Author, historian, cyclist, idiot adventurer. Just finished a book about WW1 in Italy (published by Helion & Co), and now working on a book about the Balkans.
Joined February 2009
- Tweets 17,828
- Following 646
- Followers 5,265
- Likes 68,999
6,125 Photos and videos
An Italian WW1 strongpoint at Monte Castelgomberto (Melette massif, Altopiano). Communication trenches and tunnels crisscross the position, with caverns dug to protect troops. This area saw fierce fighting during the Strafexpedition and Tre Monti. #TiTM
1
3
64
1,547
Jun 11
I regularly talk about the WW1 โfront linesโ on the Italian Front, but in the high mountains there were no โlinesโ in the established sense, just isolated outposts like these. They mostly protected observation posts, artillery emplacements, or passes. #TiTM
ALT Austrian position at Passo Cevedale
ALT Italian position in Val Forni
ALT Map of outposts in the Ortler sector
11
86
3,362
Jun 10
No Manโs Land, 1915 - 1918, Val Cedec, Ortler sector. Bloody freezing. The front lines were around 3km apart, but there was regular skirmishing in the valley around the destroyed rifugio, and periodic abortive attempts to capture Passo Zebrรน and Passo Cevedale. #TiTM
2
6
90
6,106
Jun 10
Stupid alt text vanished. First pic: Monte Gran Zebrรน in the centre. Second pic: bridge in no manโs land. Third pic: Pasquale glacier. And a map.
10
553
Mountain warfare on the Italian Front took a terrible mental, as well as physical, toll on soldiers. Fear, boredom, cold, exhaustion, hunger, and isolation were constant, for weeks on end, sometimes months. Many men were physically and mentally broken by the experience. #TiTM
3
3
66
2,156
One WW1 barrack in the Carnic Alps was only accessible via a 260ft (80m) rope ladder ๐ฑ Once up there you had to spend two weeks in a 3x4m hut with ten other people, and clamber around on icy ledges trying not to get shot, get frostbite, or fall off. #TiTM
3
7
87
5,189
My new map of WW1 in the upper Val Comelico and western Carnic Alps in 1915 is practically life-sized. Actually itโs 1:7500, but thatโs still massive. Working out how to fold it should be interesting. #TiTM
3
2
55
3,320
A recent thread about the hero pigeon Gustav (who won D-Day) made me wonder about other heroic pigeons - Le Vaillant (Fort Vaux), Cher Ami (Lost Battalion), and Speckled Jim (obviously) spring to mind. Specifically, I wonder why anyone takes this sentimental claptrap seriouslyโฆ
2
2
21
1,335
Gustav the hero pigeon of D-Day:
Flew 150 miles โ
Helped D-Day victory โ
Trained by owner โ
Avoided German hawks over Calais โ
Awarded medal for โbraveryโ โ
Ludicrous anthropomorphism โ
2
1
8
533
๐๐
Consiglio il libro di @masaccio60 (Tom Isitt) su fronte italiano WWI. E' fatto benissimo, pieno di spunti, con mappe fantastiche. Ed รจ anche una guida in qualche modo turistica...
3
42
1,476
Iโm thinking about writing a completely impartial article about the best travelling-along-the-Western-Front books (if Nick can get away with it, then so can I ๐).
3
32
1,348
Itโs World Bicycle Day, apparently. So hereโs the worldโs best bike on the worldโs best road.
71
133
1,777
95,645
The Giro Donne goes over Passo Tre Croci in the Dolomites today (quite hard). There was an important Italian military village there during WW1 for soldiers fighting on Monte Cristallo and Monte Piana. #TiTM #Giroditaliawomen
5
38
1,327
This is the view south-east from Fontana Negra, a WW1 battlefield on Monte Tofana di Rozes in the Dolomites. The photo was taken from near the spot where Generale Antonio Cantore was killed by an Austrian sniper in July 1915. #TiTM
2
6
87
2,726
Pre-WW1 German banknotes were wonderful. This is a 100 Mark note from 1908.
4
7
75
3,175
May 31
The battles for Monte Cristallo dโAmpezzo in the Dolomites are another chapter absent from most English language books about WW1 in Italy. In late October 1915, the Alpini belayed 120 wounded and frostbitten men down Costabella Ridge using a frozen corpse as an anchor. #TiTM
2
24
346
27,021
May 29
This is the sort of thing I should have doneโฆ
May 29
The Giro finally reaches the Dolomites today, with a series of passes through emblematic mountains such as Civetta, Pelmo, le Tofane, and Nuvolao.
2
2
13
1,179
May 28
I was going to do you an informative post about the WW1 battlefields traversed by the Giro dโItalia tomorrow, and then I thought โbollocks, what have they ever done for me?โ (apart from buying my books). Anyway, hereโs Ra Gusela, Torre Anna, and Nuvolau at Passo Giau.
1
1
57
2,320
May 26
The WW1 cable-car networks in the Popรจra Group were an impressive engineering achievement, with more than 10km of cableways supplying remote outposts among the rock towers. This is the concrete base of the cable-car station at the Cavernette, with Cima Undici beyond. #TiTM
9
72
2,524
May 23
In 1917 the Austrians dug attack tunnels through solid ice on the north faces of two 11,000ft mountains (1,400m long on Trafoier Eiswand, 2,500m on Hรถhe Schneid). The Hรถhe Schneid one was discovered when an Italian unwittingly fell through the roof and a firefight erupted. #TiTM
4
9
128
8,202