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MY MILITARY LIFE
By Bernard Bernardini (Retyped September 1, 1922)

Shortly after war was declared by Great Britain, France, Belgium, Russia, and Serbia against Germany
and Austria-Hungary in August, 1914, I reached my twentieth birthday and had a longing to join the army
of anyone of the allied nations. At that time, I was working for a German architect in Milwaukee. In that
city, both the press and the public were 90% in sympathy with the German cause.

At first, I thought of doing what many Americans were doing - - - that of joining the Canadian army, but
I had to abandon the idea because I was not of age, and I knew I could not get my parents’ consent. So I
waited for developments, and in the meantime became more and more in sympathy with the allied cause.
The injustice the Germans were doing in Belgium and the Lusitania disaster convinced me of the
barbarous way Germany was conducting the war.

1915
Chapter 1 – Joining the Italian Army and traveling to Naples

On the twenty-fourth of May 1915, Italy entered the war on the side of the allies, increasing my desire to
join the army. This time, the Italian army. I soon began to demonstrate my feelings at home, and found
that my mother was very much against my joining the army, but my father was patriotic and would not
hinder me if I wanted to go.

As days passed, I tried to persuade my mother, but she could not be convinced. Being the eldest of six
children and not yet 21 years of age, he said it was my duty to stay at home. After much pleading, she
unwillingly gave her consent during the month of July 1915. 1 then went to the Italian Vice-Consul at
Milwaukee, and he placed me in a squad that was leaving Milwaukee on July 20, 1915. The following
days were very sad. I could not very well look at my mother without seeing tears in her eyes. I tried to
console her the best I could telling her the war would soon be over, and that it might easily be over before
I even got to the trenches and that at the very latest, I would be back by the spring of 1916.

On Saturday, July 17, I quit work. The architect was very good to me and had tried hard to persuade me
not to join the army. He was sorry to see me leave and. wished me luck even though he was a strong
German sympathizer at heart. On the last day, I went to say goodbye to all of my friends and bought
valises and other necessary articles. My father gave me one hundred dollars for anything I might need
during the trip. The last hour at home was a terrible one; indeed, I needed someone to console me.

On the evening of July 20, 1915 at 7:00 p.m. along with 45 other Italians, who were joining the Italian
army, I left Milwaukee for Chicago. My father, my brother Mario, and several of my friends were at the
Northwestern Station to see me off. Over 1500 people saw us off amid song, hands and Italian flags.

The Italian reservists as we were called, were put in a special car decorated with Italian flags. At Racine,
Wisconsin, five more joined our company. I’ll admit I was not very gay. Among the whole crowd, I alone
was leaving a family in America in order to fight for Italy. Many called me a fool when I told them I was
an American citizen and was leaving of my own will. With very few exceptions, all were going to Italy
first to see their families, and second, to fight for their country.

About two and one half hours later, we reached Chicago. My friend, Harold Rosenberg, and three of’ my
father’s friends met me at the depot. Many others were there to meet their friends. We walked from the
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Northwestern Station amid shouts. Some were given free rides to the Dearborn Station in cabs. Harold
brought me enough food to last me to Now York.

We did not leave Chicago until nearly midnight. We were now distributed in two coaches for ourselves,
as many Chicagoans were also leaving for Italy. The Italian Consul and many other authorities saw us
leave, plus the many friends of those leaving, During the night, we rode through Indiana and Michigan,
but I could not sleep a wink, as I was already getting homesick, for this was the first time I was leaving
home alone for any length of time.

At Port Huron, Canadian custom officers came into our coach. Soon after, we were in the St. Clair tunnel,
which is one and one half miles long, and when we came up again, we were in Canada. Soon after, we
stopped at the first Canadian station, Sarnia, Ontario. Many came to our coaches and greeted us as their
allies; some gave us food and coffee — free of charge. They seemed very patriotic and pleasant people.
The station was decorated with many Italian and Canadian flags.

Our train crossed the entire province of Ontario from Sarnia to Niagara Falls. We stopped at many small
towns and everyone greeted us. At New London, our train stopped for 20 minutes. Here, we were given
quite a reception. Besides food and drink, a military band played the Italian national anthem and other
pieces of music while the boys danced in the station with Canadian girls, who came to see us off. It
certainly was a pleasant sight to see. It sort of made me forget my homesickness.

At Hamilton, Ontario, we got even a better reception than we did at New London. Our train stopped one
and one half hours. Hamilton authorities, a military band, and many, many girls came to see us. Again,
the boys danced on the platform of the railroad station. From Hamilton to Niagara Falls, we went through
what is known as the Garden of Canada. This land is very hilly and is filled with such fruit trees as apple,
peach and cherry. At Niagara Falls, U. S. custom officers came on the train. From the bridge, we could
not get a good view of the falls on account of the suspension bridge being in the way. But, as we went up
the Niagara one and one half miles, we plainly saw the Canadian side of the falls. They were the famous
Horseshoe Falls, which are considered the prettiest of the entire Niagara Falls.

At Buffalo we made a half-hour stop. In the meantime, our two coaches were combined with two more
coaches with 80 more Italian reservists. At Rochester Junction, three more coaches of Italians were added,
making a total of seven coaches. Late in the evening, we arrived at Geneva, New York, where a big
reception awaited us. By now, I was getting acquainted with some of the boys, especially one Sicilian
whose name was Frank, I was less lonesome and more cheerful than in the morning. Our special train of
seven coaches was now traveling fast to New York. The second night away from home I was better able
to sleep than the first night. At 7:00 a.m. we arrived at New York City. I did not have much time alone to
see New York, because they would not leave us alone for fear we would not return. I had seen New York
four years ago and was not enthusiastic about it. From the train, we were taken to the Italian Foreign
Exchange Office and from there to the Fabre Line Dock. Here, after dinner, we were taken on board the
Santa Anna with which we crossed the ocean. After finding out that we were to travel as third class
passengers, Frank and I decided to pay the difference and travel second class instead. Those who have
traveled on ocean liners, both in second and third class, know how much more convenient the former is to
the latter. In second, one may have a room of two or four clean and well-kept bunks with white sheets and
blankets - the sheets being changed every other day. Each bedroom also has a lavatory and drinking
water. Food in the second class is of the very best and served by waiters. Everything is kept very clean.

On the other hand, in third class, one sleeps in a bunk with no sheets and but one dirty blanket. One large
room is used as sleeping quarters and accommodates from three to four hundred persons. The bunks in
some cases are too high and the room itself is dirty and filled with foul odors. Food in third class in
French liners is not bad, but it is served poorly. The passengers form groups of ten, and one from each is
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chosen to get the food for that particular group. This person is given enough tin plates, knives, forks,
spoons, and pans for ten people. At mealtime, he goes to the kitchen and secures all the food for his
group, after which he distributes it either on deck or on the rough large tables in the dining room.

During the first afternoon on board, we adjusted our belongings and got acquainted with the steamer. We
were 3,000 on board, 2,800 of which were Italian reservists. At 5:00 p.m., amid cheers, we pulled out of
dock and about half an hour later we passed the Statue of Liberty. As I stood there and gazed at it, I
wondered whether I would see it anymore, or whether I would see my folks any more. The passing by the
statue brought back sad memories of two days ago. Others cheered as we passed it, but they cheered
because they were leaving a strange land and were going to their homes to see their parents, wives, or
children. Few, if any, were leaving their parents, brothers, and sisters as I was. I dare say the only
American citizen on board was myself.

Crossing the ocean on this occasion was not as pleasant a trip as I had at other times. Although I
personally enjoyed the trip, very many did not. The main reason being, of course, that the German
submarines might get us and surely they would not spare us if they knew that on board was almost a full
regiment of soldiers. Several times during the trip, we were told by officers of the ship that we had
dodged a submarine at such and such a place.

As a precaution against submarines, no lights were allowed on deck after dark, not even a match could be
lighted. Shades of all the rooms had to be pulled down, so that no light could be seen from the outside.
Then too, the French flag was taken down after we left New York Harbor, and we went flagless all the
way to Naples. The entire trip was a pleasant one and with one exception, unexciting.

The Santa Anna weighs about 10,000 tons and sails at an average rate of 300 miles a day. Its route is
between New York, Naples, and Marseilles, France. The officers on board spoke English, French and
Italian quite fluently, but the sailors could only speak French. The captain was a jolly fellow, who twice
during the trip, had dinner with us. There were in all about 20 second class passengers — five of which
were Italian reservists. The others were regular passengers. Of these 20, 14 were Italian, 4 were French,
and one American and one Swiss girl.

The latter was a very strong German sympathizer and had no place on board with the bunch who were for
the Allies. This young lady was left much alone, but very often I would have long talks with her. She was
trying to convince me one way, and I was trying to convince her the other. With the exception of this
young lady, the second-class passengers had a very good time. We always ate, chatted and played games
together.

While in mid-ocean, we got a Marconigram of the Eastland disaster in Chicago. This kept me thinking for
quite a while.

The only exciting incident of the trip was on the sixth day. As I was sitting in an easy chair trying to read
an Italian book, I heard shouts among the third class passengers. I immediately rushed down to see what
was going on. I saw a mob of men beating up one man yelling, “A spy, a spy,” Officers and sailors
rescued the poor devil from the blows of the mob. We later learned that he was a German spy, who could
speak very good Italian. He came on board as an American going to Italy as a third class passenger. In his
valise was found 30 lbs. of dynamite with which it was said he was to blow up the ship, even though he
would die with the rest. He was kept under close guard for the remainder of the trip and at Gibraltar he
was taken by the British authorities. The entire trip from New York to Naples lasted 14 days. During this
time, I played checkers, cards and deck games with the other passengers. We also enjoyed many
improvised mandolin, harmonica and violin concerts from the third class passengers.
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Our food during the trip was delicious. We had a newly painted menu on the table daily. We could eat as
much as we wanted and one could get extra portions of anything on the menu just by asking the waiter.
To drink, both at dinner and at supper, we had wines of two kinds and as much of it as we wished. In the
morning, one could have his breakfast brought to his room. We could have chocolate, coffee, milk, eggs,
buttered toast, or even meat if one so chose.

A violent toothache and a swollen face made it very uncomfortable for me during three days of the trip. It
kept me in bed all that time. The doctor of the Santa Anna looked after me every day.

We celebrated the birthday of one of our fellow passengers in second class in grand style on the 28th of
July. The captain of our steamer was at the head of our table and told us very amusing stories of his life as
a sailor. After the table was cleared, we had a five-reel movie comedy on a set up screen in the dining
room. The movies are a luxury in first class and only through the passengers were we able to have them
twice during the trip. To them, it was an every day affair.

After nine days since leaving New York, we first saw land - Cape St. Vincent of Portugal. During the
same evening, we got a scare from a supposed submarine. We went at full speed to Gibraltar, as we were
told that we were near a German submarine base.

It was just in this vicinity that this very steamer was sunk by a submarine on its next trip to Italy with
another load of reservists on board. That was on the l6th of September, just one and a half months later.
So the trip we made was the last full trip from the United States to Europe by this steamer.

On the morning of August 1, we reached Gibraltar. Here, British officers came on board. We did not go
into the harbor, but we certainly got a wonderful panorama of the city with its gigantic mountain behind
it. The sun rising behind the mountain made a wonderful color scheme. We were only about 20 minutes in
the outer harbor of the city when the British officers left taking with them the German spy. We then
started off again. From our steamer, we could now see the coast of the Spanish mainland on one side and
the African coast on the other.

The Spanish coast is very beautiful with its hills and valleys dotted with villages and farms. Many
lighthouses and “middle-ages” castles could be seen. We coasted Spain for over 24 hours after we left
Gibraltar, and very near the coast at that, for fear of submarines of which it was said the Mediterranean
Sea was full.

In the morning of August 3 we saw the island of Sardinia. The Sardinian coast is every hit as pretty as the
Spanish. For eight hours, we coasted this island. In the evening of the same day, we all dolled up for the
farewell supper. We had a big meal and a bushel of fun with many of the most important passengers
giving toasts in favor of the Allies.

The next morning, August 4, I got up before 4:00 a.m. to make sure I would not miss seeing the first
glimpse of the Italian mainland, From 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. we passed several small Italian islands off the
mainland. It was 7:00 a.m. before the Italian mainland first became visible. We saw the beautiful
panorama of Naples with its harbor and Mt. Vesuvius in the distance, but because of the fog at the crater
of the volcano, we could not see the latter very distinctly.

As we were entering the harbor, hundreds of peddlers and beggars came to the side of our steamer, with
long poles and baskets fastened at the end by means of a long rope they hoisted their wares to the
passengers. When a customer wanted anything, the peddler would throw the free end of the rope to him,
so that the customer could pull up the basket. This was all going on as our steamer was in motion. The
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beggars swam in the water naked and asked for money. As someone would throw them a coin out of their
reach, they would dive to the bottom of the sea and return with the coin in their mouth and await for
someone else to throw a coin.

As we were nearing the harbor, we all, thought of the wonderful welcome we would receive from the
government authorities, since we were about 3,000 who had come here to fight as volunteers. We were
very much dumbfounded when our steamer stopped at its dock and not even a band came to greet us. On
the contrary, as we got off the steamer, the Italian military police surrounded us so that we could not
escape. This sort of a welcome brought a lump in my throat. We were then led into a large shed. During
the day, another load of reservists came from the United States on the steamer Ancona. On the day before,
two more had come to Naples - - - one from the United States and one from South America. In two days,
15,000 men came from North and South America combined.

I had to leave Frank with whom by this time we had become the best of pals and roommates during the
trip. He took another steamer for Palermo, Sicily. I found a companion named Brusa, who had his wife
with him, a young spirited woman with whom I got acquainted during the trip. They were also in second
class with Frank and me. Mr. and Mrs. Brusa were from Turin, so we went as far as Rome together. Mr.
Brusa was a real reservist having been through the war with Turkey in Tripoli and a sergeant in the army.
He knew the military law, and with his help, Frank and I got by the officers in an hour and a half. I was
given a railroad ticket to Florence, Italy, my military district.

When finally we were out of the crowd and Frank had left us we hired a lazy, dirty Neapolitan porter with
a handcart to carry our valises. The Brusas had five and I had two. The porter pushed his cart and led the
way to a recommended restaurant. We walked about 20 minutes up the narrow and dirty streets of the
poorer quarters of Naples, which were filled with fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, goats and dirty children
and adults.

It was about noon when we got to the restaurant, which although it could have been cleaner, was much
better than the average, The three of us after having given the porter a good tip, which he could call a
good works put our valises in the rear room of the restaurant and sat at the table to eat some of the famous
Neapolitan spaghetti. While still at the table finishing our meal, which was not bad, Mr. Brusa went back
to the dock to get his trunks, which were still on board the Santa Anna. After Mrs. Brusa and I finished
our meal, I asked for the bill and the proprietor knowing that we came from the States soaked us good and
plenty for it. I was ready to pay the full amount without comment, when Mrs. Brusa asked to see the bill
as she said her husband was to pay for two-thirds of it. When she saw the bill, which I unwillingly gave
her, she almost went into hysterics. She immediately called for the proprietor and started such a row as
never seen before in my life. She called him vile names and for a minute I thought they were coming to
blows. I tried to calm her, but I could not. He was also very angry and flushed from the insults he received
from Mrs. Brusa, I was frightfully afraid his temper would get the best of him and that something terrible
would happen, since Neapolitans are very hot blooded. During their quarrel, I paid the bill and forcibly
dragged Mrs. Brusa out. All afternoon, Mrs. Brusa and I took in the sites of Naples. We went to see the
better quarters of the city and also saw many beautiful monuments. Then we went to the dock to see if
Mr. Brusa had gotten possession of his trunks. For supper, we went back to our restaurant of our former
meal, since we had left our three valises there. During our supper, which was quiet, the proprietor gave
Mrs. Brusa some ugly looks which I was afraid might mean something. Mr. and Mrs. Brusa left to get
some important papers. It was then about 5:00 p.m. and we were to take the 6:00 p.m. train for Rome. As
they said they would easily be back in time, I got a porter and had the valises taken back to the station. I
waited and waited for them — six o’clock came and they did not show up. At eight o’clock, it was getting
dark and still they were not to be seen. I was greatly worried because the proprietor of the restaurant we
had stopped at, went out the same time they did, and I was afraid he had done them harm. Nine o’clock
came and went and still they had net come back. I went to the municipal police, but I got only a curt
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answer as to where to find them if they had lost their way. At 9:30 p.m. they came, Mrs. Brusa tired and
crying. They told me all about the red tape they had to go through and how they were chased from one
building to another to get what they wanted.

Chapter 2 – Going to Florence/Forli to formally join the Italian Army

We had to take a local train for Rome leaving at 11:10 p.m. from Naples. It took us eight hours to go 249
kilometers, or 155 miles. We stopped at 36 different stations. Being night, I could not see all of the
beautiful country I was passing — at least not until daybreak when we were passing through the region
known as the Campagnia Romana.

It was 7:45 a.m. when we got to Rome, and I found out I was to leave on the 9:10 a.m. train for Florence,
while Mr. and Mrs. Brusa did not have to leave until noon for Turin. We had a farewell breakfast at a cafe
near the station for I did not have time to see the capital of Italy.

From Rome to Florence, the train stopped at 42 different stations. The distance between the two cities,
which is 316 kilometers, or less than 200 miles, took us exactly ten hours and twenty minutes — we were
going so fast.

The train first coasted the beautiful Tiber River with its many old buildings and ruins on the banks. The
scenery was very beautiful. All day we passed villages and towns on top of beautiful high hills. Some of
the most important stops we made were Orte, Orvieto, Chiusi and Arezzo. We went through three of the
most fertile regions of Italy, namely; the Roman, the Perugian and the Tuscan regions we saw many,
many miles of vineyards and olive trees.

Late in the evening I got to Florence, my birthplace, but I was very much lost in it. I went to the Hotel
Giappone near the railroad station, which had been recommended to me by one of the passengers of the
train. It cost me thirty cents a room for one night. I could have gone to the Armory and gotten free
lodgings; but as my days to sleep in beds with white sheets and mattresses were numbered, I considered it
best to go to a hotel. Then, too, I was very tired. After engaging a room and leaving my valises there, I
went out for supper; then before going to bed I went to a motion picture show.

The following day proved very interesting, for I got my first taste of Italian ways of doing things. The
first thing in the early morning I went to the Armory. There they hunted up different records but could not
find my name in any of them. They told me to go to the Prefect to get my certificate so as to identify me.
The building where the Prefect has his office was in the other section of the city. The Prefect sent me to
the municipal building, which is the famous Palazzo Vecchio. From there, I was again sent to the Prefect
who by this time was able to identify me. He was a kind gentleman, and asked me several personal
questions. He seemed to be glad that I had come to Italy to fight. He asked me if I had any relations in
Italy and if I wanted to go to see them. He also asked me if nine days leave of absence would suffice. I
told him that they would and that on the morning of the sixteenth of August I would report to the military
doctor for examination.

I was very glad to get nine days furlough, as I had been told that in some cases reservists from abroad
were sent direct from the seaport they landed at to training camps and from there to the front without
seeing their wives and children who were living in Italy. With the exception of the Prefect who is really a
man of importance, the other officials acted big-headed and acted very rough when they spoke to me. By
the time I was through with the Prefect, it was early evening so I went to my hotel, re-engaged my room
for one more night, then went out to see the sights.
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Of all the Italian cities, I like Florence the best. There are probably two reasons for that; the first is that I
got to be more thoroughly acquainted with it than any other city; the other reason is because I was born
there. The art galleries, wonderful buildings, villas, monuments, and fountains have made the city one of
the most important if not the most important city in Europe to see.

Early the next morning I left Florence for Forli. The road from Florence to Faenza is considered a
wonderful engineering feat. It is about one hundred kilometers, or sixty-three miles long, and cuts through
the Apennine Mountains. There are a total of fifty-one tunnels, some are long ones, two are over three
kilometers, five are over two kilometers, and the rest are smaller. These mountains divide the Adriatic
from the Tyreanean Sea.

On the way to Forli, I had a strange experience. After we left Florence, two big Italian military police
came on the train and sat in front of me. They looked at me suspiciously, looked at my valises, and then I
heard them mumbling something to each other. This made me quite uneasy. They could tell by my clothes
that I came from a foreign country, then too I was reading a Paris edition of the New York Herald. After
two hours, which they spent staring at me and conversing to each other in low voices, one of them asked
me for papers of identification. I showed him those given to me by the Prefect. After he was through
looking at them, he handed them back to me, but kept on staring, evidently not yet convinced.

After three and a half hours of traveling, I arrived at Faenza where the train terminates. There, I took a
train coming from Bologna and going toward southern Italy. From Faenza, the first stop is Forli. As I had
to wait over two hours for my train to Forli, I was going in the town for something to eat. The military
police who were still keeping an eye on me came up to me and said that strangers were not allowed in the
town. They took the same train with me and sat close to me until I got off at Forli, where they got off with
me. It was noon when I got to Forli and I immediately went to my grand folks for dinner.

They got the surprise of their lives since I had not notified them that I was coming to Italy. At dinner I
met my uncle, a wealthy bachelor. Later in the day I went to see my father’s relations; they also were very
much surprised. I had not seen any of them since the summer of 1911 when I went there with my father.

During the eight days, August eighth to the fifteenth, I had one grand time. I was very well treated by my
relatives. I ate, drank, and slept to my heart’s content without any worry. Every day I went out with one or
the other of my relatives.

Forli is a town of about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. It is the capital of the province by the same
name. This region was once known as Romagna, but now it is in the region known as Emilia. It is about
sixty kilometers south, or thirty-seven and one-fourth mile, of Bologna and about eighteen miles from the
Adriatic coast. This town before 1860 was a part of the Pope’s Domain. In it my father’s people have
lived for many years since both my father and grandfather were born there. My father’s older brother and
his wife lived here; and in a small town about eight miles from Forli, called Bertinoro, live my father’s
sister and her husband who prior to 1914 were living in Chicago.

My mother’s folks have been living in Forli for over forty years. The relatives on her side who were
living here then were: her mother, father and her only brother. They are very well to do. The entire period
I spent in Forli I had a room at my mother’s folks, while I divided my meals with each relative. Most of
the time I spent going about with my uncle (my father’s brother). He was a Municipal policeman and took
me all over town.

All of my relatives, but especially Uncle Bernardini, were not pleased to have me join the army. Uncle
Bernardini was Socialist, that was to be expected. In fact, most of Forli is Socialist. Those that were not
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Socialist were Republicans, no trace of monarchism in Forli. The Republicans were patriotic during the
war while the Socialists were not.

Forli was in what was called the war zone, That is, in the evenings all the streets were pitch dark, no lights
were lighted. All of the houses had to close their shutters at night so that no light could be seen from the
outside. This precaution is taken so that airplanes could not throw bombs in the city. Their target was
naturally armories and ammunition warehouses. Forli is less than one hundred miles from the west coast
of Austria, so that enemy airplanes would quite frequently fly over the town. There were in Forli, at that
time, over seven thousand soldiers of various corps, drilling. When ready, they were sent directly to the
front.

On August tenth, I went to Bertinoro to see my Aunt and Uncle Tumedei and my grandmother who was
visiting them but who lives in Turin with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins Medri. The last time I had seen my
Aunt and Uncle Tumedei was at Christmas 1913 at our house in Milwaukee. They were surprised to see
me, but showed that they would have been happier if I had come at any other time than to join the army.

