The Piave Front 1917 -1918


This was a real anti-climax after the Asiago Plateau. There was no sign of the events of 90 years ago. Harry spent some time on the Piave front at the end of 1917 and in 1918 but all that is left is the river - and that with a much reduced flow. The only evidence of trenches are reconstructed ones that have been used in re-enactments.

Harry's battalion crossed the Piave where the main Autoroute from the North to Venice crosses the river there now.

In the battle of Veneto Vittoria at the end of October, the trench warfare gave way to a very mobile battle as the Austro-Hungarian army was forced back. Harry would have marched and fought across the plain. It was possible to identify locations where they stopped for the night outside Cimetta and Sacile, but there was no sign of it on the ground.

All I could gain was the impression that I was somewhere close to where my grandfather was fighting 90 years ago.

1 comment:

Janell said...

Sorry to hear that your trip to the Piave Front was anticlimactic. I suppose the armies weren't there long enough to leave many artifacts and scars on the ground and whatever might have been there was probably cleared by the farming population over the next near-century; but how disappointing for you to find no evidence of their November 1918 presence at the river crossing, Cimetta or Sacile. Will you be going to Rivalta Scrivia or any of the other places where Harry spent time, after November 1918?