Second Dolomite offensive

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The three Tofans from the southwest I, II and III
Italian Front (1915-1918)

The second Dolomite offensive took place between September 16 and 28, 1915 between Italian attackers and Austro-Hungarian defenders in the area between the Col di Lana and the Tofana massif west of Cortina d'Ampezzo . It was the smallest of the three offensives during the mountain war in World War I , with which the breakthrough should be enforced.

aims

kuk infantry in the mountains

The tactical aim of the attack was to take possession of the area as far as Toblach and the Sella group . However, the IX. Corps with the 17th and 18th infantry divisions in the left operational section first the Passo Falzarego and Passo Valparola with the adjacent flanking heights are taken.

Starting position

The front stretched in this area from Col di Lana (2462 m) over the Sief-Sattel (2209 m), the Setsass (2571 m), the Sasso di Stria (2477 m) down to the Falzarego pass (2105 m) and then from from here, locking the south side of the Travenanzestal back up to the Col di Bois (2559 m), the Castelletto (2656 m), the Tofana di Rozes / Tofana I (3225 m), the Fontananegra (2588 m), the Tofana di Mezzo / Tofana II (3244 m) to Tofana di Dentro / Tofana III (3238 m).

When the Italian attacks of the First Dolomite Offensive in this section of the front had not led to the expected success and had to be stopped on August 4, 1915, there was initially a break in combat.

At the end of August, the Italian Army Command had asked the two armies operating on the South Tyrolean front to achieve their intended offensive objectives before winter began. For the 4th Army fighting in the Dolomites this meant conquering the Puster Valley and thus interrupting one of the main arteries of the Tyrolean national defense.

The attacks

The Italian section commander , Lieutenant General Luigi Nava, hesitated, however, because he was apparently unwilling to repeat the previous unsuccessful attacks and so senselessly shed blood. After the Italian chief of staff Luigi Cadorna had demanded decisive action, Nava initially protested that it would not be possible for him to achieve the goals set before winter. He then did his IX. Corps to attack the heights of the Travenanzes, furthermore the Col di Lana and the section up to the Settsass should be conquered in order to enable the way into the Pustertal.

On September 18, the Italians from the 17th Infantry Division finally succeeded in conquering the Tofana di Rozes , which had been occupied by a detachment of the third Jäger Regiment of the German Alpine Corps .

Further attempts to penetrate into the Travenanzestal failed.

On September 24, the Italians unsuccessfully attacked the Punta di Bois . In the Fontananegrascharte, smaller gains in terrain could be achieved. The next day the attacks were repeated without any success. Thereafter, Lieutenant General Nava was relieved of his command.

On September 28, the attack was again unsuccessful, after which the project was discontinued.

The Italians had previously occupied the Falzarego Pass, as well as the Cima Falzarego and the Cima di Bois. They were at the foot of the Forcella di Bois , the Punta di Bois and in the Fontananegrascharte. The peaks of the "Tofana di Rozes" (Tofana I), "Tofana di Mezzo" (Tofana II) and the "Tofana di Dentro" (Tofaana III) were also in their possession. The Hexenstein and the Little Lagazuoi were still held by the Austrians as cornerstones of the Valparola Pass . Little Langazuoi was unoccupied until June 12th and was only secured by the Austrians on that day.

literature

  • Carta Touristica Cortina d'Ampezzo Kompass Fleischmann S.ar. L. Istituto Geografico / Gardolo (Trento)
  • Basilio Di Martino: La Grande Guerra sul fronte dolomitico. La 4ª Armata Italiana (1915-1917) , Rossato, Valdagno 2007 ISBN 978-88-8130-105-8 .
  • Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico (ed.): L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915-1918). Volume II (narrazione): Le operazioni del 1915 , Istituto poligrafico dello Stato, Rome 1929.
  • Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico (ed.): L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915-1918). Volume II bis (documenti): Le operazioni del 1915 , Istituto poligrafico dello Stato, Rome 1929.
  • Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico (ed.): L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915-1918). Volume II ter (carte e schizzi): Le operazioni del 1915, Istituto poligrafico dello Stato, Rome 1929.
  • Austrian Federal Ministry and War Archives (Ed.): Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914–1918. Third volume. The war year 1915 Part two . Publishing house of the military science reports, Vienna 1932.
  • Robert Striffler: The mine war in the Dolomites: 1915-1917. Lagazuoi, Schreckenstein , Kienesberger E., Nuremberg 1993 ISBN 978-3-923995-08-0 .

Coordinates: 46 ° 31 ′ 30 ″  N , 12 ° 0 ′ 41 ″  E