Bertinoro is situated on the top of a high hill. The position of the road leading there is so steep that one
cannot go there on bicycle. This little town had three thousand inhabitants and was about eight miles from
Forli. From the public square, one can see the country below for miles around. Here one can see the
Adriatic Sea, the town of Cesena, and in the distance the Republic of San Marino which is bounded on all
sides by the Province of Forli.

I still had four more days to become a slave, as they called me here, so they told me to have as much fun
as possible.

I have never seen the equal of the wonderful panorama viewed here. The farm houses, beautiful villas
occupied by landlords, villages, towns, vineyards, and the deep blue Adriatic Sea to the east, all could be
seen from the public square.

I spent two nice days here. Most of the time I spent enjoying the scenery. On the evening of the second
day I hiked back to Forli. During these days I got news from home; Mario had sent me Chicago papers
about the Eastland disaster.

Once I went to a motion picture show. An odd thing about the show was that they had three admission
prices; three cents, six cents and ten cents. The three-cent seats were up in front, the six-cent seats were in
the center, and the ten-cent seats were in the back.

One of the best sights in town is on market day which is on Monday. All of the farmers from the
neighboring country come to the city to sell fruit, vegetables, eggs, poultry, cheese and butter, Their
wares are laid on tables at the Market Square, as it is called. Early in the morning all the housewives go to
the market and by noon the farmers get ready to hitch their horses and start back home. Most of the
farmers who are selling their goods are women and girls with quaint vivid colored costumes. Most of the
men were either in the army or out on the farm.

The delivery of milk in Forli is out of the ordinary. Farm girls come to the city every morning on their
bicycles with two large cans of milk and distribute it to their customers.
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In the afternoon of August fifteenth, I bid my relatives goodbye, not knowing that I would be back again
in two days. This time I had no valises as I took with me only a small bundle containing only a few
underclothes. I went back to Florence by the same road from whence I came. I had supper in Florence in
an English Tea Room which was something like a cafeteria in America.

At 9:00 a.m. on August sixteenth, I was at the military doctors’ headquarters for a physical examination.
We (about thirty-five of us) waited over two hours before being examined. They found me thoroughly fit
for military duty so we went to the Armory where we were told what corp (in which) we were to be
placed.

I tried very hard to get in the Engineering Corps and then in the Cavalry. I had no documents showing
that I had any schooling in that line. I told them I was studying architecture, but they wanted written
proof. I was very, very sorry for not having been taken into this special corp. All sons of well-to-do
Italian families with schooling belonged to this corp or in the Cavalry. When asked to be allowed in the
Cavalry, it was also denied me. They pointed out to me that all the fighting was now going on in the
mountains and that the Cavalry was not useful there, In fact, most of the present Cavalry was gradually
being put in the trenches to fight as infantry. So I was doomed for infantry. They asked me if I had any
particular regiment in mind that I would like to join.

Having seen the 11th infantry in Forli during my stay there, I asked to be allowed to join it which was
readily granted. At least I would have been with my relatives for at least three months before being sent to
the front. I had been told that before one went to the front we would need at least three months of drilling.
I was glad I cou1d spend this period where I was acquainted.

I was given sixty-two cents to pay for my meals until I would get to Forli - - - that was supposed to be for
one day. We could sleep at the Armory free, of course, if we wanted to, but I had my room at Hotel
Morosini so I went there. I was also given necessary papers to bring with me to the Armory in Forli. As
five others of the thirty-five who had passed the examination with me desired to go to Forli also, I was
appointed Corporal of the bunch. We were told to leave next morning at the latest. I went to the hotel,
while the boys slept at the Armory. Before parting, we made an appointment to meet early next morning
at the railroad station.

As per appointment) we met at 6:00 a.m. and took the same train to Faenza as when I was suspected by
the military police. When we arrived at Faenza, we were very hungry, so the six of us went to an
expensive restaurant and had a very good meal. This time no one prevented us from going into the town.
We walked around Faenza, which is a town of about twenty to twenty-five thousand people. It is in the
province of Ravenna. The town, itself, is not much different from Forli, though it is a more important
railroad center on account of the railroad terminal to Florence.

During our sightseeing we missed two trains for Forli. We took a late afternoon train and arrived in Forli
in twenty minutes.

When we got off the train, it was raining hard. I got wet to the skin, so I went to my Uncle Bernardini to
change clothes. My pals waited for me at the “café” near the station. When the shower was over, I went to
meet my new pals, and we all went to the Armory to become actual soldiers. At the Armory they took our
name and address, and we were told to come the next morning if we wished. This, of course, meant just
one more free day before actually donning the uniform. If some one would have told me that I would not
have been released from wearing the gray green uniform until exactly forty-nine months later, I would
have called him crazy. This was the last time I slept in a bed for over four months, when I was given a
fifteen-day leave of absence when at the front.
 10

The next morning, August eighteenth, I went to the Armory1 this time I knew that when I would come
out again in the evening I would be in uniform. All morning we loafed around the Armory. Then at about
10:00 a.m., I was told I could go out if I returned at 2:30 in the afternoon. So, I went to my relatives for
lunch. At 2:30 I returned to the Armory and after about an hour we were given our uniforms, the six of us
who came from Florence. The following is a complete list of what we were given; two complete
uniforms, a summer and a winter uniform; two white linen shirts, two pair of underwear, one gray green
cape to match our winter suit; Instead of socks, we got two one foot squares of linen to wrap around our
feet. We also received one cap to wear in the Armory and one to wear when going out; one pair of heavy
shoes; two ties; one belt; and one sweater. In the line of utensils, we got a spoon, a small tin mug to drink
from, and a larger mug which contained one liter of liquid for our food. Then we got a shoe brush, a tin
box to put shoe polish in and a small cloth bag which contained articles such as needles, thread, buttons,
pins, scissors, comb, etc.

I then put on a bulgy uniform which was much too large for me. I looked more like clown than a soldier.
By the time we had put everything in the knapsack and had out uniforms on, it was time for supper. This
was my first military meal since arriving at Naples. I was entitled to military meals all the time, but up to
August eighteenth, I either bought my meals or ate with my relatives.

My first military meal consisted of a mug full of rice with beef broth, which wasn’t bad since I like it in
most any way it is cooked. We were also given a loaf of bread weighing about twenty ounces which I got
every day after that and one-third of a quart of wine. At 5:00 p.m., right after supper, we were allowed to
go out until 8:40 p.m. I went to show my uniform to my relatives. I was very glad that after much delay I
was finally given a uniform. I was now a full-fledged private of the 11th regiment of company Number 5.
At 8:30 in the evening, I answered the first bugle call for my first night in the Armory, or my first night as
a soldier. About fifteen minutes later our corporal gave roll call and at 9 p.m. the bugle sounded. This
meant that there was to be absolute silence in the Armory, not even whispering was allowed. This being
my first night at the Armory I did not know where to sleep. My superiors had not provided for me so I
was told to help myself. So, I found a bale of straw and scattered some of it in a corner and lay down half
dressed for the night, my first night as a soldier. The others were not much better off than I, only they
were used to it.

Our so-called “Armory” was really an old church which had long been abandoned as such, for as I have
already said the inhabitants of Forli were becoming more and more Socialistic every day which means
that more and more became Atheists. There were at the time many old abandoned churches in Forli which
in the time of war were used to shelter troops.

My first quarters in Forli did not have the comforts of the present day armories. All privates and corporals
slept on the ground floor with only a sack of straw beneath and an old blanket to cover themselves. But as
I said, my first night I had neither a sack to put my straw in nor a blanket to cover myself; nevertheless,
on the second night I had both a blanket and a sack which I filled with straw to serve as a mattress. The
Armory was lighted with a few oil lamps and candles, but after nine o’clock no lights were allowed.

Before going on any further, I think it is best that I make clear some military principles of Italy.

Normally Italy has ninety-six regiments of infantry, but in time of peace even these regiments are not
complete. That is, there are only eight hundred or nine hundred men per regiment while in times of war a
complete regiment consists of three thousand men, twelve companies of about two hundred fifty men per
company. When war was declared not only were the existing ninety-six regiments given their whole
quota, but new regiments were formed. They were numbered from ninety-seven to about one hundred
seventy in the regiments were put men who in 1915 were from twenty-four to thirty years old. These men
 11

had already served their term in the army but were recalled on account of the war. These troops were
drilled only a few weeks and then sent to the Front. Those older than thirty—five years and younger than
forty were called to do National guard duty; that is, they were stationed at the Swiss front and throughout
the interior of Italy to suppress any riots that might take place.

In the time of peace, all male citizens have to serve two years in the army, but he can choose any branch
he sees fit. His time of service is from the twentieth to the twenty-second year. In normal times there are
many exemptions from military service, but in times of war only those physically unfit are exempted.
Those exempted in normal times were in families where there was only one male child. Also, if the father
is dead, the boy that provides for the mother is exempted. These two are what is called complete
exemption from military service. There is also a partial exemption class. These are sons who when
becoming of military age still have a brother in the army. These young men are in service for about a
month instead of two years. None of these exemptions hold good in time of war, all have to serve the
army or navy unless, as I have already said, they have been found physically unfit by military doctors.

Coming back to the ninety-six permanent regiments, one of each of these regiments is quartered in
different cities throughout Italy, the 11th infantry having its home in Forli.

At the time of my joining the 11th infantry, the actual 11th regiment was at the Front. It was fighting
heroically at the heights of Podgora near Cormona (Cremona??). It had been sent to the Front when war
was declared. At Forli there was only a made—up, incomplete regiment whose purpose was to fill the
gaps of the actual regiment at the Front, as they were being either killed or wounded.

An Italian infantry regiment is made up of twelve companies of about two hundred fifty men each, four
companies make a battalion. There are, therefore, three battalions per regiment. A regiment is
commanded by a colonel and a battalion by either a lieutenant colonel or a major. Usually the first
battalion by a lieutenant colonel and the second and third battalions by majors. A company is commanded
by a captain and divided into platoons of sixty men. Each platoon commanded by an officer. The first
platoon usually by a first lieutenant and the other three by second lieutenants. The captain has an assistant
who looks after the affairs of the company, makes out pay rolls, provides for the food, clothing, etc. This
man is either a sergeant or a sergeant—major. Each of the four platoons have a sergeant or a sergeant—
major who assists the officer in taking care of the platoon. Each platoon is also divided into four squads of
about fifteen or sixteen men. Each squad is taken care of by a corporal or a corporal major.

Two regiments form a brigade under command of a brigadier colonel or major general. Two brigades or
four regiments form a division under the command of a major general. Two divisions or eight regiments
consists of an army Corp which is under a major or a lieutenant general. In 1915, 1916, and 1917 the
entire Italian army was divided into three armies; the first army fighting in the Alps from the Swiss border
to Cornia; the second army under General Capello was situated from Cornia to Gorizia; and the third
army which was by far the largest of the three was between Gorizia and the sea. This army was under the
command of the Duke of Aosta, a cousin of the King of Italy. More men were killed and wounded in this
Front than in all the other Fronts combined. It was called the lower Isonzo Front.

The commander-in-chief of the army was Cadorna who had his headquarters at Udine. The King of Italy
was nominally the commander-in-chief.

It stands to reason that what I have said about a complete regiment means the manner of the regiment
when it leaves for the Front. In the battlefield a regiment may be commanded by a captain or a lieutenant
if all other superior officers have been either killed or wounded. I have seen companies commanded by
sergeants on account of all officers being either killed or wounded.
 12

Getting back to my first night in the hay as a soldier. I had little or no sleep and just as I got sleepy at 4:00
a.m., the bugle called us up. We had to dress hurriedly and then we were given a cup of black coffee.
Some ate a piece of bread with it. Then we were all lined up by the corporals and sergeants and waited for
the officers to come to take us to the drill grounds a mile and a half from our quarters. We were about two
hundred men, all except we last six arrivals were armed with rifles and bayonets. The six of us were put in
the rear of the company. As usual when going out for drill we carried all of our belongings with us except
the straw sack we slept on. An hour after we were awakened by the bugle we left quarters for the drill
grounds. It was still dark out. The drill grounds in Forli are very large and very well kept.

At the grounds were over five thousand men drilling and going through different stunts. The colonel, the
commander of all the troops of Forli, was there. When we got to the grounds, we six new recruits were
taken to one side and given some of the simpler drills; such a right about face, left face, march, keep step,
etc., by a corporal. The others went through harder drills, most of them having been in. the army since
June first, one and a-half months longer than we were. Our first lesson lasted from 5:00 to 9:00 a.m. At
10:00 a.m. we had lunch and then for the rest of the day we loafed around the Armory. At five in the
evening we were allowed to go out until 8:30.

The following day we six recruits did not go to drill with the rest. We did errands about the Armory.

As I have already stated, I joined the 11th infantry in Forli to be near my relatives, but I was disappointed,
for only three days after I had put on my uniform, we male preparations to leave Forli.

On that day, August twenty-first, we were paid. I got thirty cents at ten cents a day. A private in the war
zone receives ten cents a day, while in any other place the pay is two cents a day. On the same day,
twenty-five of the best trained of our company were selected to go as reinforcements to the 11th infantry
at the Front. We were given a rifle, a bayonet, bread sack and one tent sheet with two foot poles. An
Italian military tent is made up of four sheets and eight one-foot poles, and as each soldier must carry one
sheet and two poles, naturally a tent is for four soldiers. But when the officers too must sleep in tents, then
five men are kept in one tent. The extra man’s sheet is used to make tents for the officers.

I bade all of my friends and relatives goodbye, as we were leaving town early the next morning, and I
wasn’t at all certain that I would be back before going to the Front.

Chapter 4 – The new recruits move out

The bugle awoke us at two in the morning. We had our coffee and then we were put in line with all of our
equipment. Our knapsack alone with all of our belongings in it weighed over forty pounds, besides we
had our bread bag, canteen, rifle and bayonet - a total of about fifty-five pounds to carry fifteen
kilometers, or nine and one-third miles, on our backs. This was our first hike with our more experienced
companions. We left Forli at 3:30a.m. It was still pitch dark out. The first hour of the trip went fine. We
left Forli singing military songs. Of course, I didn’t because as yet I didn’t know any of them. But the
others sang and woke up the inhabitants who came to the window with a lighted candle to see what it was
all about. Just before daybreak, as we were leaving Forli behind us, we were caught in a rain, hail and
thunder storm such as I had never seen before, but we plodded on to show the veterans we were as game
as they.

After about five miles of which we kept up with the veterans, Serafini, who was one of the five recruits
who one with me from Forli and with whom I became chummy during my entire military service, could
 13

not keep up the pace of the others and fell behind. So, to keep him company, I remained with him. We
were not the only ones to fall back. Hundreds had fallen behind before us. Our officers were very good, so
they didn’t say anything. After the great shower, the sun showed and dried us. Serafini and I trudged
along resting every now and then, and by 9:30 we arrived at our destination. We found a city of tents. We
were in a large prairie and we put up our tents.

We were in all about six companies of about two hundred twenty five men each and about seventy
officers. Over three hundred forty tents were made, all lined up with a wide space between each company.
As Serafini and I approached the camp, it was a fine sight to see all those tents put up as neat as they
were. Serafini and I approached two older companions of our company who had fallen behind in the
march to show us how to put up our tents. In our tent, we put a layer of straw and arranged our belongings
inside very neatly. We stayed in camp all day, we ate and rested. At five o’clock we were allowed to go
out as usual. While we were out, it began to pour again so we (Serafini, Berettini, and I) found refuge in a
nearby farmhouse. While there, we got permission from the farmer to go in his watermelon patch to get
three watermelons, one for each of us. Then we went into the barn to have a royal feast.

That night we slept on the ground in our tents with only a thin layer of straw beneath us. At four o’clock
the next morning, we got up ready to proceed on the last lap of our journey to Cervia. But, like the day
before, Serafini could not keep up with the rest, so I remained with him; this time we fell back when we
had gone less than three miles with the others. We stopped at a “café” and had coffee and biscuits, then
we walked on again until we met a man with a horse and buggy who gave us a lift for three and a-half
miles. Then, we continued to march again. But Serafini had sore feet and could not go any further, so with
three others who had fallen behind also, we hired a horse and buggy from a farmer and had him take us to
Cervia. The buggy being small, the five of us could not fit in it, so I offered to walk if they would haul all
of my belongings in the buggy so that I would be free of burden, In this way we made good tine and we
got to Cervia at 10:00 a.m., having covered another ten miles. We got to Cervia just shortly after the main
group got in. We went to find where our company was located.

Our new location was on a large farm estate which was now vacated. The six companies were distributed
in the various buildings of this estate. Three companies were put in the villa, one in the helpers’ quarters,
and two in the barns. My company was one of the least fortunate and we were quartered in a barn. We
were given straw to put on the floor in layers of four to six inches to sleep on. We slept about two feet
apart. Those that slept in the main building slept just as we did, with straw on the floor, and were even
more crowded than we were.

Every morning for the next eighteen days with the exception of three days and Sundays, we went out for
target practice. Cervia is a small fishing town on the Adriatic Sea. In the summertime it is quite a bathing
resort; that is, before the war. I had had the pleasure of having been in Cervia for fifteen days during the
summer of 1911. Now, in 1915, Cervia had a gloomy appearance — there were no bathers on its beaches.
On previous summers, there were over three hundred bathing houses and a large dancing pavilion at the
beach while now there were only seventeen bathing houses. The inhabitants were not the prosperous
people they were in 1911. Not only was the town dead on account of its lack of tourists, but its inhabitants
were prohibited to go fishing in their own sailboats as they used to. Now they were not allowed to go
further than one mile from the sea shore. In this way they were deprived of their only means of making a
living. The government tried its best to provide for them so each fisherman was given one lira (20 cents)
to live on. The inhabitants were also much afraid that units of the Austrian navy might bombard their little
town as they had already bombarded Rimini about twenty miles south and Porto Corsini about fourteen
miles north.

Cervia is about twenty-two kilometers, or three and one-half miles, south of Ravenna, twenty-nine
kilometers, or eighteen miles, east of Forli, and twenty-eight kilometers, or seventeen and one-third miles,
 14

north of Rimini. It is a neat little town of about 4,000 inhabitants and all very generous, which is a
characteristic of a Romagnioli. In this respect they differ very much from the Venetians, Ligurians,
Tuscans, and others of Northern Italy. They have, to their disadvantage, a very hot temper much like the
Southern Italians.

Our six companies at Cervia were composed of over ninety per cent Tuscans, though all of the officers
and most of the noncommissioned officers were either of Forli or from that province. The privates were
almost all of the Provinces of Lucca or Florence.

The regions of Tuscany and Romagna are neighbors, but the inhabitants are very unsimilar. For instance
the Tuscans speak almost the pure Italian language, while in Romagna, they have a dialect of their own
which is so different from the Italian language that one that does not know it would think it a different
language. It is, in fact, next to the Sardinian dialect, the most difficult of all the Italian dialects to
understand. Most of the older generation of the towns and rural sections of Romagna speak little or no
Italian. Several petty quarrels took place because the Tuscan soldiers could not understand the civilians.

As I have already said, the Romagnoli as a rule were very generous, good-natured, hot tempered, and very
slow to make intimate friends. They were also by no means cowards. In fact, next to the Sardinians, they
were the most courageous soldiers of Italy.

Quite the reverse were the Tuscans. They were rather tight, seldom helped a friend or comrade in need,
and were not among the bravest in the battlefield. This is, of course, generally speaking.

Our daily program during our stay at Cervia was as follows: We got up at 4:15 a.m., had a cup of black
coffee with some bread. Then at 5:15 a.m., with our knapsack, bread sack, rifle, bayonet and ammunition,
we left for target practice on the beach about three miles from Cervia. Our targets were either moving or
stationary. Each private shot six shots a day. Then for the rest of the day, we either dug trenches or had
bayonet drills. Some officers were very good to their men and had them leave their knapsacks on the
beach while drilling, while the officer at the head of my company was a Southern Italian and made us
work like slaves always carrying our knapsacks with us, even in our running drills, We always got back to
the Armory as wet with perspiration as though we just came out of the Adriatic Sea. We got back from
drill at 9:00 a.m., had dinner at 9:45, which consisted of a mug of noodles in beef broth with a piece of
beef. Then we rested until 12:00 Noon, and we were then given a cup of wine and our daily loaf of bread.
We then took our daily afternoon nap until 2:00p.m. From 2:00 until 3:30 p.m. we cleaned our rifle and
ourselves. Our rifles had to be inspected by an officer to see whether they were clean. After the usual
inspection, we had supper at 4:00 p.m. and at 5:00 p.m. we were all let out until 9:00 p.m. when the bugle
called us in. The first rifle inspection I passed was the day after we got to Cervia, and since I was given
the rifle but two days before, I naturally did not know how to use it or clean its parts. So, when the officer
passed inspection that day, my rifle was not as it should have been so I was told to clean it after all of the
others had gone out for the evening. I tried to tell the officer I was the rawest kind of a recruit, but he
would listen to nothing and I was told to remain in the camp and sweep the floors, yards, etc., for three
days while the others went out in the evenings. That was my first punishment as a soldier, and during my
entire period in the army I was punished but one other time. This was much more severe and occurred in
1917 when I was a sergeant.

Here in Cervia was a fisherman who on Mondays and Fridays sold fish at Forli and who, during my stay
in Cervia with my Father in 1911, had us live in his house. I knew him well, and I spent most of my
evenings at his home with Serafini. We had many civilian meals with him. Especially on my birthday,
which was his birthday too, we had a fine fish dinner and supper. On that day I asked for permission to go
out to his house from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., which was granted.
On Sundays we were let out from 11:30 a.m., or after dinner, until 3:00 p.m., and then again from 5:00
 15

p.m. to 9:00 p.m. as on weekdays. We had no drilling or target practice on Sundays. The morning was
spent for general cleaning up. On Sunday afternoons Serafini and I usually went to the beach and took a
plunge in the Adriatic Sea. In this way we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

On the nights when Fortunato (which was the fisherman’s name) was out of town, Serafini and I usually
went out to farmers’ houses and had friendly talks with them. We were given much fruit, especially
watermelons and figs. We were told to go out and pick the things for ourselves. Ripe figs picked from the
trees are very delicious.

During the eighteen days we were in Cervia, I was getting used to military ways and habits, also getting
used to sleeping on about two inches of straw on a brick floor about half dressed. I finally learned to use
the rifle as good as the older men. One of the disadvantages our company (5th Company) had was to have
the worst officer of the battalion at our head. He treated us roughly and worked us like dogs while other
companies were resting.

We had our target practice, as I have already stated, at the beach about three miles from Cervia. Trenches
on the order of those which were used at the Front were dug one hundred, three hundred and five hundred
meters from the targets, or about 450 yards. One entire company would fit in the trench. In this way we
learned to shoot at three ranges. We shot individually, in squads, and in entire company.

On the seventh of September, a telegraphic order came from Forli that each of the six companies at
Cervia was to furnish thirteen soldiers to be sent as reinforcements to our regiment at the Front. Only men
who were called to arms on June first were qualified to be sent to the Front. In the 5th Company, my
company, there were fifty-two qualified, so they were picked in the following impartial manner.

