolution of the Brenta – Cismon lock on November 23, 1916 and left to its fate. The built-in guns had probably been used for another purpose - like most of the other guns at the Brenta – Cismon barrier.

Even after the Twelfth Isonzo Battle and the retreat of the Italians on the new line of defense between Grappa and Piave in November 1917, Coldarco played no role in the subsequent occupation of these areas by Austro-Hungarian troops.

In the post-war period, the tunnels were used to detonate duds ; the originally concreted concrete walls were largely destroyed, but otherwise no further major damage was caused. The former cavern battery was restored between 2006 and 2009. A gun cavern was also filled with concrete again and a 75 mm cannon model 1911, a successor to the model 75 A, which was originally in position here, was set up on a stand mount.

Coldarco cavern battery - 75 mm cannon Mod. 1911 on a stand mount

description

The Coldarco battery consists of a main tunnel about 60 meters long , which was driven into the rock in a mountain ledge at 587  m slm . From the main tunnel, five side tunnels, some slightly elevated and accessible via concrete steps, branch off in a north-easterly direction, the artillery observer being accommodated in the first of these side tunnels, while the guns were in the four artillery caverns that followed, with which the Valsugana around and north could be taken under fire by Primolano. In the main tunnel, opposite the side tunnels that led to the guns, there are four niches in which the ammunition reserve was stored, the last of these niches not being on the side but at the end of the main tunnel. To the right of the main tunnel entrance was a water cistern, the remains of which can still be seen today. About 70 meters in front of the entrance was the accommodation building for the crew of the cavern battery, which was partly built into the mountainside and was designed for 100 men and was also used as a warehouse. The building was connected to the battery by a driveway and a trench .

Armament

The battery position was armed with six rapid-fire 75 A cannons on a stand mount . The stand mount was chosen because it allowed a large lateral directional area, which made fighting moving targets much easier. The base of the carriage rested on iron plates that were screwed onto a concrete base. The 75-A rapid-fire cannon fired shells weighing up to 6 kg and had a range of between 3,700 and 8,100 meters.

literature

  • Ecomuseo Grande Guerra Prealpi Vicentine (eds.): Interrotto, Verena, Campolongo, Corbin, Lisser, Coldarco. Forti dell'Altopiano. Marcolin, Schio 2014.
  • Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. Rossato, Novale di Valdagno 2002, ISBN 978-88-8130-080-8 .
  • Luca Girotto: Forte Tombion. La sentinella del Canal di Brenta. Storia ed immagini per la visita alla più antica tra le opere permanenti della "Fortezza Brenta-Cismon". Associazione Storico Culturale della Valsugana Orientale e del Tesino, Borgo Valsugana 2008, ISBN 978-88-903488-0-8 .

Web links

Commons : Forte Coldarco  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta – Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale p. 144.
  2. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. P. 150.
  3. ↑ Southern part of the municipality of Grigno in the Valsugana and until 1910 the terminus of the Austro-Hungarian Valsugana Railway .
  4. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. Pp. 227-230.
  5. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. P. 270.
  6. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. P. 335.
  7. ↑ Ecomuseo Grande Guerra Prealpi Vicentine (ed.): Interrotto, Verena, Campolongo, Corbin, Lisser, Coldarco. Forti dell'Altopiano. o. S.
  8. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. P. 170.
  9. ↑ Luca Girotto: 1866–1918 Soldati e fortezze tra Asiago ed il Grappa. Storia ed immagini dello sbarramento Brenta - Cismon dal Risorgimento alla Prima Guerra Mondiale. P. 169.

Coordinates: 45 ° 57 ′ 31 ″  N , 11 ° 41 ′ 58.1 ″  E