First there was a call for volunteers, and two of the fifty-two went as volunteers, so only eleven were left
to be picked out. Each of the remaining men were given a number from one to fifty, and fifty numbers
were put in a hat. A small child was called to pick the eleven numbers one at a time. After the numbers
were called, seven more, who were not sorted out, volunteered to go in place of seven who had been
sorted. They were in this way allowed to exchange places. This made in all nine volunteers out of thirteen
men. These seventy-eight men were all lined up and taken to the railroad station. The entire battalion gave
them a rousing sendoff. The officers and the non-commissioned officers chipped in and bought wine for
all those leaving.

We were all at the station to see them off. Of the other five companies, there wasn’t a single volunteer; all
the rest were sorted, some of them were crying and wanted to go home to see their families for the last
time.

The next morning instead of going for our usual target practice we went for a long hike with all of our
belongings on our backs. We went to another small seacoast town, about the size of Cervia, called
Cesenatico, which is eight miles south of Cervia. This little town was like Cervia in every respect,
business being dead on account of not being allowed to fish.

The roads throughout Romagna, in fact throughout Italy, are considered the best in the world. The Italians
have made roads in all Allied war fronts during the war.

We stayed at Cesenatico only about a half hour. Most of us sent cards home.

The following day, September ninth, was our last in Cervia. In the morning we went out for drilling
instead of rifle practice on the beach. Later in the day another order came from Forli for troops for the
 16

Front. This time they asked for drivers, anyone who would go to the front to carry ammunition from
ammunition depots to regimental headquarters with a mule and cart. These men not being on the firing
line were said to be safer than in the trenches. Many saw their chance to evade the trenches and
volunteered to go with this group. Fifteen volunteered in my company, while in all six companies two
hundred volunteered. When these men left for the railroad station, ten privates from Company 5 were
chosen to watch the gateway so that none of the others would follow to the station. I was chosen as one of
the ten. So with my rifle and bayonet, I was posted at the gate for two hours for my first guard duty as a
soldier.

In the evening after supper, I went to say goodbye to all our friends in Cervia, as we were getting to be
well liked here. We also had our last sea bath.

Chapter 5 – Maneuvres in Brisighella

At 2:00 a.m., September tenth, the bugle awoke us. We all got our belongings ready to leave. But before
going to the railroad, we were all given hot beef broth and a large piece of meat. The latter, with a loaf of
bread, we put in our bread sack together with other food we had purchased the night before for our trip.

At about 4:00 a.m., we went to the station and were loaded in freight cars, twenty per car with a sergeant
or corporal in change of each car. Rough plank benches were put in the cars to sit on. The car door on
each side was left open and only one iron bar about three feet above the car floor was placed across the
doorway. It was almost 5:00 a.m. when we left Cervia for our new home in Brisighella.

A whole long train carried the entire battalion of about one thousand men. It certainly was a very
delightful trip. Everyone sang military songs. And, most Italians certainly can sing if they desire to do so.
All of the twenty men were at the doors, four were sitting on the car floor of each door with their feet
sticking out, four more were standing at each door leaning on the iron bar, and two were standing on the
benches with their heads poking out of the door. I was sitting on the car floor.

Before reaching Ravenna, we passed through the extensive pine forest made famous by Garibaldi during
Italy’s first war for independence. From Ravenna we went to Castel Bolognese, and then to Faenza. At
Faenza we were delayed an hour and then progressed onward to Brisighella. On our arrival at Brisighella,
we were all taken to our new quarters. Companies 1, 2, 3, and 6 went out in a nice prairie and set up tents.
Company 4 was put in a vacant schoolhouse, and our company was lodged in what was formerly a fine
hotel. Companies 4 and 5 were better lodged here because at Cervia we were put in the most undesirable
place.

As our battalion was preparing our new home, the other battalion of our regiment who had been in
Brisighella all the while we were in Cervia was now preparing to leave on the same train we came with
for Cervia.

As I have already mentioned, the actual 11th infantry was at the Front. We were a regiment which as kept
to send reinforcements in case of need. We were known a the 11th Infantry Regiment of Reinforcements.
Before leaving Forli in August, we were thirteen companies divided into two battalions. Companies from
one to six were sent to target practice to Cervia on that date. Companies 7, 8, 9, 10, and 13 were sent to
Brisighella the following day. Company 12 was made up entirely of volunteers and went to the Front.
Company 12 was split up among the other eleven companies because of lack of officers; so we exchanged
places with the second battalion. The inhabitants gave the departing battalion a rousing sendoff, and we
also joined them. The military band of our regiment which stays with the second battalion played national
and military airs before and after the train pulled out of the station.
 17

Brisighella is a small town about the size of Cervia and like Cervia is in the Province of Ravenna. But
unlike Cervia is a city surrounded by mountains instead of a seashore city. Brisighella is about 13
kilometers, or 8 miles, west of Faenza and not far from the Tuscan Boundary. For the fourteen days that
we stayed there, except Sundays and holidays, we had the same program as in Cervia, excepting that
instead of target practice we went on military maneuvers in the high hills and had sham battles with
wooden bullets between companies.

Our first evening in Brisighella the inhabitants gave us a treat which is only done on Sundays and
holidays. This town had a very good band of thirty-five pieces which played pieces of opera and military
airs at the town square until time to retire to our quarters. This band, like the Pied Piper, had all the
soldiers following as it lead them to the military quarters.

The first night in our new quarters was hard, in the full sense of the word. Hotels, as most any building in
Italy, have stone slabs for flooring, and having no straw, we had to accommodate ourselves on the stone
floor for the night. This proved to be the first night I had to sleep on a stone slab, but many, many more
followed. The following morning when we got up we got some straw, and with our tent sheet, made a
straw mattress. The second day of our stay I was made guard for the first time. At any other time, I would
have liked to have been a guard as it was new to me, but at this particular time, I was ill and would have
preferred to rest.

It was here in Brisighella that we learned a bit about mountain climbing with a heavy load on our
shoulders. We would leave early in the morning and go to the top of the nearby mountains. When we got
there, we would rest a while and then come back home again.

Our evenings were very well spent. We would go to the cafe, write letters home, or go to the dancing
pavilion. On Sundays, or holidays, Serafini and I would go up to the hill and have lunch. The fourteen
days we spent at this resort I shall never forget. The inhabitants were always kind and good to us and we
never forgot our duty.

On September twentieth, exactly two months after I had left home, we celebrated the Italian National
holiday. We did not go out for drill but were let out early and were given leave to stay out until 2:00 p.m.
Serafini, and I were at a cafe having an ice cream sundae when all of a sudden we heard two or three of
our buglers sounding the alarm signal. Of course, neither Serafini or I knew what it all was about; we
didn’t even know that it was the alarm signal. But presently, we saw all of our buddies rushing towards
headquarters. An officer saw us sitting there and told us to hurry to headquarters pretty darn quick. I had
never seen such excitement. When we got back to headquarters, we were lined up, and eleven of our
company were chosen to leave for the Front. Out of the Brisighella battalion, one hundred men were
picked to go to the Front. The rest of the day we spent with our pals who were leaving, and in the
evening, we gave them a big sendoff as they left for the train for Faenza. The inhabitants were at the
stations and so was the band.

We had several mock battles. We used wooden bullets instead of steel ones. One company would fight
another. We enjoyed these outings very much, especially when we could trap one of our pals and shoot at
him without being seen from behind the bushes and see the bewildered look on their faces not knowing
where they came from. We also hiked a couple of times to Modigliana, about fourteen kilometers, or eight
and one-half miles, from Brisighella and about twice its size. We also dug trenches and bed regular trench
drills while there.
 18

Chapter 6 – Going to the Front

September twenty-fourth was a day worth remembering. On that day I was chosen to leave for the Front.
Here is how it came about. We got up at 4:00 a.m. that morning all prepared to bike back to Forli, which
is some hike. We had dinner as usual at 10:15 a.m. and we were given two loaves of bread. At noon we
all lined up in front of headquarters and then we got our surprise. Twenty-four men from each of the six
companies were chosen to go to the Front. Serafini and I were among those chosen from our company.
Though we two had been in uniform a trifle over one month, most of our pals had from four to five
months drill. We made no fuss about it. In fact, I was glad to be able to go to see for myself what it was
like at the Front. We all left Brisighella. The entire company, or rather battalion, was going to Forli.

Every man, woman, and child came to say farewell to us, as we who were just picked out to go to the
Front were the main attraction. We were given wine, chocolates, cigars, cigarettes, souvenir cards,
handkerchiefs, small silk Italian flags, and many other trinkets. Never did I see such emotional scenes as
this. And none of us were native sons. We all came from different parts of Italy. The town band headed
by the mayor accompanied us for two kilometers, or one and one-fourth miles, up the road. We left at
about 1:30 p.m.

We hiked twelve kilometers, or about seven and one-half miles, to Faenza with all our belongings on our
shoulders. All those who were leaving for the Front were heading the parade. It took us three hours to get
to Faenza. Later on the night of the same day, we who were to leave for the Front left Faenza by train for
Forli. We had our war equipment which consisted of one pair of comfortable armory shoes, two pairs of
woolen socks, two heavy shirts, one pair of heavy underwear, a pair of heavy mittens, a winter cap, and a
small medical package. We also had two cans of meat and four pieces of hard biscuit (these were to be
used when we got in a zone so dangerous that we could not get cooked meals). All these things, plus what
we were given when we left for Cervia, we put in our knapsack which made it quite heavy.

I spent most of the following day with my relatives. My uncle asked my captain to let me out for the day.
It is no easy matter to get a permit prior to leaving for the Front. They keep you cooped up for fear you
will not return.

On the morning of September twenty-sixth, we got up at 3:30 a.m. Still dark, we prepared to leave Forli.
We went to the railroad station singing war songs at the top of our voices. We woke up the neighbors who
came to the windows in their nightgowns with a candle in their hands to see what all the noise was about.
It was not until 6:30 a.m. that we actually got on the train and left Forli.

My aunt and uncle came to see me off. They brought me a nice roasted chicken and other nice things to
eat which both Serafini and I ate on the trip. This time we were put in regular second-class coaches.
Everybody cheered as we pulled out of the station, and we left singing military songs.

From Forli we made our first atop at Bologna. Here we were taken to an Armory near the railroad station
to wait for a special train. In the afternoon, we were taken in a long train made up entirely of second-class
coaches. In this train all of us of the 11th Regimental Infantry (we were 206), a complete company of the
51st Regimental Infantry, and a company of the 6th Regiment of Bersaglieri were installed together with
a squad of old soldiers who were too old for active service and were placed as military police near the
Front in towns occupied by Italians who were formerly Austrians. Ferrara was our next stop. We stopped
here but a few minutes. The Bersaglieri got off and we were given food - chocolates and coffee by the
Italian Boy Scouts. Our next atop was Mestre in the Venetian region, in fact only twelve kilometers, or
about seven and one-half miles, from Venice. In this town the old guards and the 51st Infantry left us
while we went on to Sacile. It was at 3:30 a.m. of September twenty-seventh that we got to Sacile. We
were taken: from the train to an old Armory and we slept there from 4:00 to 6:30 a.m.
 19

Sacile is a small and quaint town of about 5,000 inhabitants in normal times and is about forty kilometers,
about twenty-four and three-quarter miles, south of Udine. It now had about 30,000 soldiers stationed
there in armories, barns, schools and other available quarters. At night the town is pitch dark. No one is
even allowed to light a cigarette in the streets. All the shades from the houses are pulled down so that no
light could be seen from the outside. During the day and in the evening, we were given permission to go
out to see the town. Serafini and I went to a restaurant and had what we thought might be our last meal, so
we saw to it that we got a big meal. During the day we were notified that we were to leave early the
following morning for San Giovanni di Manzano, a little village just five kilometers or about three miles,
from the old Italian and Austrian frontier.

Step by step we neared the Front. On the morning of September twenty-eighth we were put in freight cars,
forty-two in each car, just like those in which we had made the trip from Ravenna to Brisighella,
excepting that this time we weren’t quite so happy though we did sing some songs during the trip.

During the afternoon our train got to Udine which is the largest city in the vicinity of the war zone and
where the Commander-in-chief of the Italian Army has his headquarters. It as from there that General
Cadorna issued his famous daily bulletins on the progress of the war on the Italian front.

We could not see much of Udine, as we could not get out of the railroad station. Our train remained at
Udine until dark before proceeding for San Giovanni di Manzano for fear of being seen by enemy
airplanes. Our train consisted of twenty-four cars mostly freight. We left Udine late at night and slowly
proceeded for San Giovanni di Manzano. We were warned not to shout or by any means to light matches,
as we could then be seen by enemy dragoon balloons, and they would in turn notify their artillery. Since
we were in range of the heavy artillery, it would have been exciting if we got a couple of shots from the
nearby cannons. After midnight we arrived at San Giovanni. It was raining hard and we were cold, tired,
and hungry. But we were thrilled as we heard the roaring of the cannons that were only about one mile
away and searchlights darting to and fro, some searching for airplanes against the black sky. We walked
for what seemed miles to us with our heavy packs on our backs on the dark muddy road. It was raining
hard but we went silently on with the cannons roaring in the distance. At last we came to an old factory
which used to be an old brick factory. Here we laid down just as wet as we were on the fresh straw on the
earth floor and slept soundly until morning.

When we awoke next morning, we were among new mates, soldiers who had already had their share of
fighting and were now away from the trenches to rest and to be reinforced with fresh troops to fill the
places of the kil1ed and wounded in Podgora. We were made part of this regiment, the 131st Infantry.
Most of the boys were Romans from Rome and its vicinity. They were about nine or ten years older than
we were.

During the day, the two hundred of us that had left Forli plus four hundred more who had joined us at
Sacile, making a total of about six hundred, were divided into twelve companies of the regiment (131st)
in proportion to the losses of that company at the Front. I was allotted to the 3rd company of the 1st
Battalion while my friend, Serafini, was put in the 2nd company. I was sorry to be separated from him,
though I would see almost as much of him as if he were in my company.

While we were being allotted to our various companies, three Austrian planes flew over us. The Italian
anti-aircraft cannons, some batteries that were near our cantonment, began firing at them while we
watched in amazement, this being the first sign of war so far. The firing kept up for about twenty minutes
while the enemy plane kept darting, dodging the shots and looping the loop. They had many close calls,
but as usual in such cases, our artillery did not bring any planes to the ground. We were green at the
game; so that we could get a good view of the fight, we stood out in conspicuous places that could easily
be detected by the Austrian planes who were on a scouting expedition. Had it not been for our new pals
 20

and officers who yelled at us to hide under trees and bushes, the Austrian long-range artillery would have
probably sent us a few gifts from signals received from their planes. After about twenty minutes, the
planes left. After being allotted to our various companies, we were shown our new sleeping quarters
among the veterans. Our sleeping quarters were on the bricks in the loft, and we had new straw to sleep
on. There were six companies located in the establishment, with a total of about 1,500 men.

For fifteen days we made our headquarters in the brickyard. During this time, we got well acquainted with
our new pals and officers. Some of them told us of their experience in the war. During these two weeks
we were drilled, went on long marches, and given instructions on how to conduct ourselves in the
trenches. During the nights we could hear heavy bombardments not many miles away and wondered how
it would be when we got there. During this time, I was taught what “squad right”, ”squad left”, “right
about face” and other military terms which I was almost totally ignorant, meant. I learned to use my rifle
to good advantage. We were also taught how to go on bayonet charges.

On the twelfth of October, we left this cantonment and went camping. We put up our tent at a place called
Chiopris. The march was nearly fifteen kilometers, or about nine and one-third miles, under rain, as is
usual when we change quarters. We camped Just outside Chiopris. Chiopris is a little village which was
Austrian, on the Italian border. Not far from our camp, we could see the huge concrete posts which
marked the borderline between Austria and Italy smashed by the first Italian troops who crossed the
border and invaded Austria in May. On one side of these blocks was lettered Italia and the other Austria.

Our camping ground was peculiar. All our tents were well lined up, one platoon in each row, or about ten
tents in a row. The tents were under olive trees, these trees also were planted in a straight row and of
equal distance apart, so that one tent could easily be placed between two trees. We covered our tents all
over with branches and green grass so that the enemy planes from above could not distinguish our camp.
When they came we would always hide either under the trees or in our tents. We made small ditches
around each tent so that the rainwater could run out as it rained most every day. Naturally we had no
drinking water at the camp, so we had to go to the fountain or well in the square of Chiopris when we
needed it. We carried water in large cloth bags which required two men to carry when filled. As Chiopris
was the first town that was formerlyAustrian that I had seen, I was naturally rather curious to see it, and
after a few days in our camp we were given permission to go to the village in our off hours which were
from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

The village was composed mostly of soldiers, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, etc., but there were
also a few civilians that is a few who remained at home when the Italians invaded their little village. True,
all able-bodied men were taken by the Austrians as they retreated, leaving only a very few old men and
quite a few young girls and old women. The people speak Italian and the dialect is the same as the people
of Udine and the neighboring towns across the border.

We were about ten days in this camp. During this time we had few drills and marches, but most of the
time kept in readiness to leave for the trenches. During these days we were well fed. Besides being given
our regular rations of soup and wine, we were also given chocolates, cheese, vermouth, and sweet wine.
We were told by the older members that this was done only when we were expected to leave for the
Front. Chiopris when I saw it, though it was Austrian, was really far enough from the trenches so that it
was not damaged by the artillery.
 21

Chapter 7 – Closer to the Trenches

On October twenty-second, we were told to pack up and prepare to leave for a place near the trenches.
During the night we passed our camping ground, passed Chiopris, Medea, Fratta, Mariano, and Corona
before topping at Moraro. All these were small villages in the occupied regions near the Isonzo River.
The march was about fifteen kilometers, or about eight miles, and with all of our luggage on our back, it
made it very tiresome, but we were given a ten-minute rest every half hour so as not to discourage us. We
got to Moraro early in the morning and we set up our tents in an open prairie, which was a very foolish
act, for as we were fixing our tents, we made a target for the enemy’s heavy artillery. Austrian dragoon
balloons had seen us and notified their artillery of our whereabouts, and they didn’t hesitate to send us a
few pills. All told, ten shots were sent our way, and two men were killed and four wounded from our
regiment. These were the first casualties I had seen so far. One shot came about thirty feet in back of
where I was standing. This, of course, put some confusion in our camp as we ran behind walls and ditches
waiting for the bombardments to cease. It only lasted one half hour. One of the injured was from my
company; he was sent to the hospital. We were then told to take down our tents and we were given
quarters in houses and other buildings in the village. Moraro is too near the danger zone and no former
inhabitants are allowed to live there. The place is deserted as far as civilians are concerned. Moraro is also
partially damaged by Austrian guns. The village is about four kilometers from Cormons which was a little
town of importance as a railroad center between Udine and Gorizia.

There were rumors around that our first fight would be at Mt. St. Michele, which is across the Isonzo
River from Moraro. Almost in front of us at about ten kilometers distance was where most of the action
was now taking place. All through the night we could hear not only the cannons roar but also rifle shots
and machine gun action, and we wondered how many of our buddies were being killed every hour of the
night. At the present time our forces were making a tremendous effort to capture Gorizia and the top of
Mt. St. Michele. On the slopes of this high hill already lay thousands of Italian boys.

On October twenty-fourth, we were prepared to leave for Mt. St. Michele as reinforcements to the
regiments already there. We were told that our regiment would not be thrown in action unless absolutely
necessary. We left Moraro at about 10:00 p.m. with all of our belongings and slowly made our way for
Sagrado at which point we crossed the Isonzo River on the long but small temporary bridge in place of
the nice monumental one which was in ruins and which had been destroyed by the Austrians as they
retreated towards the mountains. This little bridge is destroyed daily by the enemy only to be put up again
during the night. Only one platoon crossed the bridge at a time. We looked like cattle going to the
slaughterhouse amid the whizzing of stray shots.

On the south side of the Isonzo River at the place where we crossed, there was a very pretty town of
Gradisca. Gradisca for being so close to the fighting line was not badly ruined, while Sagrado just across
the river does not exist any more. Sagrado is a total ruin. There are no walls higher than six or seven feet.
It is on the railroad line from Trieste to Gorizia. As I was saying, Gradisca is composed entirely of pretty
villas in the Italian style of architecture. Not even in Florence have I seen so many pretty villas grouped
together a here in Gradisca. I was told that this town was a resort for well-to-do Austrians who spent their
winters here rather than going to Italy. As it never snows here in winter, the weather though moist is mild.

High walls of sacks filled with earth were at all street crossings so we could pass across the town without
being seen by the enemy.

We crossed the bridge one platoon at a time. The bridge was narrow and rested on boats with a screen on
the west side so as to be hidden from view. After we crossed, we laid behind the ruins of Sagrado waiting
for the others to cross. And, as soon as one entire Battalion was over the river, we went on in single file
hugging close to the railroad wall so as to be hidden from view as much a possible.
 22

The country we passed was a barren waste of land. The road along the railroad track was badly damaged
from shell shots. During the night there was more traffic than the downtown streets in the daytime; while
in the daytime the road was practically deserted. At night mules with food, ammunition, mail, wine, water
and other necessities on their backs filled the road. Besides there were ambulances carrying wounded to
some medical station, soldiers who were returning to the rear, those who were going to the Front, and
soldiers with prisoners. All this was done with the utmost silence; conversation was carried on only in
whispers. No lights were allowed of any sort. The stars showed us our way. Lights on the order of
skyrockets were used on both sides to see that neither was advancing or giving a surprise attack. During
these days when an Italian offensive was always expected, the Austrians kept sending these rockets at
short intervals so as not to be taken by surprise. We walked down this road in single file for about five
kilometers, or about three miles, to what used to be the village of Sdraussina, which now consisted of
only piles of stones.

We came to a halt just a little above Sdraussina along the railroad track and on the side of the road. Here
we were told to sit down arid rest until further orders.

In the morning we dug out stones in the railroad wall and made small caverns and put our tent cloths
overhead to protect us from rain as much as possible. We spent the entire day waiting for orders while we
wrote home expecting any minute to be called to duty. Late in the afternoon all of our belongings, except,
of course, our bread sack in which we had put not only bread but hard biscuit, two cans of meat, some
ammunition and rifle, also our cape and tent cloth, were placed in a barrack near Sdraussina. This we
thought was a sure sign of going to the trenches after dark. Late in the evening our cooks brought us our
hot meal besides chocolate, cheese, wine and other delicacies. All night we heard continuous warfare,
cannons, machine—guns, rifles, searchlights, skyrockets, etc. We were kept in readiness all night to act as
reinforcements in case anything went wrong. The Italians were advancing so we were told. The road
which during the day was deserted was now filled with traffic, and every so often, the enemy would send
over a few pills on it which would do much damage. Several in my regiment were wounded during the
night by these pills and stray bullets.

For two days and two nights we waited here. During the day we dozed and wrote home. During the night
we kept our ears open.

At the end of the second day we were told that we were no longer needed here for reinforcements and that
late that night we would leave for Corona. Such was the case for about 10:00 p.m., we got all of our
belongings again and left in single file by the same way we came. Heavy bombardment was going on at
Mt. St. Michele, and we expected to be called back any minute. We again crossed the Isonzo, and in
doing so, wondered how many had crossed it once never to cross it again. We were glad to cross it again
without damage to our regiment. We again passed Gradisca and Mariano and stopped at Corona where we
were to remain until further orders. Corona is a small village about four kilometers, or about two and one-
half miles, from Moraro. Corona, though nearer to the fighting line than Moraro, was not a bit damaged
by shots. Also, it still has a few native civilians who did not want to leave their property, even though it
was very dangerous to hold it. We were distributed in the various empty houses and were given straw to
sleep on and waited for orders, Our stay there was short - - only two days. Again we were called for
reinforcement at Mt. St. Michele. We went through the same procedure as last time. We left Corona at
night and crossed the bridge at Sagrado just as before. This time we stayed on the other side of the Isonzo
only one day, and since we were not needed, we came back the next night - - this time to Moraro. We put
up our tents under the trees and near the cornfields.

For the following six days we camped at Moraro. Our tents were placed out in the cornfields and we
camouflaged them with stalks and branches so that an enemy plane could not see us. Our experience here
a few days before taught us something. Even though we were not ready for immediate action, we were
 23

obliged to get what little sleep we could in the daytime. In the evening we were always armed and on the
alert.

Up to now we had always been a regiment which would reinforce others in case of necessity, but we were
not what was called a regular regiment for assault or for first line of trenches. Our division was composed
of the 129th, 130th, 131st, and 132nd regiments of infantry under command of General Marazzi who, we
were told, made the capture of Gorizia his goal, and Gorizia could not be taken until Mt. St. Miche1e was
taken. When I first came to the 131st Regiment, we were told that we were lucky for several reasons.
First, because the 131st, in fact all the regiments from 100 to 165,were non-combatants and were only to
be used as reinforcements in case of extreme necessity, Secondly, our Colonel at the head of our
regiment, Colonel Squillace, we were told was a distant relative of the Italian King. Third, because our
regiment is a Roman regiment having originated in Rome just prior to the breaking out of the war and was
used to a great extent to quell riots before Italy entered the war.

It was said that General Marazzi had made several requests to the War Minister of Italy to lead the four
regiments at Mt. St. Michele with the hope of conquering it and entering Gorizia. It was on November
sixth that we got the news. On the morning of that day our regiment paraded as on other days before our
Colonel. After the parade, Colonel Squillace made a patriotic speech in which he told us that he had
gotten permission from Rome to lead us as a regular regiment in first line of trenches and attack the
enemy at Mt. St. Michele. He talked a long time about the honor that befell us and that he expected his
regiment above others to distinguish itself. After this speech, we broke up camp. We rolled up our cape
and our tent cloth together, we took our ammunition, reserve food (canned meat and hard biscuits), a pair
of socks and we were also given a helmet and a few other necessities. Our farewell meal was certainly a
dandy. We had special macaroni, about a quart of wine a piece; then sweet wine or vermouth, milk
chocolate in abundance, cheese and biscuits, besides the usual loaf of bread. Our meal lasted two hours as
we had everything in readiness to leave at dusk.

Some sang patriotic songs and our officers joined us. Some sulked (those who were married and had
several children to think of) as most of them were between twenty-six to thirty years of age and had
families - - - only a few or the latest additions were twenty to twenty-one years of age. Most of the older
boys had fought in the war with Turkey in Tripoli in 1912. They were recalled in 1912 and again in 1915.
The class of 1888 and 1889 were most unlucky since th6se who were lucky to survive both wars served
almost ten years in the army. The class of 1892 served eight years without a release and many without
getting a furlough to see their home during the entire eight years.

We were now one complete regiment; twelve companies each with two hundred fifty to two hundred
eighty men. Each company had a captain in command. Each company was divided into four platoons of
sixty to seventy men each commanded by an officer. The first platoon had a first lieutenant and the other
three platoons second lieutenants, all young students just out of military school. In my company, the 3rd,
we had Captain Cav. Pero. He was about thirty-five or forty years of age, full of discipline, but good and
just at heart. I had been with the company a little over one month, but I had not seen much of him. He was
very much respected by all officers. In fact, in case something should happen to the major commanding
our battalion (the 1st) made up of companies 1, 2, 3, and 4, he would have to lead the entire battalion. I
saw him once at the head of our battalion when our major was ill. The next officer in command of our
company was a young lieutenant who commanded the first platoon. The second platoon was commanded
by a second lieutenant by the name of Porro. This young man, of about twenty years of age, was the
favorite nephew of General Porro, General Cadorno’s chief aid of staff whose headquarters were in
Udine. I was in his platoon. He was very much a gentleman without highbrow ideas as most of his
companions had. I was in the third squad of the second platoon. As I have already said, each platoon is
divided into four squads of about sixteen to eighteen men each in charge of a corporal or a corporal-
major. I had a corporal, an elderly one, who had had a hard time drilling me. He was a Roman and had
 24

quite a family. He would often curse at us, but he was as good hearted as they make them. Besides an
officer at the head of each platoon there was a sergeant or sergeant major second in command of the
platoon.

In all, two hundred fifty-eight were in our company when we left Moraro on November sixth. Five of
these were officers, one sergeant major, six sergeants, six corporal majors, fourteen corporals and the rest
privates. One sergeant major, a corporal and two privates had office duty of the company. They did the
distributing of clothes, etc., and clerical work, but they had to come with us to the trenches. Also, each of
the five officers had an attendant who also had to come with us, so they too were included in the two
hundred fifty-eight, though they did not carry a rifle, Among the two hundred fifty-eight were also twelve
who wore Red Cross badges and who besides giving immediate aid carried the seriously wounded in
stretchers to ambulances in which they would be immediately driven to the hospital. The hospitals were
scattered throughout the neighboring small villages and towns - - in fact, throughout Italy.

Our company also had a squad of sixteen men (one from each regular squad) which when combined with
a similar squad of each of the other three companies in our battalion comprised what was called the Death
Platoon. That platoon was so named because of almost sure death when they once saw action. To explain
their duties, I must first explain that between our trenches and the enemy the enemy had placed a barbed
wire network the entire length of the trenches and the depth varying from ten to fifteen meters, some
times more. Through such wire entanglements it was impossible to pass to attack the enemy in their
trenches. So passes had to be made at great risks either by placing gelatine in tubes and letting it explode,
or by men actually going there with pincers and cutting the wire. Sometimes this wire was filled with
electric current and was even more dangerous to cut. To crawl out of the trench to wreck or make
openings in this wire network meant almost certain death since one who does this is continually exposed.
Especially in this locality where the fighting is going on in the mountains and the enemy has the better
position above end can look down with ease and see everything, it is very dangerous. No one is taken in
the Death Platoon by force. They must all volunteer. Generally they are young lads whose mother and
father are dead or are illegitimate and who have never had a mother or father. They, of course, get better
treatment than we and have more privileges. There were, besides the above mentioned, but not included
in the two hundred fifty- eight, about twenty men with under officers who cooked our meals and had
charge of the mules who carried it to us. We also left two men at Moraro to look after our baggage which
we left in a vacant house. They were older men and not very healthy.

After our final meal and at about 6:30 p.m. just as the sun was setting, we started for Mt. St. Michele to
change places with a regiment of regulars who were to come out of there to be reorganized and given rest.
Most of us were singing, several were a little tipsy, having drunk a little too much. Others were silent
wondering what the future would bring them. We again passed Corona and Mariano and as before,
crossed the Isonzo. This time we crossed it with a thought that we might not recross it again. We walked
in single file after passing Gradisca. All night we trudged slowly up the mountain of St. Michele. It was
dark and muddy from recent rain, and we could not see where we were going. Each man held on to the
coat or cape of the man in front of him. This would not always do as many times a man would slip and
fall in the mud and lose his partner in front of him. Then the whole line would be lost in the dark and not
being able to find its way to the companions ahead would have to come to a halt until the front portion of
the line sent someone back and brought them together with the others. This happened many times during
the night, and for that reason, we did not get to our destination until dawn, though we had not gone more
than four kilometers, or about two and one-half miles, from Sdraussina. At dawn we were in temporary
positions behind stone walls at the summit of one of the peaks of sit. St. Michele. This stone wall was
from two to three feet high and was used as a division line of different estates in this region. We had to
keep our heads low as the enemy could easily see us from their position, and their artillery would not have
spared us. We were about one half kilometer, or about 1400 feet, away from enemy trenches at the top of
another portion of Mt. St. Michele. During the day a few shots were sent our way but did no damage. We
 25

also got nothing from our kitchen, so we had to eat our can of meat and hard biscuit. We were told to be
ready at dusk to go to the first line of trenches and relieve the regular brigade of the 85th and 86th
Regiment1 These regiments had been badly reduced in numbers in the attacks in the last ten days.

At dusk messengers from the above named regiments came to lead us where they were located in the front
rows of trenches. We marched in single file in the mud as we had the night before. We lost our way
several times, and it took us five or six hours to go one and half kilometers, or about 1400 feet. The night
was pitch dark with no moon or stars in the sky, but the enemy that the Italians were attacking were
continually sending skyrockets which illuminated the surrounding territory about a quarter of a kilometer,
or 700 feet, in diameter for about one minute. Every time one of these lights went up, we had to fall on
the ground so as not to be seen.

It must have been about 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. when we got to the 85th regular infantry. The boys we were
relieving were worn out - - all dirty with mud from recent rainstorms. We were led behind sacks filled
with earth and stones so as not to be seen by the enemy. We laid behind the sacks in the sad with our new
clean uniforms while the Austrians sent up lights and fired their rifles in our direction. The bullets either
whizzed over our heads or hit bags which protected us. We also fired a few shots in the direction of their
trenches, the first shot of the war I ever shot. These shots were to masquerade the changing of regiments
which was going on at that time.

Chapter 8 – Trench warfare

The poor boys we were relieving were very glad to see us and in whispers gave us information as to
where the enemy was and answered many of our silly questions. As each company was being relieved,
they left in single file for the rear. Only at dawn could we see where we actually were. We were located in
a sort of a small valley. The enemy was a hundred meters, 300 feet, up the hillside overlooking our
positions; not one of us could move without being seen by them. The enemy could not be seen - - only
their trenches, which we were told was their main trench or “trincerone” where they were not only
protected from our main guns, rifles, rain, etc., but also had all conveniences while we, as just stated,
were behind earth filled sacks and an occasional hole under ground just behind our line.

During the day we recruits could not remain still in one place and started to move around in plain view of
the enemy. We wanted to make our place more comfortable and looked around for stones and sand bags
to make our parapet wall higher. The enemy kept up continuous firing at us with their rifles and machine
guns, especially when they could see us walk around we made good targets for them. During the day we
had three killed and seven wounded in our company.

I witnessed the first case of Teutonic barbarism. One of my buddies in my platoon exposed himself too
much and was wounded. He got up again to go to a medication place and was shot the second time,
probably mortally. As he fell on the parapet wall, the enemy continued firing at him till he was killed.
During the night we tried to fix our parapet by adding stones and digging a trench with our individual
small shovels, We were also making dug-outs to protect us from the rain, by using stones, digging out
earth and using our tent sheet for a roof. The sheet was covered with grass and branches. All this work
though done at night was done amid rifle shots from the enemy and lights going up all of the time,
Several were killed and wounded during that night and the following day. During the night we got cans of
meat, some bread, also wine and water - - - our first food since we left Moraro over forty-eight hours ago.

The enemy sent several shots of large caliber over our heads which were aimed for the road by the
railroad near Sdraussina on the morning of the second day. During that day, owing to our bad positions,
over twenty were killed and wounded due to exposure to the enemy.
 26

Mt. St. Michele is a high hill with its highest point about nine hundred feet high, part of it was formerly
used for pasture and part was densely wooded. This hill though not high was large in area and had several
lesser peaks. On the summit in a sort of a plateau was the village of San Martino del Carso. This position
was still in the hands of the enemy and was not taken until August 10, 1916, at the fall of Gorizia. From
the first skirmishes on this hill in September 1915 until it was taken in August 1916, this small plot was
one of the fiercest, if not the fiercest, encounters of the war, not barring the Verdun Front in France. It
was estimated that over a hundred thousand were killed in this region during less than a year of fighting.
This position was of the utmost importance, as Gorizia could not be taken unless Mt. St. Michele was
taken first.

During the day we heard rumors that we would attack the main trench the next morning. With my very
limited intelligence, I could not see how we could ever get by the seventy-five feet in depth of wire
entanglements in front of our trenches on the way to their trenches. In the night our “Death Platoon” went
out to do its work. They passed by us with long tubes of gelatine. These tubes seemed to be about three
inches in diameter and about sixteen feet long. They crawled on their stomachs to the barbed wire and
slowly placed those tubes under the entanglements. This work was extremely dangerous as they were
continually exposed to view, and the enemy not only kept up continual fire with both rifles and machine
guns, but lights were always sent up to see what was going on. Many of their tubes were placed in the
section of the Front occupied by our company. These tubes were exploded by fuses, but it seems that they
did not do much harm to the immense network of barbed wire. The “Death Platoon” before dawn went
out again with their pliers to cut holes for us to pass. But not only was this impossible because of the
depth of the wire network but because of sure death of the boys by the continual firing of the enemy at
them. The boys laid out in “no mans land” on their stomachs until dawn doing nothing.

At dawn we were told to fall back from the line to where we had our parapet, about seventy-five meters,
while our artillery would try to break an opening in the wire entanglements. For three hours our guns of
75 and 105 caliber kept up continual firing. I wrote a letter which I addressed home saying that upon
receiving it they would know I was dead and not to worry. I put it in my pocket, but it proved
unnecessary. In the meantime, Captain Pero got us together and told us that at 10:30 a.m. sharp we would
go to the assault of the enemy’s position. He made a short speech during the terrific cannonade. Among
other things, he said that he knew that his company would do its duty. During this time the enemy was
pretty quiet. While we were getting ready for 10:30 a.m., our artillery kept steady bombardment and shots
whizzed over our heads and landed about a hundred meters away. Some shots fell short and came close to
us while others hit enemy trenches.

As we were fixed for attacking formation, we held approximately one hundred and fifty meters of Front -
- the 1st and 2nd Platoons in front with the 3rd and 4th Platoons immediately in back. On our right was
Company 2 and in the back of us as reinforcement, was Company 4. As reinforcement for Company 2
was Company I of our battalion, and on our left was Company 5 of the second battalion with Company 8
as reinforcement. Our third battalion was in the rear as it had taken part in an attack just before we
became part of the regiment.

At 10:30 a.m. sharp our buglers gave the At Arms signal. Our artillery immediately dropped
bombardment, and we with bayonets on our rifles led by our captain with a revolver in his hand all yelled
“Savoia” and ran towards the wire network. At that instant the enemy seeing how foolish we were
running at them from a distance of about two hundred meters away with terrific shooting of their rifles,
but mostly with their machine guns, mowed us down like grain in front of a mower. We immediately fell
to the ground, hid behind stones, and slowly on our stomachs we crept to the wire entanglements. But
neither our artillery or the “Death Platoon” had done anything so that we could pass through it in order to
attack the enemy’s position. As we fell to the ground and crept to the wire entanglements, we also started
 27

heavy shooting with our rifles, but we couldn’t see what we were shooting at. We only aimed in the
direction of the enemy trenches while we crawled, making a good target for them.

At noon we were still flat on our stomachs trying to get nowhere and using up all of our ammunition and
that of our dead comrades shooting at nothing. On top of all this it started to rain and the rain didn’t cease
for the next four days. At 3:00 p.m. we saw the hopelessness of our case and wondered which way the
best way to return to our starting point of 10:30 that morning. I, with three companions, found a hole and
stayed in this hole for the next four days. The loss of our company during the four and a half hours that
the useless attack lasted totaled the sum of two hundred and fifteen men out of the two hundred fifty-eight
which we were when we left Moraro. Only one-second lieutenant out of our five officers survived. In
other words, we were only forty-two left and one officer. Our captain was mortally wounded. He died on
the way to the camp hospital. General Porro’s nephew also was killed. How I dodged all the bullets that
came my way was a surprise to me.

To make matters worse, we had the whole line of the enemy shooting at us, as companies 2 and 5 who
were on the right and left of us seeing the futility in attacking the enemy with the wire entanglements not
smashed down, refused to advance; and as we advanced, they remained hidden, so that we were the only
foolish company.

The next three days from the afternoon of November tenth to the night of November thirteenth, we were
about the most miserable human beings. We suffered hunger, thirst and cold weather. I with three other
companions found a hole with a tent cloth on top to prevent some of the rainwater from coming in. We
tried to make it as comfortable as possible by covering and plugging all the holes. We were not brought
any food from November ninth to November fourteenth, and we ate cans of meat which we took out of
the bags of our dead companions. We had nothing whatsoever to drink in five days except rainwater
which we caught on our tent sheet. It was yellow with the yellow mud of the region.

In the condition we were, the enemy could feel mighty secure in their large trench, as we could never
break their barbwire networks. But at this moment, it also protected us. For if it were not for the barbed
wire separating us, they could have come down and taken us prisoners as we could not offer resistance.
We could not sleep during this period except for a couple of hours in the daytime. At night, when
possible, we got together and buried our comrades in ready-made holes made by shell shots. We buried
them four or five together according to the size of hole found and then would sprinkle a little dirt on top
of them and then place a cross of twigs above all. We, of course, took their personal belongings to be sent
to their homes. The job brought sad memories of times we had had together - - some had been with me
from Forli.

On the night of November thirteenth and fourteenth after much suffering and all dirty from laying in the
mud, we were relieved by the 3rd Battalion of our Regiment. It was Company 10 that relieved our
wrecked company. We were happy to be relieved, but we were sorry to see part of our regiment do the
relieving. Our whole battalion went to a place about one and half kilometers from where we had been
massacred in a small, narrow, but deep valley between rocks which were a fairly good protection from
enemy artillery. Only once during our five-day stay here did a cannon shot actually fall in our new
quarters and four were killed and six wounded. Many shots went over our heads. Rain kept up for most of
our stay here. It was a cold rain and the exposure of the last nine days sent many of the boys to the
hospital with frozen feet. During our stay here we had our regular meals brought to us during the night.
Meals were also sent to the 3rd Battalion in our old position who were holding the line until a new
regiment came to relieve us.

Our captain went to the hospital for sickness so Captain Graziani of the 4th Company took command of
our battalion. Captain Graziani was a jolly officer and kept us who were ill from privations in good
 28

humor, As neither the troops or the officers in the sector of the Front were given overcoats, we had just
our capes to keep warm. Captain Graziani got an overcoat from an Austrian officer and wore it
continually in the cold weather. Many of us had no shoes left and our feet were swollen. My feet were
also swollen, and I had to tie a rag around my shoes to keep the soles from falling out. My clothes were
also ragged and dirty, and I had thousands of “cooties” on my person. We heard bad accounts of our only
surviving officer. He was hiding in a hole while we were advancing and our poor Captain Pero went to
him threatening to kill him if he did not lead his men. He left that hole and went into another one while
our captain was shot.

Chapter 9 – Relief at Last

During the night of the seventeenth and eighteenth of November, a new brigade of finely groomed
soldiers, 65th and 66th Infantry, came from the Trentino Front to relieve our brigade. These boys were not
accustomed to the continuous firing which was kept up in our Fronts, the Trentino Front being quiet
practically all of the time. One battalion of the 65th was lead by some of our boys to relieve our third
battalion. The next day the few of us that were left went slowly in single file. I like many others used my
rifle as a cane for my feet were very sore.

We re-crossed the Isonzo at a little temporary bridge near Sdraussina. Those of Company 3 who re-
crossed it were very fortunate. We were only twenty-seven left of our two hundred fifty-eight.

Slowly, slowly we got to Mariano where we found all our knapsacks which we had left at Moraro with
the two men who took care of them. After we got to Mariano, twenty more of our men went to the
Mariano field hospital on account of frozen feet. That made only seven of us left out of the original two
hundred fifty-eight men who passed here fourteen days before to go to Mt. St. Michele. These seven of
which I was one could easily have gone to the hospital also on account of our frozen feet, but we
preferred to remain the nucleus of Company 3. In fact of the seven of us, we were six privates and one
corporal. The six of us were promoted to corporals on November thirtieth, while the corporal was
promoted to corporal major.

The next fifteen days were spent at Mariano. On our arrival at Mariano we found over six hundred
recruits to be taken to our regiment, sixty were sent to our company the same day we arrived. These were
old recruits of class 1881 and 1882, 33 or 34 years of age. They had their own commissioned and non-
commissioned officers. They were mostly from the Venetian Regions and a few from Southern Italy,
Calabria. Most of these Venetians had gone to Germany to work in times before the war and could speak
German. These Venetians usually get very drunk and are jolly though they were all married men with
families.

We were given new clothes so as to match those of our companions. Besides being clothed, we were well
fed and were quartered in vacant houses. We slept on the floor with straw. We made a mattress with this
straw with our tent sheet. We were also given one blanket.

Mariano is larger than either Moraro or Corona and has many more civilians than Corona. On the way to
Mt. St. Michele by way of Sagrado bridge from either Moraro or Corona, one must pass through Mariano.
The best buildings of Mariano are the Municipal Building, the church and the school. During our stay in
Mariano which extended from the latter part of November 1915 to the end of May 1916, at separate
intervals, we made friends with the natives. We talked with them about the war and other subjects. We
were told by them how the Italian regiments took possession of their town. They said it was the 11th
Infantry of my old regiment.
 29

These people were enjoying many privileges that are not enjoyed by Italian citizens. Very few seemed to
want to become Italian subjects. This was true of most of the inhabitants of these conquered regions. Of
course, those having sons in the Russian Front may have had something to do with it. Here we were told
that we must liberate our Italian brothers, and they did not seem to like to be freed. These farmers seemed
to think that the Austrian Government gave them more privileges and were taxed less than they would be
under the Italian rule. Only the well to do Austrian-Italian wished to have the section annexed to Italy.
This did not go well with our soldiers who were for the most part also peasants and who thought that at
least these people whom we helped free from the Austrian yoke were very willing to be freed.

On one occasion in June of the following year in a wall in Monfalcone was written in heavy black letters
the phrase “Viva Cecco Beppe il Nosto Nonno”, meaning “Long live Francis Joseph our grandfather”.
Another case I saw when I was a war prisoner in Laibach.

There I met a young Italian woman from Gorizia. When the Italians occupied the city in August 1916, she
with many others left town because of her hatred towards Italians. Now she was mocking us prisoners of
our misfortune and said she would be able to return to her Gorizia. It is said, though I have never been
there, that the Italians near Trento are much more patriotic towards Italy and that they really wish to be
free.

Besides not liking the Italians very much, these civilians of Mariano took advantage of the poor soldiers
overcharging them for everything they might wish to buy. The military cantines were bad enough but the
civilian wine shops and the little shops were worse. The patrons of these wine shops were for the most
part the latest Venetian arrivals. These soldiers not only spoke Italian as the natives were doing but also
spoke the very same dialect and still there was not a very good feeling between them. I bought milk from
these natives every night, and many times would stop at their homes and chat with them at their
fireplaces. The civilians were old men and women past their fiftieth birthday and many, many young
girls. There were no boys over twelve years of age, all having been interned in the interior of Austria
when they evacuated these regions.

After a few days of rest here we were brought out on the field for drill every morning. Our routine during
our stay here was as fo11ows. We arose at 4:30 a.m. had coffee as we were getting up (it was distributed
at our bedside by the corporal of the day with the aid of two privates, then we left for drill in a vacant
field at 6:00 a.m. We returned at 10:30, had our usual dinner, then rested until after 2:00 p.m. Then we
usually had either more outdoor or indoor drill until 4:00 p.m. Supper at 5:00 and then we were let out
until 9:00 p.m.

We only had one officer in our company, the same one who had lived through the disaster of a few days
before at Mt. St. Michele. He had been in the Mariano hospital for a few days and when he came back to
us as commander of our company, he had been promoted to First Lieutenant. He certainly could not have
been promoted for his conduct on the field on November tenth. On November thirtieth, as stated before,
the six privates who remained with Company 3 were promoted to corporals under the official order of our
regiment. As customary in such cases, we had to treat the members of our company with drink and so the
six of us chipped in for wine for sixty men. My salary had increased from ten to thirteen cents a day. I
was promoted corporal to be placed in the office of the company to help out Corporal Bandiera, who had
been promoted to Corporal Major and put in charge of the administration of our company. He was the
former assistant of the sergeant who was in charge of same. This sergeant was also killed on November
tenth. The other five corporals were made head of squads. Being in the office of the company, stopped my
going to drills. My main duty was to go with the cook to get food from regimental storerooms.
 30

Chapter 10 – Back to the Front

Around December first, we heard rumors that we were going again to Mt. St. Michele. After what had
happened, none of us who had been there were very pleased to return there. And sure enough, on the night
of December fourth and fifth, we marched our old familiar route to Mt. St. Michele. We were only sixty
in our company and our lieutenant. We also knew that we were not going up as reinforcements but to do
actual fighting. Why send a company with less soldiers than an ordinary platoon to the trenches?

We crossed the Isonzo at the small temporary bridge at Sdraussina. We went to Mt. Boschini, a portion of
Mt. St. Michele near the Isonzo River. This portion was densely wooded, but now the trees, on account of
bombardment, had been reduced to stumps. We stayed one day in the rear line but the next night we went
to the first line of trenches right behind Company 4. Company 1 had Company 2 in the rear, the reverse of
November tenth, then we did the attacking. We found old dug-outs right behind the first line of trenches.
We relieved Company 9. It was only the morning at daybreak of December sixth that we could see where
we were. In the dug-out I found, two of us went in. In the dark as we went in, we felt another man was in
there, and we thought it was one of our buddies who had found the place before we did. Since he was
laying so still, we thought he had already made himself at borne and was taking a little snooze. A few
hours later at dawn, we were surprised to discover he was a dead comrade of the 9th Infantry.

During the day the enemy kept their artillery busy against us, especially those in the dug-outs. The
following day Captain Graziani, who led our Battalion (still with the Austrian overcoat on) was in first
line of trenches with his former Company 4. He sent a messenger at 9:00 a.m. to our commander and told
him to immediately follow his company as it moved forward. There was no barbed wire between our
trenches and those of the enemy, and they were only twenty-five meters away. Company 4 of about one
hundred and fifty men at a given signal advanced and stormed the enemy trenches, and we, Company 3,
followed right behind them. I, in the meantime, had been sent with an order to Captain Graziani from our
lieutenant. When I got to Captain Graziani, he kept me with him to act as messenger for the battalion.
During the bombardment and the whizzing of bullets from all sides, carrying orders to the different
companies was no cinch. Company 4 with my company after capturing the enemy’s positions had a hard
time holding their new position. A company of “Bersaglieri” were called to help us. During the afternoon,
our positions were safe, and we had captured over five hundred Austrian prisoners. Many of these
prisoners were men from Bohemia who offered little resistance, some having come to us of their own free
will. The “Bersaglieri” who had helped to hold our positions were against taking prisoners and would
have shot all those coming to our line but for the orders of Captain Graziani who was in charge of the
whole encounter and who let them come unmolested.

Captain Graziani was so happy over the success of the whole affair that he was jolly with everyone who
came near him. Late in the evening when the whole affair had subsided, the prisoners were taken to the
rear. He also promised me a reward for services done during the engagement. It was bad for me that he
took sick before we returned to Mariano. I was sure he would promote me, or that I would get a valor
medal from the Minister of War. As it was, I got neither. There were only three dead and eight wounded
in my company during the day.

We maintained these positions for three days, after which the 130th Infantry relieved us. During these
three days, the trench was put in good shape. In some places, it was even covered over to protect one from
the rain which fell in abundance during this period.
 31

Chapter 11 – Relieved and Back Once More

We went in barracks near Sdraussina to be used as reinforcements when needed. While here, we had
nothing to do excepting that some platoons carried water and food to the 130th Infantry at night. We
watched prisoners come in and enjoyed seeing how many hundreds of shots of 305 caliber went into the
Isonzo River instead of hitting the riverbank as they were supposed to do. Our barracks were right off the
main street to Gorizia and the goal that we were striving for was less than eight kilometers, or five miles,
from where we were. This Front from September 1915 until New Years 1916, when the Italians stopped
the offensive and only held their own until Spring, was the most fatal and destructive portion of the whole
Italian Front.

After seven days in the barracks, we went back to our trenches to relieve the 130th Infantry. On
December eighteenth, the day after we arrived in these trenches, Company 2 was sent to capture a small
piece of enemy trench from which we were being fired at from the side as well as the front. Our company
was right behind Company 2 and were to help them in case of necessity. They did the work alone, and
besides took one hundred prisoners, most of whom came voluntarily. This new piece of trench made our
trench a straight line. The usual bombardment took place, but very few were killed or wounded, as we
were now getting to be real veterans and knew when to expose ourselves and when to hide. On the night
of December twentieth and twenty-first, we were relieved by some “Bersaglieri” and returned to Mariano
after being fifteen days on the wrong side of the Isonzo. Out of sixty, forty of us returned, six having been
killed and fourteen wounded in that time. Thu was the most successful of any encounter I had been in
save probably when we took Doberdo in August 1916.

Our battalion commander took sick before leaving for Mariano. The captain in command of Company 1
took his place. Our lieutenant, if on November tenth had been a coward, during our successful
engagements of December seventh and eighth, was much more so, as he never left his dug-out during the
entire time we were up there. He was censured many times by Captain Graziani.

On our return to Mariano, we occupied the same quarters we had before, and after a little cleaning up, we
fell to regular routine work.

Though we had been up in the trenches fifteen days, we returned in much better shape than the last time.
Many were not even given a new suit of clothes. Being the twenty-first of December when we got back,
all of us were wishing we could be home for Christmas. Orders came from headquarters of the regiment
that four men from each company could go on furlough for fifteen days exclusive of the days required for
the trip. They were to leave according to their seniority in the company. Naturally, those being longest
were the first to leave. The first squad left for home the day following - - - the day following our arrival
from the Front. Corporal Major Bandiera left first and substituted by a sergeant in the administration of
the company. I left on my furlough with the 3rd squad on Christmas Eve. Since I do the distributing of the
clothes, I took pains to pick myself a new suit, shoes, etc. We were also paid in full until the day we were
due back in Mariano.

The entire squad of forty-eight men, of four men per company and twelve companies, were lined up in
front of the Municipal Building where Col. Squillace and other superior officers locked us over. All of us
were newly uniformed, as our colonel wanted us to go back home looking our best. Here we were given
our furlough documents which were precious to all of us but more so to those who would once more see
their wives and children.

We carried with us for no particular reason that I could see, our rifles and ammunition to a town called
Nogaredo. We also had one blanket rolled up and carried diagonally across our body and our bread sack
and our tin cup and our wood canteen.
 32

We left Mariano at 4:00 p.m. Christmas Eve and arrived at Nogaredo, twelve kilometers away, about
three hours later. The march was made in good order as we were led by an officer of our regiment also
going on furlough,

At Nogaredo we slept in a barrack used for troops going on furlough. We also deposited our rifle and
ammunition and took with us the bayonet which we fastened to our trouser belt. The next morning
(Christmas) we were given enough food to take us to our destination. I was given two loaves of bread and
two cans of meat, enough for two days to take me to Forli. We left about 7:00 a.m. from Nogaredo for
Cervignano. The distance was over twenty-five kilometers. This march was not as nice as the march from
Mariano to Nogaredo because it rained the entire day and we naturally got it all. We got to Cervignano in
the afternoon. We were separated and placed on military trains (8 horses and twenty men variety) which
passed near our homes. Cervignano with Palmanova were the railway terminals for the military operators
on the Lower Isonzo Front, That is the Front occupied by the third army. Later when Gorizia was taken
trains from Udine went as far as Cormons.

There were plenty of civilians in Cervignano, many being natives as this town was Austrian being on the
wrong side of the old Austrian-Italian boundary. Palmanova about twenty kilometers away was also on
the boundary but on the Italian side. Before the tracks were torn up by the Austrians, the railway from
Cervignano lead through Ronchi and Monfalcone to Trieste. Cervignano is entirely a military town. The
streets were full of officers.

The military train which I took down the Adriatic Coast left Cervignano at 5:00 p.m. Christmas Day. We
passed through regions and towns I had never been through, San Giorgio, Nogaro, Latisana, and
Portogmaro are the largest. Then we stopped at Mestre and down to Ferrara. The trip was unexciting. It
was very cold in the cars and we were passing through regions where much snow had fallen. Though
everyone was glad to be on their way home, many were grumbling because we spent such a day as
Christmas traveling so miserably when instead they could have been home and enjoying this greatest
holiday of the year for them if they had been given their furlough one or two days earlier. We got to
Mestre at dark. Our car had only fourteen men at that time, many had been dropped before Ferrara. The
fourteen of us slept on the benches instead of the floor. After a very poor night, we got off at Ravenna at
8:00 a.m., the twenty-sixth of December. There is a small steam train that makes the trip from Ravenna to
Forli in a little over two hours. But on account of my leaving my furlough documents in the Ravenna
military office and had only found out about it when I was almost in Forli, I had to return to Ravenna and
did not get back to Forli until 5:00 p.m.

1916
Chapter 1 – Holidays with the Family and Back to the Regiment

From December twenty-sixth to January tenth, I spent an enjoyable vacation with my relatives. I also
went to Bertinoro for three days. My time was spent reading papers my brother was sending and loafing
around the town.

I left Forli on the twenty-sixth of September for the Front and had returned on the twenty-sixth of
December. These three months had been quite adventurous. While loafing around in Forli, I wondered
what the boys were doing, whether they were still at Mariano or at Mt. St. Michele again. On the evening
of January tenth, my relatives accompanied me to the small team train leaving for Ravenna. At Ravenna I
went to the theater with a friend of mine whom I met in 1911. As the military train coming from Southern
Italy did not get to Ravenna until 4:00 a. m. in the morning, I slept on a bench in the railroad station. At
4:00 a.m. the train came and by the same way which I came down I returned to Cervignano at 5:00 p.m. I
 33

enjoyed the trip a little more this time as the weather was milder and the trip was made in the daylight
instead of the night. At Cervignano I went around for a while knowing that we would not leave for the
regiment until the following day. At 9:00 p.m., I went to a barrack used for those arriving and leaving on
furloughs. Here I slept until morning when with others who were going back to the regiment, we hiked to
Nogaredo. At Cervignano we were told that our regiment had left Mariano and returned to Mt. St.
Michele. At Nogaredo we just rested a while and got our rifles and ammunition. Here I also met Corporal-
Major Bandiera who had just come in from Palmanova. He had gone to Rome and naturally was allowed
three extra days for traveling.

We got to Mariano that night and our quarters were occupied by the 130th Infantry who in our absence
were relieved at Mt. St. Michele by our regiment. I had to go to the farmer who sold me milk to see if he
would let me sleep in his barn with his cows. After a nice chat with the family, he took me to his barn
where I slept along side the cow who gave me milk next morning. We remained at Mariano the whole of
the following day. We made friends with some of the boys of the 130th Infantry end found out that their
rest at Mariano was really a rest. They did not have any drills or long marches as we had. All they did was
to keep themselves clean and keep their equipment clean. Their discipline was not anywhere near as harsh
as ours. It seems strange that two regiments that make up the same brigade should be so different. The
difference in discipline was manifested later when the 130th Infantry rebelled at going to Mt. St. Michele.
More will be told of this later. At dusk of the same day (January fourteenth), all of us of the 131st Infantry
who had returned from furlough left for Mt. St. Michele to join our regiment.

Bandiera and I found our company in trenches only seventy-five meters from the enemy with only a few
moveable barbed wire entanglements between our trenches. This was a new sector of Mt. St. Michele for
us. From this time until May when we left Mt. St. Michele for good, we were told that we were only to
keep our line strengthened - - - we would do no attacking we would remain on the defensive for the
winter.

Great progress was already made in making these portions safer for the men. Not only were trenches dug
from two to five feet deep, but with cloth bags filled with earth, a parapet about one or two feet higher
than the tallest man were made. Besides we made runaways from the trenches to the rear in similar
manner. Sometimes though very seldom, our runaways were covered on top also, We also made dug-outs
for rest and shelter during the daytime, The part of the dug-outs above the ground were made with earth
filled sacks and the better ones had corrugated sheets about six by three feet for the roof over which was
spread a layer of dirt.

While on our vacation a big change had taken place in our company, we now had a captain who came
from Ravenna. He was a very fine man, just, jolly and courageous. He was our captain from January 1916
to November 1916. He superseded the lieutenant who became commander of the first platoon. We also
got other officers. One was a second lieutenant who commanded the second platoon, he was my officer.
He was a very good man, and we had many good times together, he was from Bologna. The third and
fourth platoons also got new officers. Then, too, we were reinforced with twenty-seven men from
Frosinone, mostly Southern Italians. Also many of the sick and wounded who had been with us during the
November disaster returned to us from field hospitals. We had now a company of over one hundred and
fifty men. I was put in charge of the 6th squad.

The day following our arrival in the trenches, the enemy seeing that much work was being done in the
rear and the making of new runways with their scout planes, who were forever flying aver our positions,
signaled to their artillery who opened an intense bombardment against us which not only destroyed much
of our work in the runways but wounded two men also. One good thing about being in front line trenches
is that it’s very seldom that you are victims to enemy artillery. It seems that especially since our trench is
a short distance from theirs they take no chance of the shot falling short and hitting their own men instead.
 34

The Italian artillery on the other hand very often hit their first line trenches and some even fell victims to
their own shots.

The next three days we were relieved from first trench and went about one half a kilometer to second line.
Here, though we had better dug-outs and more conveniences, we were in a much more dangerous position
than in first line as the enemy artillery always aims at the rear.

Though the company went in the rear, I with ten men in charge went back to the first line next morning,
January eighth, and worked all day to make a clearance and a place suitable for placing a machine gun
which up to this time we had only a very few on our front. We made a well-protected place with earth
filled bags. The enemy seeing us work would send a few rifle shots our way and a couple of times even
had the machine gun on us. When through with this work, the Lieutenant-Colonel of the second battalion
whose men were holding this trench, complimented us on the way we had done it.

The following day I was put in charge of twenty men and went to make a new runway from second to
first line. Though dangerous, we were not bothered that day by the enemy. We filled sacks with earth and
dug a trench three feet deep and three feet wide. We used this earth to fill sacks and we piled-the sacks
one on top of the other to a height of six feet.

Chapter 2 – Drills in Mariano

On the night of January twenty-first, we were relieved by the 130th Infantry, and we returned to our
quarters at Mariano. I had been up there only six days this time. From January twenty-first to February
third, we led the usual life at Mariano that is drills, marches, etc. On January twenty-fifth at 7:00 p.m., we
were all out, our bugles sounded the alarm signal and in haste we all returned to our quarters. We were all
ready in forty-five minutes to leave for the Front all lined up in front of headquarters. After making us
wait an hour or so in line, we were told to return to headquarters and go to sleep. Whether this was only a
drill or an order which was later recalled I was never able to find out.

Two days later I did first guard duty as Corporal. I with the privates were sent on duty on top of the bell
tower of the Mariano church. The tower was about one hundred feet high. Though there were church
functions every Sunday and holidays, in which the Italian soldiers took part along with the natives, the
bell had not been used since the Italians occupied the town. Our duty on the tower was to look out for
enemy scout planes. I had seen enough planes by this time to distinguish which were ours and which were
Austrian or German, even though they were high in the air. We could also tell by the puffing of their
motor when we could not see them. We were to shoot with our rifles at them when they passed near us,
not only to keep them away from the church near which was the headquarters of the regiment, but as a
warning to our troops in town to keep away from the streets at that particular moment. Only once during
the entire day did we get a chance to shoot at the plane. It was in the morning and the four of us opened
fire at one passing. Two batteries of anti-aircraft guns which were out in the field near Mariano also
aimed large pills at them but the only effect was in chasing them away. Only once during my entire army
life did I see a plane actually hit by an anti-aircraft gun. After twenty-four hour service we were relieved
by guards of Company 4.

As the entire regiment was quartered at Mariano, every twelve days was our company’s turn to provide
guards for the regiment. On the day the company was on guard duty, from sixty to eighty men, nearly the
entire company was required.

The regimental headquarters needed about twenty-five men, including an officer, a sergeant, and three
corporals. Three battalion headquarters needed six men, two corporals, and one corporal-major each. The
church tower required three men and one corporal. Fifteen to eighteen men were needed for patrolling the
 35

streets of the town, that is, five or six squads composed of one sergeant, one corporal and one private. The
corporal and private were armed with their rifles and the sergeant had a revolver. Each company supplied
its own guard to its headquarters at all times.

The day after our guard service, my platoon officer while drilling allowed me to take command of our
platoon during the drill. As this was my first attempt, not only was I nervous, but my buddies got a big
kick out of it, they could not keep from laughing. A year later when I had a platoon of my own and was
considered the best drilled of our company, I could not help but think of my first attempt at Mariano.

We had more recruits, mostly those which at the beginning of the war were called unfit for military
service, but were later inspected by the military doctor and declared fit. There were thirty-two in our
company who came either from Frosinone or from and near Naples. These men certainly had no intention
to remain with us. They wanted to be declared unfit for duty by our regiment doctors. Two days after they
arrived, we had a twenty kilometer hike, and most of these arrivals lagged behind claiming that they could
not stand the pace. On our return from the march, many were placed in the regimental jail while some
went to the regimental convalescent hospital at Mariano hospital for a few days rest. As these men were
for the most part unfit for service here at the Front, we took pity on them and any work that was to be
done was always done by the older members. After ten days that we had returned to Mt. St. Michele, not
one tenth of them were left in our regiment. They had either been sent to the hospital or back to Frosinone
as unfit for duty at the Front.

The next few days before going back to the trenches, I was pretty ill myself. I had quite a fever but
remained at rest in company headquarters.

Chapter 3 – The trenches once more – New kind of torpedo bomber

During the night of the third and fourth of February, we slowly made our way back to the trenches in first
line to relieve the 130th Infantry. As luck would have it, I still had an awful cough and I was commanded
to take charge of sixty-three sentries for the next eighteen hours. It was my duty to go to and fro from one
end of the trench occupied by my company to the other. While my men had four hours rest out of every
six, I had none at all. Their duty was to keep an outlook so that the enemy would not attack us by surprise.
There were twenty-one sentries which I had to look after and give relief every two hours. On these men
depended not only the safety of those in first line but also all the men in the rear. The punishment given to
these men if caught sleeping on duty was being exposed to the enemy in the following way. In the
daytime they would be disarmed and sent to “no man’s land” (half way between our trenches and those of
the enemy They were to stand erect, exposed to the firing of the enemy for thirty minutes. If in case they
made any attempt to go on the other side as prisoners, they would immediately be fired upon by our men.
If after thirty minutes the enemy had not fired on them they were allowed to return to the trench and no
further punishment was inflicted upon them. It was very seldom that the enemy would fire on such a
defenseless soldier. Just about one week after as a member of Company 5, I witnessed just such a case
where both the corporal and the private were sent out in “no man’s land”. Thirty minutes later both came
back unharmed. One injustice in this case was the sending of the corporal along with the guilty private.
The corporal was not asleep; he was walking at the other end of the trench when the commanding officer
found the private asleep and was, therefore, punished with the private. The commanding officer of the
company has full power to inflict this punishment without superior orders.

On February ninth I was appointed with four privates to get instructions on a new kind of torpedo bomber
which is placed in a first trench and fired at the enemy’s first trench. This torpedo when it lands easily has
the power of a 105 caliber cannon as far as destruction is concerned. For the next five days we were
assigned to Company 5, and with three similar squads, took lessons from an artillery officer in second line
of trenches. After five days of instructions we went back to first line trenches with Company 5 while our
 36

company went to the rear. He worked hard to prepare a position for our torpedo bomber. It requires much
more work than placing a machine gun. The second night up we tried our torpedoes and shot twelve shots
with it.

During the rest of the time until we returned to Mariano on February twenty-fourth, we shot our torpedo
about twenty shots daily. This weapon was not relished by the enemy. They would answer our torpedoes
with a heavy caliber cannon. It not only was uncomfortable for us but also for the regular infantry troops
who were quiet. Every time we shot one we would hear protest not only from regular troops but also its
officers, as the enemy was sure to answer with a couple of shots in our direction. It was for this reason
that these torpedoes were stopped being used while both of us were on the defensive. Our place was
wrecked twice during this nine day period, but we escaped without a scratch. During this time, I got a
pain on my left shoulder which bothered me for months.

Chapter 4 – Relieved yet again, Illness and return to the Front

On the night of February twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth, the 130th Infantry relieved us as usual. The
Bersaglieri relieved us at the torpedo gun, but I do not think it was used after we left except occasionally.
We were relieved much sooner than the regiment and left for Mariano hours before they did. On our way
down to Mariano, we met with the first snow I had seen since I left America. The sixteen of us and one
officer were quartered together for three days. Then the torpedo section was dissolved and the men were
sent to their original companies.

On February twenty-eighth, the day following my return to Company 3, I with three men was placed to
guard our headquarters for the next twenty-four hours. We had no time to clean up sufficiently our clothes
were still full of yellow clay from Mt. St. Michele, and we could not get it off. Our shoes, puttees, etc.,
were in terrible shape. While our company was serving Noon meal, Colonel Squillace of our regiment
passed by our company’s headquarters. Not seeing the guard presenting arms to him on time, he came in
just as I was getting the guards ready to do that very thing, as some of my men at that time were eating
their dinner. The Colonel called me to him for not saluting him with present arms in time and for
disorderly appearance and sentenced me to twenty-five days in jail. On his way out of headquarters the
Captain, his aide-of-staff, called me to his side and said that the Colonel would not punish me this time
and to have our company give me a new outfit. I was very glad to avoid that punishment. On the
following day I was in service for twenty-four hours more. Our company had to furnish guards for the
regiment. As I had just finished twenty-four hour guard duty and having no other corporals in the
company, I had to be corporal of the day. The work on this day was extra heavy as I had to bring the three
meals to the guards all over town. Besides taking care of the distribution of the food, I also had to look
after the cleaning of the cantonment and the yard. This duty though it keeps the corporal on the run all the
time to me was pleasing. The only bad feature of it was that we did not get our three free hours in the
evening. We were, of course, dispensed from drills as the cantonment was cleaned while the boys were
out drilling in the morning.

On the same day, forty-two men came from Frosinone as reinforcements to our company. Many were
from Calabria, though there were some from the region of Milan. This group of recruits were of all ages
and much better fit for service than the last bunch. There were naturally commissioned and non-
commissioned officers with them. Their coming made my work doubly hard that day.

On March first, the day following the strenuous day I just mentioned I had a very high fever of 104. The
doctor insisted that I go to the hospital, not the Mariano field hospital as that was full, but some other
field hospital. If I had gone chances were I would never have returned to my regiment which I now
wished to stay in as I was very fond of my officers and buddies. So I went to the convalescence hospital
for five days. This place was exactly the same as in the company since we slept on the floor on straw
 37

filled mattresses and the food was the same. The only difference was that we could sleep all day if we
wanted to.

After the five days, I went back to my company. From that day to March twelfth, when we returned for
the seventh time to Mt. St. Michele, we had regular drills and marches. Some of our marches would last
all day. Several times we hiked to Borgnano, a little village near the old Italian boundary, about twenty-
five kilometers from Mariano. These hikes though we only got home for our evening meal were much
more pleasant than our stiff morning drill. When going on hikes, most of the luggage was left behind. We
only carried our bread sack, rifle, canteen, and the tent sheet with our cape rolled together. We would
leave our headquarters at about 6:00 am. and would pass through towns such as Romans, Versa, Chiopris,
etc. During the march, we had five minutes rest every half hour. When we reached the towns, we had
longer stops; the ranks were broken and the boys could go to the wine shop and have a drink if they so
wished. The bugler would call all the men together when ready to proceed. The order of march was the
colonel and his staff on horseback in front, then the first, second and third battalion in order named, the
commanding officer of each battalion also went on horseback, all the other officers went on foot. Captain
Guerrini, our captain being senior officer of our battalion, led our battalion and the senior lieutenant led
our company. Then out in the country, we walked by fours, two on each side of the road. When nearing a
town we would close ranks and march to town in good order. When in the square, at the order of the
colonel, the bugler would sound the breaking of ranks.

When we reached Borgnano, which on account of our round about way to reach it, it would be about
10:30 or 11:00 a.m., we were ordered to set up tents just outside of the town. Our noon meal would then
be brought to us by our cooks on mule driven carts. After our meal, we would lay under our tents until
2:00 p.m. when orders came to break up camp and form ranks. We would return to Mariano by a more
direct route, passing through Medea and Fratta, arriving at Mariano at shout 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. just in time
for supper after which we would clean up a bit and were let out for three hours.

Of course all the small towns were filled with soldiers - - - Bersaglieri, Infantry, Engineers, etc. Mariano
and Corona were assigned to our division which was called the 29th Division. When we were up in the
trenches, 129th Infantry would be quartered at Corona, while the 130th Infantry would be at Mariano and
while they were in the trenches, the 132nd would be at Corona and we at Mariano. On March twelfth
while we were enjoying our evening leave, we heard our bugle sound the alarm again. This time it was no
false alarm as soon after we left for Mt. St. Michele to act as reinforcement to the 130th Infantry, whom
we were told would attack the enemy. We had a very dreary hike to Mt. St. Michele. The roads were all
muddy as it had rained thirteen out of the last fifteen days. We remained near the street at Sdraussina in
barracks for the remainder of the night and the following day. The next night we went to the second line
of trenches to reinforce the Bersaglieri who were to attack the enemy right in front of us. After two days
of anxiety in which we were promised if the attack succeeded we would be given a long rest, we were
told that there would be no attack, and instead of returning to Mariano, we relieved the 130th Infantry,
and they went down in our stead. Though we had been in Mt. St. Michele seven times we were never in
the same first trench twice. When we went up there it seems we were always sent to trenches which were
in poor shape and we would work the entire time while there to fix the dug-outs, runways, parapet walls,
etc., so that they would be in good condition when we would be relieved. We were now on a elope
overlooking the Isonzo. Below and in the distance about eight kilometers we could see the beautiful city
of Gorizia. We could distinguish many of the principal buildings even without aid of the telescope. That
city was so near us and yet so far.

The next day my lieutenant and I saw an Austrian rifle, canteen and a small keg with a small faucet on it
in “no-man’s land” near our trench, and he told me if I dared to go with him we would both go after that
stuff at night. When night came between the lights which the enemy was continually using, I jumped the
trench and he immediately followed. We laid on the ground there until the enemy quieted down a little.
 38

Then little by little we threw our treasure to the boys in our trench who were waiting for us. The Austrian
relics the lieutenant kept, though he offered me some. The liquor we took to our regimental doctor, who
after an analysis pronounced it drinkable. It was a strong cognac like rum. Although we two who went
after it hardly had a sip, we had many customers in our company, especially our Venetian friends.

During the following four days, I had such an awful fever that the doctor sent me down to the Sdraussina
barracks to rest. On this trip at the trench we had the worst weather imaginable, it rained continually, our
trench was yellow mud knee deep. We were wet, dirty and had the company of thousands of cooties. We
would try to kill a few hundred when the sun came out. It was a ridiculous sight to see on a nice sunny
day - - - hundreds of us with our coat over our bare skin and underwear in our bands hunting the cooties.
Because of the bad weather, many got sick and went to the hospitals. In our platoon our sergeant and
corporal-major both left, and I being the senior corporal had charge of the platoon until we returned to
Mariano, this being the first time I was in charge of the platoon.

On the twenty-eighth of March to straighten up the front at Podgora, the Italians were to take two rows of
Austrian trenches. Before they started the attack, we were ordered to start a sort of false attack on our
front so that the enemy would not only keep their men up in the trenches but would probably send
reinforcements to help them. And while we were executing this false attack, our boys in Podgora would
silently surprise them with the real attack.

At about 9:30 p.m. during heavy rain we started a terrific firing with our rifles. All our rifles were in use
though not all the men could fire, as there was about one port hole for every three men in that trench. I
had one hole and three rifles as our rifles would be too hot to hold after about sixty shots. So, I changed
off when the rifle was too hot. I shot over one thousand shots during that false attack. The enemy trench
when we started shooting looked as brilliant as State Street with lights of all sorts. What made them afraid
was that they were less than one hundred meters away and there were no barbed wire entanglements
between our trenches and theirs. They were firing at us also. During the entire affair not one from my
Company was wounded. Judging by the noise, one would think it was the end of the world, as both our
artillery and theirs was keeping steady fire to the rear lines. With lights and powerful flashlights, the
whole field was illuminated. We were later told that the real attack at Podgora was successful.

The day following this attack we changed first line. We were sent further down the slope nearer the river.
Here we stayed five days which was just long enough to fix the dugouts and runways as usual. During
these five days at the front we enjoyed ourselves even though the weather was bad. The reason was that
we were only thirty-two meters, less than a hundred feet away from their trenches. We could carry on a
conversation with them and even exchange articles. We had an Austrian regiment from around Vienna in
front of us. Our Venetian Comrades would speak German to them. They would exchange goods - - -
Turkish cigarettes and tobacco for a loaf of our bread. So much of this trading went on during these five
days that before we left, our officer had to put a stop to it. Both the enemy and we stuck our heads out of
the trenches without any fear of being shot at.

On March seventeenth when we relieved the 130th Infantry, we were told by some of their men that they
would never return to this Front nor to any other Front for that matter until they got their long-promised
rest. Not a ten or fifteen day rest but a long one in the interior of Italy and that we should impress our
officers in the same way. We were all so scared of Colonel Squillace that we never uttered a word.

On the night of April third and fourth, we knew that that night we were to be relieved again by the 130th
Infantry. So as usual, we prepared all of our things so that as soon as they came we could leave
immediately. As relief usually came between 11:00 and 12:00 p.m. (Midnight), we expected it at that
time. We waited for it all night and in the morning we heard rumors that the 130th Infantry had rebelled
having refused to relieve us. Having this news, we made preparations to remain here until some other
 39

regiment could be found to relieve us. We did not have too long to wait, for the following night the 130th,
as many as could be found, relieved us and we returned again to Mariano. According to a member of the
130th Infantry, whom I met at Mariano, the incident occurred in the following way:

Chapter 5 – Unhappy troops take to the hills

During the seventeen days that the regiment was resting at Mariano from March eighteenth to April third,
the troops made several minor demonstrations that a long rest was due them as had been promised. They
wanted to get away from the Front and go to the interior of Italy. As their colonel could do nothing
without his superior’s orders, he paid no attention to his men. On the afternoon of April third, orders came
to them to get ready to relieve us that night. The men strenuously objected to return, and when later told
to get their things ready, they ran away throughout the surrounding country. There was an immediate
hurry up call for military Police “Bersaglieri” cyclist machine gun squads and a battalion of 129th
Infantry who were to relieve the 132nd Infantry, who were with us. Only about two hundred of the main
regiment actually came to Sdraussina on that night as expected. As they were so few they could not
relieve our regiment, they were made to stay at Sdraussina until the rebellious ones came.

The whole of the next day was spent hunting for the missing members of the 130th regiment. Many were
rounded up by the Military Police and Bersaglieri cyclists. During the hunt it is said that over sixty of the
130th Infantry were killed and wounded by refusing to give themselves up. In the evening all those who
had been rounded up and those who returned of their own free will (about 1,500 in all) were led to the
trenches by two platoons of Military Police, one battalion of Bersaglieri cyclists, one battalion of
Bersaglieri on foot, one battalion of 129th Infantry, a part of their brigade and two armored cars with two
machine guns each. They had enough soldiers to escort them for they were outnumbered two to one. It
was these soldiers who with the two hundred that arrived at Sdraussina the night before relieved us in the
early morning of the fifth of April. Some of the members were so darn sore that they said that if we came
up again to relieve them they would turn their rifles on us.

Later when they returned to Mariano, we were told that they were severely punished for the desertion, as
the 1,500 who deserted were lined up and one out of every ten was taken out to be shot. That means that
150 men were shot at one time for desertion.

During our last long stay it Mariano, from April fifth to the twenty-third, not much happened. Our drills
were dispensed with and instead most every day we went on long full day hikes as already explained. We
were given two Anti-Typhus and two Anti-Cholera injections at different intervals.

I had seen enemy planes dodge shots from our anti-aircraft batteries most every day sometimes even
several times in one day, but I had yet to see one being hit although many it seemed to be close. On April
twentieth, an enemy scout plane was flying above us in Mariano while our batteries as usual were trying
to see how close they could come to them. The plane was about 1000 feet high. One of the shots must
have hit the airplane right in the engine for we saw it make few somersaults and then land in pieces just
one-half a kilometer from Mariano. We all went to see it. Both the mechanic and the pilot were killed and
the plane was pile of debris. Once at Santa Maria la Longa I saw another enemy plane grounded but it
was in a duel with a large Italian Caproni. We saw many such duels between the Italian planes and those
of the enemy, the Italian planes always trying to chase the enemy scout planes away.

Chapter 6 – The Eighth and last trip to Mt. Ste. Michele

In the evening of April twenty-third, we got ready to leave for Mt. St. Michele to relive the 130th
Infantry. This was the eighth and last time we made this trip. Because of the rebellion of the13th Infantry
on its last trip to the trenches, our colonel took no chances with us although we were as meek as lambs
 40

and we were escorted to the Front by two armored cars with two machine guns each. We were treated like
prisoners, all this happened on Easter Sunday with rain coming down in bucket-fulls. These armored cars
accompanied us to the Isonzo. The 130th Infantry did not shoot at us as they threatened to do. We
relieved them at midnight - - as this proved to be their last time in this section of the Front.

On the third of May, I saw for the first and last time a General in the first line of trench. It was General
Marazzi who in late last October was eager to lead his 29th Division to capture Mt. St. Michele and then
eventually become Governor General of Gorizia.

The enemy must in some way have smelled the fact that Marazzi was coming to pay us a visit for a few
days before and a few days after his visit for their artillery sent a few pills daily without being provoked
by us and thereby killing one and wounding nine others. These were the first casualties since January in
our Company.

We spent the last nine days of our stay at Mt. St. Michele in second line trench. On the night of May
thirteenth, we bade goodbye to Mt. St. Michele as far as I was concerned forever. The enemy did not want
to let us go without saying goodbye either, as their artillery accompanied us all the way across the Isonzo
River. This was the first time since November that we were caught in the midst of a bombardment as we
were being relieved. Luckily we, that is our Company, escaped without losses. We were relieved by the
54th Battalion of Bersaglieri. As they came to relieve us instead of the usual 130th Infantry, we knew
there were changes coming.

Chapter 7 – Regrouping in Corona, then back to the Isonzo

As we marched to our cantonments, we were told we would go to Corona as Mariano was occupied by the
130th Infantry. We passed Mariano on our way to Corona and felt sorry that we were not going to our
usual quarters. On reaching Corona, we were placed in the quarters of the 129th Infantry, and they were
sent to Moraro. The day after our arrival I was again listed with a torpedo gun squad, a new model, and
was to go to Palmanova along with twenty-two others of our regiment but we never got there because our
squad was busted again about twenty days later.

On May fourteenth I saw the largest squadron of Italian planes I have ever seen flying in the direction of
Trieste. There were twenty-four (that’s what I counted) large Italian Caproni’s. Coming in the opposite
direction but higher up were two Austrian scout planes which our anti-aircraft batteries from around
Mariano and Corona made a futile attempt to ground.

The cantonment at Corona was no different than at Mariano. We only made a seven day stay. It was
during our stay there that the 29th Division was officially broken, as only a few days later we arrived at
Corona. The Brigata Perugia comprised of the 129th and 130th Infantry were sent to the Trentino Front
where the Austrians were expected to launch an offensive move and which in fact did succeed in not only
capturing many prisoners but in invading Italy. But they were repulsed in the first part of June to almost
their first positions. The offensive, though it took the Austrians with a few Bavarians six months in
planning, was a complete failure. Our friends of the 129th and 130th Infantry got up there in time to take
part in both retreat and recapturing of lost positions around Asiago. We, “Brigata Lazio” the 131st and
132nd Infantry, remained at the lower Isonzo Front until that awful drubbing our battalion received at
Opacchiasella in November
1916.

At Corona we had to keep the streets clean in the daytime as Austrian balloons were right behind Mt. St.
Michele and could easily see us moving about the town in the daytime. Besides the enemy were
 41

continually watching our movements from above us. Even when we were given a three hour recreation
period in the evening we were told to remain indoors until after dark.

On the night of May twentieth we were told again to get ready to go to the trenches while we expected a
long rest somewhere in Italy. The rumors had been that we were going to Rome.

After quite a long hike of about fifteen kilometers with our entire baggage, passing the ruins of what used
to be the village of Farra, we came to new concrete trenches. We relieved a battalion of Guardia di
Finanza which are revenue guards. These men in time of peace patrolled the frontiers and kept all those
who wanted to smuggle goods to Italy from doing so. Many of these were stationed between the Swiss
and the Italian borders where much smuggling was carried on up in the mountains. During the war this
corps of men wore uniforms similar to Infantry but wore a hat similar to those of the Italian Alpine Corp.
These men were not supposed to do trench duty, but during the war when needed they were taken to
protect quiet spots of the Front.

The Front, where we relieved these men, was really no Front at all as we were over one kilometer from
the enemy. We were on the southern bank of the Isonzo River. Our concrete trenches were between 400
to 600 feet from the banks of the river and the enemy was way on the other side of the river. We were
located near Lucinico, not very far from the famous battleground of Podgora, and Mt. St. Michele directly
in front of us just across the river. This front was better than staying at Corona or Moraro. Here at least
we rested as all we did was eat and sleep, some played cards and checkers. At night we had, of course, a
few sentries and also sent out scouting squads up to the banks of the river. Some volunteered to go
scouting in the daytime also.

The revenue officers whom we relieved did not leave on the night we arrived, as their officers were afraid
they would not be far enough from the enemy’s reach by dawn. So the following day we had them with
us. We had a delightful day together. It was comical to hear them compare their adventures in those
concrete trenches with ours at Mt. St. Michele. They said that during their twenty day stay two enemy
shots came their way and came close to them. They said that when scouting squads had to go near the
river at night even stray bullets would come across the Isonzo.

Most of the boys from this corp. were southern Italians usually from Sicily. This corp. now tries to
prevent snuggling in Swiss, Austrian and Trench fronts but are also stationed throughout the Italian
seacoast.

These trenches were made of reinforced concrete. Though we had seen several lines of these trenches
from Mariano on our way to Mt. St. Michele, we had never been in any. They were built four feet to four
feet six below grade. In the center was a passage about thirty inches wide. On the side of the enemy was a
step about twelve inches high and twelve inches wide running the entire length of the trench. On the other
side was a high seat about three feet high and fifteen inches wide also running the entire length of the
trench. That made the distance between the inside walls between four feet nine to five feet. In the seat in
back when the trench was not crowded, we laid down to sleep. The porthole in the trench was about five
feet above the step and about six inches above the outside grade. It was also eight inches square. These
trenches also had reinforced concrete roofs with earth on the roof to masquerade them from enemy
planes. There were runways leading to the trench every three hundred feet. The only bad feature of it was
that we had to sleep on hard concrete, but even this was one hundred per cent better than taking a short
snooze in a mud dug-out at Mt. St. Michele.

The day following our arrival a queer incident occurred. A Russian prisoner swam the Isonzo River
absolutely naked to come to us. We noticed him as he was getting out of the water and saw him run
towards our trench in Adam’s garb minus the fig leaf. As he neared our trench, two men of our company
 42

went to meet him and brought him among us. We clothed him, and then our Venetian buddies who were
our interpreters tried to get something out of him, but as this Russian could speak very little, we could not
get mach out of him except that he was a Russian prisoner and was taken in the Carpathian Mts., and for
six months he was in back of Mt. St. Michele making trenches and hauling ammunition. According to
international law that kind of work is not allowed war prisoners. He came over in broad daylight before
noon. He said none saw him escape.

During our eight day stay here we had a good time as we could go from one end of the trench to the other,
talk and stay with our friends of other platoons without being afraid of being seen and shot at. On the left
of our Company was the 6th Company of the 11th Infantry, my old Regiment of Forli who had been
honored and received a gold medal for its fight in Podgora and in August 9, 1916, along with the 12th
Infantry, were the first to enter Gorizia.

In the half a kilometer or more between our trench and the river were grapevines, apple trees and cherry
trees, besides isolated houses, most of which were in ruins, A few hundred meters behind us was the main
road to Lucinico and Cormons. On the fourth day in the trench I went on scout duty with three men. Our
duty during the night was to remain vigilant. We were sent right up to the banks of the river to see that the
enemy would not cross the river and surprise those in the main trench. An attack of this nature although
not impossible was improbable as the Isonzo was very wide at this point - - - about seven or eight
hundred feet wide with rapids, and just now the river was swelling on account of snow melting in the
Alps and because of recent heavy rains. At night we kept watch, but in the day instead of returning to our
trench, we scouted around and saw the empty and ruined houses while the country around was in full
bloom, grape blossoms, cherry and apple blossoms besides many flowers. We were sorry we had come
here at this time. If we had come during the latter part of September or October, we could have had fruit
galore without paying a red cent.

During this time I lost command of the 8th squad which I had had since becoming corporal and was
transferred to the 5th squad. I was sorry to leave my old squad. At this time we were also informed that
the torpedo gun squad which was to go to Palmanova for instruction was dissolved again.

On the twenty-seventh of May knowing we would soon leave the trench, my officer, two men, and myself
asked permission to go to Cormons as we wanted to see the town and we knew permits were issued. We
were granted an all day permit from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. We left in high spirits to see the metropolis of
this Front. Cormons before the war had about twelve thousand inhabitants, but now there were less than
one thousand native civilians. But there was no estimate as to how many soldiers there were especially
officers. This town is on the railroad line from Gorizia to Udine. The next railway station south is San
Giovanni di Manzano, seven kilometers from Cormons. About half way between San Giovanni and
Cormons was the old Italian border line. San Giovanni it must be remembered was the station I got off
when I was sent to the 131st Infantry in September 1915. Then we got to Cormons, train beds of soldiers
were pulling in town at night. Only the part of the track that had been wreaked by the Austrians had been
repaired. The enemy line was less than eight kilometers from Cormons and very frequently large pills
would land right in the heart of the town. Cormons was already partly in ruins when we saw it. The
railway station, the bull’s eye of the enemy’s cannons, was completely demolished, no wall standing was
higher than eight feet. Cormons was even a livelier town than either Palmanova or Cervignano, though it
had no railway traffic to compare with theirs. There were many civilians who were visitors to our front,
besides many newspaper correspondents also foreign visitors like French and British officers.

As early as February 1916, we had a British field battery at our front on the north bank of the Isonzo
River near Mt. St. Michele. Some of the officers of this battery were loafing at Cormons.
 43

We enjoyed ourselves immensely. We got to Cormons at 6:00a.m. and left at 7:00 p.m. We ate, drank,
and took in a motion picture show while we could hear the cannons roar at Mt. St. Michele.

The morning following our return we were relieved by the 20th Infantry. They had left early the evening
before and had hunted us all night. The poor boys must have been tired when they got to us. As it was
after dawn when they arrived, we did not attempt to leave the trench in broad daylight so we waited until
dark before starting for Moraro.

Chapter 8 - From Moraro to Marano to Medea and Beyond – Insignia Explained

We arrived at Moraro at about midnight and went to cantonments assigned to us. We had no straw so we
slept as was on the concrete trenches we had just left. Early next morning it seems we forgot we were at
Moraro under the nose of the heavy Austrian Artillery because we spread out all over cleaning ourselves
up and getting ready for cur coming rest in Italy. The streets were filled with troops in broad daylight.
Then all of a sudden the enemy opened up on us with large 305 caliber, no fewer than fifteen of this
caliber was sent our way. After the first shot, we all ran in the open fields as far as one kilometer from
Moraro. The very few civilians here ran with us. More of the few remaining buildings were ruined and a
bit of the surrounding country. When we returned to our places after dark that night, I had not heard of
any casualties - - at least not in our company.

At Moraro there was only one family, an old man with his wife and two daughters, one was married and
had her husband in the Austrian Army. Why they chose to remain in such a dangerous place as Moraro
we could never find out as Moraro was made a target of Austrian guns very often. We were shot at twice
during the little time we spent at Moraro.

That very night we left Moraro forever and went to Marano. But Marano was not large enough to squeeze
in two regiments as the 19th Regiment was already stationed there. We crowded up a little and slept in
barns and haylofts, etc. We were in Marano six days preparing to go on a long rest in Italy. We had
visions of going to Rome or other large Italian cities. We thought we would go to Palmanova and take a
train for Italy.

While at Marano we noticed that helmets similar to those used by the French were being distributed to
everyone. Previously only the “Death Platoon” and a few officers had them. These earlier ones were
imported directly from France as they bore the R. F. with the flame on it in front of the helmet. Those that
were distributed to the 19th Infantry and about twenty days later distributed to us were similar to those
with the French emblem on, only they were without emblem, they were plain. Later during the war the
number of the regiment was stenciled on in front as the only way to distinguish the regiment an Italian
soldier belonged to was by the number on his cap. At the neck we had a ribbon whose colors would
indicate to which brigade we belonged, but few if any knew the colors of all the different brigades and
even if they did know the different brigade colors, there was no way of telling to which of the two
regiments one belonged. The name and number of the company in small letters were placed on the
shoulders. The commissioned and non-commissioned wore their distinctions on both sleeves, a black silk
or cotton braid being used.
First Private (Appuntato) —— One wide braid, 1/2 inch
Corporal —— One wide braid; one narrow braid, 1/4 inch
Corporal-Major — One wide braid; two narrow braids,l/4 inch
Sergeant —— One wide braid; one narrow braid with loop
Sergeant-Major — One wide braid; two narrow braids with loop

A wound strip consisted of a piece of silver braid about two inches long on the right arm. Machine gun,
Scout, Torpedo Gun and many other different special guards wore their emblem on their left arm.
 44

During our stay at Marano was probably the only time I can remember of having remained in a town for
so long without drill or marches while a member of the 131st Infantry. We were all given new uniforms
which we took as a sign that we would go some place far away. About the only thing we had to do was to
wash our under clothing in a small brook not far from Marano, bathe ourselves and keep our rifles
thoroughly clean.

Our best pastime was trying to guess where we were going for our long rest and how long before we
would return to the Front. Of course, most of us actually believed that we would go to Rome where the
regiment actually originated. Some said Frosinone where the main headquarters were located. A few who
weren’t so optimistic said we would go to some large Venetian or Lombard city so as to be ready and
easy to return to the Front in case of necessity. All of us figured that we would go far enough to take the
train.

On June fifth we left Marano for good. We had that day said goodbye to all our native friends. We had a
nice long hike of twenty-two kilometers with our baggage on our back to Medea, No happier regiment
ever left Marano. We sang almost all the way to Medea. At Medea we put up our tents just outside the
town and camped for the night. Our next stop we figured would be Palmanova. At 3:00 a.m. next morning
we broke camp, had coffee as usual and before dawn left Medea. We passed Chiopris, Viscone, across the
border, through Jalmico to Palmanova. Here was where we got our surprise, instead of remaining at
Palmanova, to take a train, after a short rest we proceeded eight kilometers further to some barracks
between Santa Maria La Longa and Santo Stefano. Even after we left Palmanova we would not believe
that we were not going to take a train for Italy, as leaving Palmanova we followed the railway line which
leads from Palmanova to Udine. We believed that Palmanova was very congested by other military units
and that we would be boarded on the train at some small station just beyond Palmanova. Then late in the
evening we arrived at the barracks just beyond Santa Maria la Longa, and we were to remain here
indefinitely, we gave up hopes of Italy. We had marched over thirty kilometers from Medea with our
loaded pack on our back and were dreadfully tired. We had to wait a while before we could find out
which of the shacks we were going in. After lots of consulting, the location of our shack was decided and
we moved into it a squad at a time and the squads moved in according to the number beginning with 1st,
2nd, 3rd, etc.

Here we slept in military cots for the first time in ten months. The cots were of two stories, that is two
cots together, one over the other, like cots use for steerage in ships crossing the ocean. They were made of
galvanized pipe and fittings. The first night we slept without straw. We were, of course, very much
peeved because we were not sent far away in Italy for our rest, and the way we were misled. But we had
to do as told and let it go at that.

During the following day, we fixed up each individual place. All places were fixed the same, our rifle,
bread sack, knapsack, sash mug, canteen, etc., all were placed the same way.

We also got straw and filled straw sacks something like small mattresses. We used our tent sheet to cover
the mattresses and our one blanket on top of that. We used our cape folded as a pillow. There were sixteen
barracks all in a row; all the same. One for each company, one for etch battalion command, which cooks,
cortege help, men who assisted the head of the battalion, etc., for each battalion, then also one who
housed messengers and other men who belonged to the colonel staff.

These shacks were about 250 ft. long and 20 ft. wide with monitor sash skylights and about 50 ft. apart. A
small part of the front of the shack was enclosed as office of the company. Another small piece was
separated for the sergeants, though in the very same cots as the others,
 45

The day following our arrival here I was transferred from 5th squad to the office to help Bandiera. I slept
with him in the office. I liked the change as the work was much more pleasant.

The time schedule for here was much the same as it had been at Marano. Only we were allowed to remain
out four hours in the evening end allowed to go either to Santa Maria La Longa or Santo Stefano. Most
went to St. Maria as it was not only the nearest but also the largest of the two. It was about eleven
kilometers from camp.

Both of the villages were typical Venetian and similar to Marano. The inhabitants spoke much the same
dialects as in Marano, although we were about 10 kilometers in Italy from the old border.

Chapter 9 – Shooting a Deserter

The second night after our arrival when the men were already in their cots the captain told me to notify
twelve men of the 10th squad with the corporal to be ready early in the morning - at 3:00 a.m. Though the
men chosen did not know where they were going, as I was told not to tell them, the captain told me we
were going to take part in shooting a deserter who had to be court-martialed and condemned to be shot.
This deserter was a member of Company 5 — 2nd Battalion of our regiment. Our captain was chosen to
lead a squad of his own men to do the shooting.

The captain chose me as his aid and so I went to witness the affair though I had no part in it.

The next morning the Captain was at our shack at 3:30 a.m. I, the other corporal, and the twelve men were
ready. So, slowly we got about 12 kilometers near Trivignano. Here in a large field away from any civil
population we met. We were the first ones there, but shortly after, the prisoner arrived with Military
Police (Carabinieri). Then some squads of all the other corps. in the Italian Army came. Each corp. had a
squad of twelve men. There was a squad each of the following: Sailors, Bersaglieri, Military Police,
Alpine Provision, Finanza, Medical Corps, Granatieri, Artillery, Cavalry, Aviation, Engineers, and our
squad of Infantry. When a man of any of the above corps is convicted to be shot, a squad of the corp. he
belongs to is chosen to execute him, but a squad of each of the other corps mast bear witness. Besides the
squads mentioned, were a general and several other officers including a captain of the medical corps with
two stretcher bearers.

By the time everyone was on the premises, it was daylight, about 5:00 a.m. The prisoner was set about
100 feet from the firing squad. The firing squad consisted of only twelve men from our company. The
corporal was taken alone to lead the squad to the field and then sent back home again.

The general, when everything was ready, made a long speech and read the sentence which stated that the
prisoner was to be shot in the back. This prisoner had on three occasions run away from first line trench.
Sow that he had been caught for the third time, he was given an extra heavy sentence.

To be shot in the back in Italy is a disgrace which must be born for seven generations. That meant that for
seven generations the direct descendants of a man shot not only were disgraced but were not allowed to
vote, own property, and have no voice in courts. This law though it was very unjust still exists in Italy.

While a man shot in the chest is considered only as a personal punishment to his family he is passed off as
shot on the battlefield and they never know of the dishonor. After the general was through talking, the
prisoner was asked what his last words were. The poor man, who was about 30 years old and probably
had a family, made a passionate appeal that he be shot in the chest so that his family might not know of
his dishonor.
 46

The old General with tears in his eyes told him he was very sorry but he could not change a sentence of a
military court. After the sentence, the stars on the collar symbol of military were removed. Our captain
then went to blind fold him which he refused, then turned him with his back at the firing squad of which
six men were kneeling and six were standing. Then the Captain gave orders to the squad and told them of
their duty. They must aim and fire at him as any delay would strain both themselves and the prisoner.

The captain then gave military orders of “ready, aim and fire”. At the word “fire”, the prisoner turned
about face and a the volley of twelve shots were coming he was shot in the chest. He evidently turned
around thinking if he was actually shot in the chest his sentence would be changed. His sentence was not
changed however.

His dead body was then picked up by stretcher bearers and taken away. The General made another short
speech and then everyone left for their cantonments.

The privates of the 6th squad who did the shooting did not know until we got to the destination of the site
where the shooting took place where they were going and what they were going to do. When our Captain
ordered “fire” some were very nervous and according to the captain of the Medical Corps, who
pronounced the man dead, only five of the twelve shots hit him.

On our return to camp, our buddies had gone out for drill and these boys were given complete rest for the
day.

Chapter 10 - The Scout Squad

Immediately after we arrived at this cantonment, a call was put in for musicians, buglers only, and during
our stay here after five days practice we had a bugle band at the head of our regiment when we went on
long marches. The band composed of about twenty men provided welcome music after being so long
without any.

Shortly after arriving here on June nineteenth, to be exact, I was appointed scout corporal of our
company. By being appointed scouts, our salary was increased one cent a day, making it now 14 cents.

The new scout squad consisted of one officer, one sergeant, twelve corporals and forty—eight privates for
the entire regiment. We had black cloth stars as emblems to put on our left arm. Their duty was really to
replace the “Death Platoon” only in a different way.

The “Death Platoon” was dissolved as it was found impractical to tear down barbed wire networks with
pinchers and gelatine tubes. The only practical way found was to break open the barrier with artillery
bombardments. This method was used continually in all future offensives. The scouts were used to
explore and find the hiding places of the enemy in case trench warfare was abandoned or in case the
enemy retreated leaving extensive tracts of land between them and the invading army. The scouts in that
case, as we did two months later, were sent out in search of the enemy. I became scout corporal of my
own free will to learn and maybe see something new.

Besides, this new squad was respected by everyone in the regiment. We were given muskets instead of
rifles. The sergeant had a revolver an never did we have to carry our knapsacks as the others did.

We were also dispensed with guard duty or regular service duty, such as going after meal pails and
cleaning squads, which cleans shacks, toilets and surrounding ground. While the others were taking part
in heavy drills, we were also drilling but our drills were light. All we did was to walk down roads and
 47

take down in a notebook some land marks which we could recognize on a return trip. Our officer was
very good and many times we could find a nice shady spot where we could stay until time to return to
cantonments. He also gave us oral drilling. We would at times go through farms and help ourselves to
cherries from the trees.

During our stay at St. Maria we had several long marches similar to those we had at Marano.

We enjoyed ourselves in the Venetian towns. We would go to Bicinicco, Tissano, Felettis, Ontagnano,
Persereano, Meretto, Sattaselva and Palmanova.

During these marches most of the time the boys would have to carry their knapsacks and all the rest of
their belongings, while we carried nothing but our bread sack and the musket.

Our scout squad would always march at the head of the regiment with the Colonel and his staff following
us and the regiment bugle band behind them, then the regiment behind the band.

Chapter 11 – The Duke of Aosta and the King of Italy

On June sixteenth the Duke of Aosta, first cousin of King of Italy and heir to the Italian throne if both the
king and his son Prince Humbert died came to us, and we marched in a parade for him as he reviewed us.
It was considered a great honor to have him review us. He was the commander-in-chief of the third Army,
whose operations were from Gorizia to the sea, where over four-fifths of the fighting of the Italian Front
was taking place and where two-thirds of the soldiers were located. He also made a speech to us. The next
day we all got steel helmets like the French. Two days later our Colonel Squillace, who had been so
severe with us, left being promoted to Brigadier General to take charge of “Brigata Napoli”, 75th and
76th Infantry. Very few of both the officers and troops were sorry to see him leave as he had shown no
pity when we went on long marches to lighten our loads. Of course, we had to pass in review for him and
pretended we were sorry when he made his farewell speech. He had been in command of our regiment
over a year. He took command of it in Rome, when it was patrolling the streets during the riots just before
war was declared. Very, very few of the men he left Rome with were still in the regiment except those in
his staff and the cooks and mule drivers who were never in dangerous positions.

The Lieutenant Colonel who commanded the 3rd Battalion took charge of the regiment.

Later we heard from one of Cadorna’s daily bulletins of a glorious feat of the Brigata Napoli while under
Genera Squillace near Monfalcone. But from a member of the 75th Infantry whom I met several months
later, I was told that General Squillace had not changed from when he was with us and had twice been
wounded, once being laid up over two months.

On June twenty-third the King of Italy passed in an automobile with General Cadorna right by our camp.
They slowed down as they passed our camp and we saw them.

Chapter 12 – Back to the Isonzo and Monfalcone

On the night of the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh of June at about 2:00 a.m., while all were sleeping
soundly, we were awakened by the “At Arms” call. This brought the end of what was to be a long all
summer rest in Italy, but which in reality only lasted nineteen days. We formed a line and got all of our
belongings together. Our cooks brought our coffee at that hour. Then all the heavy luggage was loaded in
battalion carts. At about 3:30 a.m. we left our camp for a place no one knew, but certainly it was not to
Italy to continue our rest.
 48

We, the scout squad, were placed at the rear of the regiment instead of the front. We were assigned to the
rear to keep the regulars from lagging behind.

We went all the way from St. Maria to Aquileia in one hike over 40 kilometers. It was the largest hike I
had taken part in up to that time. Many lagged behind and we had the time of our lives to make them
move ahead.

On our way we passed through both Palmanova and Cervignano and many smaller places.

We arrived at about 2:00 p.m. It was very warm and we were all tired out. We were given straw to make
mattresses with our tent sheets. We slept in vacant houses as in Marano. We were so tired that in the
evening, from over three hours recreation, very, very few went out.

Few of the Venetians went to the wine shops as usual. We thought we would be here several days so we
had time to explore the town. I did later get a chance to see Aquileia but not on this occasion. Aquileia,
before the war, was a town of about 7,000 inhabitants. Many of the civilians were still there. This town is
very historic and was at the time of the Roman Empire a very large city. The church and the bell tower are
very old structures. The bell tower being the tallest structure in this vicinity. More will be told of Aquileia
later on.

Being all tired out, we had a good night’s sleep and in the evening of the following day we left again.
This time we were sure we were going at least near the trenches if not in the trenches. We took all of our
belongings with us and had another long hike. We passed San Valentino and Papariano. Here we crossed
the Isonzo where the river is very broad, being at least half a mile from shore to shore. The bridge was a
pontoon bridge right between a large concrete bridge which had been destroyed by the enemy and railroad
trestle which also had been destroyed.

At last we reached our destination. They were reinforced concrete trenches similar to those on the south
banks of the Isonzo a month before. We were near the town of Pieris.

The Italian offensive was now in full swing right in Monfalcone and Quota #85.

Hundreds of military trucks full of prisoners passed us. Many also walked accompanied by Italian
soldiers. During the night we could see searchlights and the whole battlefield looked on fire.

We stayed in these positions three days without a wink of sleep at night, but we rested in the daytime but
always armed and ready to leave at a minute’s notice. The march from St. Maria to Aquileia and again
from Aquileia to Pieris in two days had fagged us out, especially with the helmets which we were not
used to and in the hot weather.

On July first we left the concrete trench and passing through Pieris went to another concrete trench nearer
the Front, near San Polo. Pieris was mostly in ruins. As we were going through Pieris, the enemy opened
a bombardment of heavy caliber guns at us. We had to hide behind walls of buildings and wait until they
ceased. In the meantime, more buildings of Pieris went in ruins.

The most foolish stunt of all was our still having the burden of all our belongings on our backs. Officers
and soldiers whom we saw in and around Pieris and who saw us run around to protect each other behind
walls from the bombardment, told us we were green to carry it and even told us to drop it and leave it
behind. Luckily there were no casualties in my company.
 49

The new trench, although it was reinforced concrete, unlike the other had no roof on so naturally we were
unprotected from rain, sun or still worse shrapnel from enemy cannons. We stayed two days in these
trenches.

Here we were told to take our reserve food, gas mask, ammunition, tent sheet and to leave all the rest
behind.

We now knew that our next step was where it was hot. We went the next day in broad daylight to the city
of Monfalcone. Here the enemy saw our movement and sent 305 caliber cookies against us all the way to
and in Monfalcone.

Up to one month ago Monfalcone was “no-man’s land”. Half of it was in ruins and the Austrian artillery
following us helped make more ruins of it.

The town was only less thin one-half kilometer from fighting so naturally there were no civilians,
however, no soldiers either. The town judging from the size and all the shops on the main street must
have had a population of about 25,000 to 30,000. It was very picturesque but it was Italian in style of
architecture. It resembled Udine though, of course, smaller in size. Some of the buildings which were not
yet demolished were very pretty.

It was as we were crawling through these streets under shell shot that we saw on a wall, printed in about
one foot high black letters “Long Live Francis Joseph our Grandfather” in Italian. Whether this was the
work of the Austrian Army or of Monfalcone citizens, we could not find out. Our officers told us it was
the former to ]at us know that the Italians in Austria preferred Francis Joseph to the Italian government,
but I and some of the troops were almost sure the Monfalcone citizens were the authors of that phrase as
we saw how welcome we were in the localities by the peasants.

Not only had we to hide behind walls to protect us from shell shots but also from machine gun and rifle
shots which were whizzing by at every street crossing, as the fighting was now going on fiercely not over
1000 feet north of the street we were on.
Our battalion waited right in town huddled close together in single file as usually done when going in
trenches until dusk.

As darkness approached, we left Monfalcone for a hill just outside of the town to the north, known as
Quota #85 to relieve the 22nd Infantry.

Not half of the members who went to recapture this trench from the Austrians just two days before were
left to be relieved. The poor boys were all battle scarred, dirty and glad to be relieved.

About two weeks before, the brigade of 21st and 22nd Infantry occupied Monfalcone after much fighting
in the streets of the town. They chased the enemy to a trench in Quota #85. After the capture of this trench
and repulsing all, counter-attacks which lasted several days, the 22nd Infantry was relieved by three
battalions of cavalry who were made into infantry service on account of not having use for cavalry during
the war. These men were still in cavalry uniform and even wore spurs on their shoes. They carried a
musket instead of rifles. The cavalry is generally considered as the rich man’s son corp. And, not only
were the uniforms much better than ours, but their personal appearance was that of a rich man’s son.

Of course, their pride was very much hurt when their horses were taken from them and they were made to
do trench duty. Not only the regular troops but the officers who belonged to that corp. were nobility such
as sons of counts, barons, dukes, etc.
 50

These boys had never been in a trench and naturally when they relieved the 22nd Infantry they expected
to find regular trenches not a few bags of earth built up three to four feet high with no other protection
from bullets, shell shots, rain and sun. They were very much lost. They huddled close together until
several days later. The enemy noticing hardly any opposition from the trench where these cavalry men
were, the same trench in which we were now located, decided to attack it. This they did, and the cavalry
behaved poorly. Though they outnumbered the enemy, they ran away. Many were killed as a result of
this. A hurry up call was made for the 32nd Infantry who had been resting a few days at Pieris. When they
got to Monfalcone, the enemy infantry was already in town at the ruins of the railroad station, and they
promptly repulsed the enemy back to their former positions at a great loss of lives. It was plain that the
enemy did not make this attack to recapture Monfalcone but only to make a raid on the cavalry.

When we relieved the 22nd, they had just recaptured these positions only forty-eight hours before. We
were sent to do what the cavalry failed to do as the trench we were in was one used by the enemy and all
battered down during the attacks and counter-attacks. We, as we had always done at Mt. St. Michele, had
to put it in shape again, end in the meantime, made the enemy think there was a regular regiment in front
of them. During our fourteen days in this trench not once did the enemy try a trick like the one which had
been so successful against the cavalry.

The positions we were at now were lively, always something going on. The enemy artillery from Fort
Duino was constantly on our toes. In our stay here we had about thirty killed and wounded just
maintaining the positions.

We were about forty meters from the enemy. We could hear them talk; there was no entanglement
between trenches. These men in the Austrian trench were not as good as those we met at Mt. St. Michele.
Many times we would place a hat or helmet on a pole and just raise it above the trench for the fun of
seeing four or five of them send a volley of shots at it.

During the night no one slept. We would be just as much afraid of them attacking as they were of being
attacked.

The top of the hill we were on was flat, similar to a small plateau, and it was here we faced each other.
From these positions we had very nice scenery. We could see the Gulf of Trieste and the city of Trieste in
the distance. It was about twenty-five kilometers away. We figured that if only Trieste could be taken
from the enemy probably Austria would abandon Germany and would strike for peace. General Codorna,
we knew, was very anxious to take Trieste and had captured Monfalcone with view to capturing Trieste
later.

On the left of our company in this trench was Company 6 of our 2nd Battalion, and as my squad was the
last squad of our company on the left, we naturally mingled with the first squad of Company 6. The
corporal of that squad and I became acquainted here and later became intimate friends. He was Corporal
Sirotti whose family lived in Bertinoro and who knew intimately my Aunt and Uncle who lived there.

During the daytime and when we had nothing to do, we used to get together and relate our different
adventures, playing checkers, etc., in a large dug-out back of the trench which was large enough for
fifteen or sixteen men. This dug-out was in reality only a shelter place as overhead for a roof there were
only two large corrugated tin sheets.

On the morning of the sixteenth of July, I went to Sirotti’s dug-out and found in his place another
corporal who told me Sirotti had Just gone with his squad to San Polo to get equipment and would return
at night. I then went to my regular place and later a cannon shot hit the dug-out square in the center.
 51

In it were ten men of Company 6 and four men of my squad. Of the men in my squad, the four were
wounded, two of them mortally who died in field hospitals. Those ten men of Company 6, the corporal
and two men were killed and the rest seriously wounded. If Sirotti had not been sent to San Polo for
equipment, both of us would have been there. It might have been our last day. When later I went to
Sirotti’s home, we talked of it to his mother and sisters. The women would shudder in thinking what
might hive happened if he had not been sent away.

Right in back of our trench was an unexploded shell of a 420 cannon. None of us had ever seen such a
large shell, and it seems strange that it should he unexploded. It pointed towards Monfalcone. It was bout
five feet high and over thirty inches in diameter.

There is no one who doubts that the Austrian heavy artillery was considered the best in the world.

The big guns that silenced Liege, Belgium, and the big Berthas which hit Paris were made in Austria, in
what is now Czechoslovakia.

The men behind these large pieces were also good - - their aim was deadly.

On the night of the seventeenth and eighteenth of July, we were relieved by the 21st and 22nd Infantry.
Those who we had relieved had been reinforced and now looked fine in their new uniforms.

We went to San Polo, a little village, now only a heap of ruins. We were placed in a trench similar to the
one we were in before we went to Monfalcone. It was at the foot of Mt. Sei Busi.

We were here five days, and in the meantime, I was appointed as corporal to a squad who signals to the
artillery with lights similar to those used in America for the Fourth of July. They were skyrockets of
various kinds, each having a different meaning.

It seemed in our company I was appointed for corporal of all trades. But this, as many other of my trades,
died out and the following day we went in first line of trench at Quota #70, a highland near San Polo, a
continuation of Quota #85. This highland was a large plateau called Carso, which extended from Mt. St.
Michele to almost Trieste and from here to the Isonzo to a depth of about ten kilometers north to the
mountains. Our trenches were at the edge of the plateau and the enemy had trenches about 150 meters
away.

On the twenty-sixth of July, I was corporal of the day and it was our company’s turn to bring back all the
empty food pails and urns. Our kitchens were in San Polo and the men from the trenches were supposed
to take food to the trenches and bring back empties. It was about a five kilometer hike to San Polo. The
runway from the trench to almost San Polo was covered so we could not be seen. As the day started at
about 5:00 p.m., I with twenty-five men went to San Polo to return the empty urns. We were taking things
easy on the way down as we were not due in the trench until after dark. We had not yet arrived in San
Polo when we heard violent attacks. As time went by it became worse. Then we saw our trenches full of
smoke and fire. We knew the enemy had tried to send poisonous gases and our men made a fire in the
trench to help the gas to a high altitude, high enough so as to not affect the men. The men all had gas
masks, but these were not very efficient. Even we at San Polo donned our gas masks, as we could smell a
little of those gases. The enemy sent gas several times to our trenches and our men had a fire going on all
of the time. We from San Polo could see all the confusion there was up there. Besides the enemy artillery,
men were busy bombarding not only San Polo, but moat of the runway from San Polo to the trenches.
Their aim was deadly because they knew the exact location of it. As soon as we had delivered the empties
to the cooks, we intended to go right back to the trench as we could see we were needed, but we could
 52

also see that by the way the enemy were hammering the runway not half of us would ever get up there, so
we went to a lieutenant of the Military Police who was stationed at San Polo and asked him what to do.
He told me that it would mean sure death for us if we attempted to get to our company and told me and
my men to remain at San Polo until dawn. I told him we were ordered to return before dark. He said for us
not to mind that order and gave me a written note to deliver to the commander of our battalion stating the
reasons why he had not permitted us to rejoin the company during the attack.

The attack kept up for over five hours. The enemy even left their trenches and followed the gas with their
masks, but they were repulsed.

Our boys were engaged in making fires and keeping up steady fire of their rifles in the direction of the
trenches.

Until after midnight, we in San Polo kept watch over the boys though the attack died out at about 10:00
p.m. During the night we slept among the ruins of the village where the Military Police and our cooks
slept. The mounted police and our cooks were the only men in what used to be San Polo. At dawn we left
for our trench. When we got there some of the boys still had gas masks on and the trench was all in ruins.
No one was killed in our company, but four were hurt by gas. Here we got first-hand information of what
we had missed. Our battalion commander was about to bawl me out for not coming the same night, but
when I showed him the order from the San Polo Military Police, he said it was all right.

It was just one month before when one entire division was wiped out on Mt. St. Michele by poisonous
gases.

This disaster happened on June twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth. The regiments visiting this disaster were
9, 10, 19 and 20 infantry regiments. These regiments were provided with very inadequate gas masks as up
to that time the enemy had not tried that kind of warfare on our Front. These gas masks not only were no
good but many had thrown them away as unnecessary.

On the night of June twenty-eighth, the wind was favorable for gas and the enemy had great quantities
blown over the Italian trenches which were not used to it and could not combat it successfully. Not only
were the first trenches affected, but also those in second and third line of trenches.

The next morning thousands were laying in an unconscious state all the way from first trench in Mt. St.
Michele to almost Sagrado.

The enemy, barbarous Hungarians armed with spiked clubs, rushed out of their trenches and having no
opposition smashed the brains out of the unconscious men affected by the gas. Almost the entire division
comprising of about 10,000 men was wiped out in this manner. The enemy who had no intention of
keeping their positions gained in this manner went back to their trenches when their barbarous deed was
done waiting for more Italians to face them.

This all happened the next day, June twenty-ninth. One battalion from our regiment left our positions to
bury the dead of the unfortunate division.

Immediately after this disaster we were given masks similar to those used in the French front and were
given strict orders to keep them by our side at all times.

On July twenty-eighth a well-aimed large shell hit the trench right in the midst of my squad and four of
my twelve men were killed and six wounded. One man named DiFebo who was doing guard duty in front
 53

of the loop bole, where evidently the shot must have struck, was blasted in hundreds of pieces scattered
all over the trench. I was at that time in my dug-out right near DiFebo writing a letter home. The shot
smashed my dug-out where I was alone into smithereens, but I came out of the ruins with hardly a
scratch. Luck was with me, as only three of us came out of it without being killed or wounded.

Chapter 13 – Mount Sei Busi

On the last day of July, we changed fronts. We went to a trench about two kilometers west of positions we
had left. These positions were only fifty meters from the enemy’s line and here like Mt. St. Michele we
chatted with them, though we were not allowed to exchange articles. We were now at Monte Sei Busi on
the west slope.

On August third our artillery was busy against the enemy position. Right in front of us and in the morning
of the next day our second and third battalion took three lines of trenches from the enemy. These new
positions taken from the enemy could not be held by our boys on account of the heavy bombardment on
those positions by enemy artillery. The second and third battalion was badly decimated in this offense end
became about fifty prisoners.

We of the 1st Battalion did not get in regular action. We did the work of carrying the wounded, taking
prisoners away, carrying ammunition, emptying sacks to be filled with earth, bringing them food and
other miscellaneous work, Why we never got in that fight, I could never find out. After this unsuccessful
fight, we got ready for the great offensive move our army had yet taken part in. The Front was from
Monte Santo beyond Gorizia to the sea. Most of the work would be done by the Third Army, though part
of the Second Army east of Gorizia under General Capello was to help.

At dawn of August seventh, our artillery opened fire on all the enemy’s positions from Gorizia to the sea.
Every single cannon at this front was in action. The large caliber aiming at the enemy’s rear lines, while
the smaller calibers hit the enemy’s front trenches. As we were only fifty meters from the enemy, our
Captain gave orders that we should not leave the trenches because of the danger from our artillery, only a
few men were kept there to watch.

I had never heard or seen such a bombardment before. During the first twenty-four hours of the
bombardment, we never heard one return fire of the enemy. Only during the last twelve hours of that
terrific bombardment would the enemy answer with an occasional large caliber sending it right below us
at the ruined town of Ranchi.

During the night of August seventh and eighth, we watched the glare of our artillery at Mt. St. Michele.
The whole mountain seemed like a ball of fire. We could see it very well from our positions. It seemed
strange that on this mountain where probably 100,000 men had been killed on August eighth and ninth
should be taken with hardly a loss of a single man. Monte Sabotino fell; so did all the mountains around
Gorizia.

On August eighth at about 10:00 a.m. while the bombardment was still going on, the enemy’s rear line
was the site where our engineers built a platoon bridge near the main bridge and some cavalry and 11th
and 12th Infantry Regiment entered Gorizia. There was little street fighting as the enemy had abandoned
the town. That was a great victory.

The remaining citizens wee not molested, even vacant stores were not touched. The Italians’ behavior was
gentlemanly in every respect. Gorizia was little damaged during the assault. The Italians never fired a
cannon in town and the enemy probably figuring it would come back to them also kept from damaging it.
 54

On August tenth we got orders to advance. My Captain, knowing the enemy was far away sent me and
my four men of the scout squad of our company out. He told us where to go and to come back to tell him
exactly where the enemy was. As the five of us jumped our trench, the enemy which we did not knew
where they were, opened fire with machine guns. As we found out later, these were just a few snipers who
remained in the positions the Italian artillery had demolished and that the real trench was four kilometers
from ours. On account of the capture of Mt. St. Michele, their whole line had to retreat to the other side of
Lake Doberdo. The village of Doberdo was now one mass of ruins none higher than a man.

Our Captain had given us orders to go up to the first houses of Doberdo. For a short distance we were out
in the open and were fired upon. Later on we found an enemy runway which led directly to Doberdo. In
this abandoned runway, which we were the first Italians to go through, we were out of sight of the enemy
and naturally went a long way without being molested, but always expecting to be surprised by the enemy
and maybe being made prisoners. About two kilometers from our trench, while we were still going
towards Doberdo in the runway, not far any was a ruin of a farmer’s house. We saw smoke coming out of
the opening of the windows and then we heard voices in the house.

At first we wore undecided whether to turn back to the trench a to get help or to take the Job ourselves.
The four men being game, we decided to see for ourselves what was in there. So easily we came out of
the runway and slowly on our hands and knees we creeped (crept) up to the house.

We could hear their voices distinctly, but I could not make out whether they were Austrians, Bohemians,
Hungarians or Slovaks. I raised my head a little and peeked through the window opening. I saw then a
group of men, about twenty-three so I Judged, all sitting around the fire cooking their meal. I saw no arms
nor ammunition about them, some were even in their shirt sleeves. Not seeing any arms or ammunition, I
naturally decided they were men waiting for us to become our prisoners.
I spoke to the boys in a very low tone about it, and we decided to take them ourselves. So, I sent three
men around the house one way and I with the other man went toward the other way - - -both parties were
to meet at the door openings and then with our rifles pointing at them we would make them raise their
hands and surrender. We had no trouble as when we got to them to surrender they immediately did so.
They called us “comrades”. Now that we had these men I had to figure a way to get them to our trenches
three kilometers away without getting killed from enemy guns. 3o, I decided that one men with five
prisoners was to leave at a time at flout ten or fifteen minute intervals. I was last to leave with three men.
If these men had not been volunteer prisoners, I don’t know how we would ever had got them to our
trench as the runway we were using was filled with Austrian arms and besides many Austrian dead.

The enemy guns shot towards us as I and the men ahead of me were nearing our trenches, but we were
lucky and escaped injury.

All of our company was glad to see the prisoners we had captured. Our Captain Guerrini more than
anyone else. He asked for a full account of the capture, and I related it just as was, telling him our feat
was not so great as the men gave themselves up voluntarily. After that explanation, he figured we did not
merit any extra recompense as we had only done our duty.

The four men who were with me were angry because they weren’t given any kind of reward for what we
did. They would have liked fifteen days at home as is usually done when acts of bravery are shown. They
blamed me for telling the commander that the prisoners gave themselves up. They said that if I had told
him they offered some resistance no doubt we would have been fully rewarded.

During the day, the company left the trench. The Captain and I leading went through the runway. After
we had gone through, each one of the other scouts followed leading a platoon.
 55

We went as far as Doberdo then noticing that we were getting near the enemy we got behind a stone wall
which separated different farms and were about two or three feet high.

During the successful offensive from August seventh to August tenth in the lower Isonzo front, over
30,000 prisoners were taken and 1000 cannons and much ammunition, machine guns, rifles, etc. were
taken.

All over the places we went we saw ammunition, rifles and even machine guns and many dead from the
three hour bombardment of August seventh and eighth.

From August tenth to August seventeenth we wandered around the conquered territory. We also made a
new trench to keep us sheltered.

Chapter 14 – Quota #208, Nib Krib

All these seven days that we wandered around, the enemy were pretty quiet, probably they were
reinforcing their new positions. On August seventeenth we went to first line of trench at Quota #208, Nib
Krib. At first our trenches were only a mere stone parapet, but during our stay there we made good
trenches to shelter ourselves.

On August twenty-sixth Bandiera, needing help in his trench, asked our Captain to send me to him. I was
in front trench at Nib Krib while the company’s office was about three kilometers in the rear in a nice
dug-out, well protected.

The Corso plateau has sort of hollows, some small and some large. The small ones were capable of hiding
as much as a company and the large ones more than a regiment.

In these hollows we could make nice dug-outs or even small shacks made of bags and tin roofs. Here,
unless the enemy saw us from their balloons when we went into a dug-out, we were well protected from
view.

In one such hollow we had our office. Bandiera with one man, a private who was used to clean up the
place and in a way was also Bandiera’s attendant, was located here. This man was the oldest in age in the
company and also one of the men who left Rome with the 131st when it left for the Front. His name was
Caponera, and though he could neither read nor write, he was well respected because of his age and
seniority with the regiment. He was married and had a wife and five children in Frosinone on a farm.

On the same day I returned to the office, our company was reinforced with sixty men coming from
Frosinone but were from in and around Naples.

This was the first time that I had seen recruits join a regiment while in first line trench.

These boys were tired and were not the kind to make good in the trenches. The few whom the medical
doctors of our battalion saw fit to give a few days rest before being sent to the trenches were placed in a
dug-out near our office while the others I accompanied to the first trench to our Captain. Before sending
them up there, we distributed them between the squads which most needed men.

Our company, though in first trench, was made to work hard making new runways from trench to rear to
our office. Half of the company worked in the daytime while the other half worked nights. These runways
were made good use of during our offense of September 16, and 17th.
 56

On September second three commissioned and nine non-commissioned officers came to our company, as
we were in need of such men. The coming of these commissioned and non-commissioned officers was
not satisfactory to many of the existing non-commissioned officers who expected to be promoted and
some of the veteran privates also expected promotions as they were doing duty of corporal as head squads
during the lack of corporals. This I also thought was most unfair to the boys who had worked so hard on
this Front. Very few of the new men had ever been to the Front and therefore had to leave older veterans
do as they used to do, being almost afraid to give orders to them.

On the same day of my twenty-second birthday, Bandiera and I had a little celebration along with
Caponera. We cooked our own meals that day. Two days later I went to San Polo to give our cooks orders
as to where delivery could be made of our meals, and while there, I found my knapsack which I had not
seen since June twenty-seventh when we left it at a trench near Pieris. For the first time in almost two and
one—half months, I was able to change my underclothing, and it certainly needed changing. While I was
at it, I opened up Bandiera’s knapsack and got underclothes for him also. It seemed that no sooner were
we well settled and had made comfortable quarters for ourselves than we would get orders from either our
Captain who was in the trench or battalion headquarters to move to another of the many hollow spaces in
the Carso plateau. From August twenty-sixth to September sixteenth we changed around no fewer than
six times, always leaving a nice comfortable quarter which we three worked hard to make to go to a place
where there was nothing and had to do the same work over again.

General Cadorna was planning on another extensive attack for the middle of September and this time we
were told we would take Trieste. The only drawback in taking Trieste was Duino Fort which housed
hundreds of pieces of artillery of every caliber, but in particular 305 and 320 millimeters. We were told
as soon as we could capture Duino our marines and Italian warships off the Gulf of Trieste would land at
Trieste. Since the tenth of August, we were making preparations for this new offensive move. We were
also told that our regiment having been in action (since) the tenth of August would this time be used in
reserve.

By the twelfth of September, there were already 50,000 fresh troops in the Carso Plateau ready to be sent
up when needed.

Early in the morning of September fourteenth our artillery opened a heavy bombardment against the
enemy positions on the north and east extremities of our front. This bombardment lasted forty-eight hours
and was similar to the capture of Gorizia on August seventh. But this time instead of the enemy artillery
remaining silent as was in August, they returned fire with almost as much vigor as our artillery had.

We could see from the outset that we were not going to have the luck we had in August.

The Austrian artillery was wrecking all the runways we had constructed and with marksmanship they hit
our reserve forces.

On September sixteenth our troops started to attack but although they did advance a little it was with great
sacrifice and losses.

In this advance I saw something different which I had never seen before. Before when attacking only
infantry and Bersaglieri could be seen, the other corps in the Italian Army were conspicuous by their
absence. This tine, not only Bersaglieri and infantry were seen, but also the Engineers, M.F., Alpines,
artillery and cavalry on foot. These last were dismal failures every time they were used as infantry. The
other corps were also used as reserve infantry.
 57

A new Corp also was organized called the “Arditi”. These were formed of young men who volunteered
into that corp. They were men called for assault only. They wore a black turban cap and were armed with
two revolvers, a stiletto, and a bag of hand grenades. They had no rifles. Their uniforms were something
somewhat similar to the Bersaglieri. This corp. was the nucleus of what years later turned out to be the
Fascisti, under Mussolini.

Our Company had retreated to third defense line at Mt. Debeli as we were to be used only as reserve
troops, while Bandiera, Caponera, and I went in a hollow not far from them.

On the night of September sixteenth while our Company was advancing towards Quota #144 and were at
that time just behind a stone wall, the enemy artillery began beating heavily on them and twenty- three
were wounded and three killed. Among the wounded was our good Captain Guerrini who was hit on the
head. He was not wounded very seriously as a month later he returned from the hospital and took charge
of our company again. The strangest thing that night was Bandiera being wounded. The three of us were
sleeping in our dug-outs in the hollow, and here if we were not safe from shell shot, we thought at least
we were safe from rifle and machine gun shots and stray bullets which were continually pouring in on all
sides of the plateau.

Bandiera and I were sleeping in handmade cots of empty bags and limbs of trees while the poor boys in
the trenches were sleeping on stones and mud, Caponera was sleeping on the floor.

Bandiera, now promoted sergeant, was sleeping close to the door at the start of the offensive and bullets
were flying on all sides. I was still awake in my cot when I heard Bandiera next to me let out a yell.
Caponera and I got up and we found that he had been wounded in the sole of the foot. The bullet, a stray
one, went through the sole of the shoes as in these days of intense action we did not take our shoes off.
The bullet remained in his foot, whether it was an Italian or Austrian bullet I never found out.

Caponera and I accompanied Sergeant Bandiera to the battalion Red Cross Section; and it was here I got
another surprise to find Captain Guerrini with his head all bandaged up. A Lieutenant was head of the 1st
Platoon and was put in charge of the company, the “famous” Lieutenant Duchetti who was with us at Mt.
St. Michele had left us. I was put in charge of the office. I told Captain Guerrini I did not think I was
capable of this as my knowledge of Italian, especially writing, was very limited. The Captain and
Bandiera both insisted I knew enough and to remain in the office until the regiment returned to the rear.

Owing to Bandiera’s injury, the Captain told us to go to a safer position.

I stayed with them that night until all the wounded left for San Polo. My two best friends in the company
had left. Bandiera I never saw again while Captain Guerrini came back twenty days later.

Before Captain Guerrini and Sergeant Bandiera left, I was given all papers and books of the company
which I was to take charge of until some sergeant was placed in Bandiera’s position. I was now to act as
sergeant. Caponera (who was with me) and I got along well. I also wrote letters and cards to his family, as
I had already said he was illiterate.

I found new quarters as Captain Guerrini instructed me. I went to a hollow near the former village of
Doberdo and here not only were we pretty safe, but I found an ideal shack already made ready for us to
move in. The only inconvenience was that it was so far from the company, it was over five kilometers and
over the most dangerous route, the enemy artillery continually mauling the old road from Doberdo to
Quota #144 where our company was stationed.
 58

While Captain Guerrini was in the trench he did not want Bandiera nor I to make any unnecessary trips to
see him because of the dangerous route. Once a day was considered ample to get any news or orders he
might have for us, and many times he sent a man from the trenches to save us a trip. We took turns when
we went up between the three of us.

Chapter 15 – Runing messages to the Front at Quota #144

Now the new commander of the company insisted on seeing us twice a day, morning and evening. So
Caponera and I went up there once each day, I in the morning and he in the evening, sometimes we would
trade times. Going up and down this road in broad daylight was worse than being in the trench, many of
the boys in the trench used to say they did not envy our job. The enemy artillery also had a peculiar habit
of sending any number of shells at any particular point, even if only one man was seen. Therefore, they
would shoot several shell shots at a lone man seen on a road. Our artillery would never shoot unless large
bodies of men were seen.

On September twentieth I was near gone, as no less than five shots all of 180 caliber were sent my way by
the enemy artillery. As there were no other men near me on the road at the time, these five shots were for
me alone. Of course, after the first shot which hit about fifty feet away from me, I ran in a big ditch and
layed (laid) there on my stomach behind a large stone waiting for the other four. All of these shots were
dangerously close though not close enough. About thirty minutes after the 1st shot, I got up and ran to our
shack having already been on my errand. Our company was not situated on quota #144 on the west slope.

Company 4 was on top of the hill while our company was in reserve near the base of the hill. We were
just holding our own until we were relieved. The whole advance having been almost a failure. Although
we gained very little ground, we did get many prisoners. Our regiment was now all tired out and needed
rest. We were promised a long rest.

On September twenty-second, as usual, I sent Caponera to get news from the company. I told him if he
would go in the morning, I would go in the afternoon. He went and never returned. While on the road
almost at the foot of Quota #144, a large shell shot came his way and be was smashed to bits. It took two
and a half hours to make a round trip from our shack to our company’s position, and therefore, after that
allotted time, I worried because he hadn’t returned. It was about five hours after he had left when a man
from the company came with all his belongings and told me he had come to take Caponera’s place. He
could not give me any particulars of his death, only that he had been killed. That afternoon I went to see
our commander earlier then usual, and from him received information as to where and how Caponera was
killed. I was very sorry over the loss. He and I had been friends for almost a year and with him I had
survived the Mt. St. Michele campaign. I was very sorry for his wife and five children whom I wrote to
the following day.

On the morning of September twenty-sixth, I went for the last time to see the boys at Quota #144. The
commander of the company gave me a bunch of men who were ill and some very slightly wounded with
whom I was to start ahead of our company for Pieris. This meant that that night we were going for our
rest. In fact our regiment was relieved during the night at Quota #144 by the 145th Infantry Regiment.

I had received orders as to the exact location of our quarters at Pieris. During the day I prepared
everything so as to be ready to leave at dusk from the hollow with not only our documents but with a
squad of thirty-seven sick and wounded. At about 4:00 p.m. I started with my limping and sick bunch for
Pieris. The distance is about twelve kilometers, and we made it in seven and one half hours. We walked
very slowly and we rested fifteen minutes for every ten minutes of walking.
 59

Chapter 16 – Leaving the Front once more - Quaratine

I do not think a happier gang ever left the trenches than we were that night. We sang, laughed, joked, etc.,
all through our hike. When at Vermigiano and again at Ronchi, we were stopped by the Military Police
who demanded to know where we were going. After showing them our documents, they allowed us to
proceed, laughing at the noise these sick men were making. At Ronchi I let the men rest for one hour
while they went to a wine shop to drink.

It was about 11:30 p.m. when we got to Pieris. I took the men to the assigned barrack and then we went
for straw for the entire company. It was three hours later when the company got to Pieris from Quota
#144. I had already fixed the place for all the men, when they came all they had to do was to lay on the
straw ready for them.

These boys had slept on the bare ground since we left Aquileia on June twenty-eighth, and they certainly
appreciated the fact that we had everything ready for them instead of having to wait two or three hours as
is usual in similar cases when looking for cantonment after coming from the trench. The boys the
following day changed their underclothes for the first time in three months. Not only were they filthy but
we all had “cooties” galore. Even I, who had much more chance to keep clean than they, had them.

The same evening (September twenty-seventh) though we left Pieris for Pertevole. We re-crossed the
Isonzo River and again our officers told us we would never re-cross it again, as after a long rest we were
told we would go to a much more quiet front probably the Trentino front.

The march from Pieris to Pertevole was one of the most difficult if not the most arduous that the boys had
since I joined the army. They were very tired, worn out by the hardships of three months of trenches and
were made to carry their knapsacks with all their belongings from Pieris to Pertevole, a distance of over
fourteen kilometers. This was most unfair to the poor boys who had suffered so much in the last three
months.

At Pertevole we camped just outside the town end to make matters worse we were quarantined as
suspects of cholera. A member of our 3rd Battalion was sent to the hospital with symptoms of cholera.
That night (the day after we left Pieris) we were kept in camp and were not allowed to go to Pertevole on
account of the suspicion of cholera. We knew there was not much grounds for their suspicion which made
the boys still more peeved because they were not let out after so much trench service.

Many of the boys when we were quarantined in our camp actual]y feared a cholera epidemic in our
regiment. We did not stay long at Pertevole camp as we broke up camp late in the evening of the same
day. We loaded all the knapsacks in battalion carts and hiked all the way to St. Stefano di Udine just
beyond Santa Maria la Longa. The hike though long without our heavy luggage was much easier than the
one of the night before from Pieris to Pertevole. On our thirty-two kilometer hike, we passed several
towns we were already acquainted with such as Cyillo, Visco, Palmamiom, Meretto, Santa Maria la
Longa, our old cantonments of three months before, and at Santo Stefano we were again disagreeably
surprised for instead of going into nice barracks as we had been in, in Santa Maria la Longa, we were
camped out in a vacant prairie and guarded, as we were still cholera suspects. We thought that when we
were ordered to leave Pertevole we would be released from quarantine, but such was not the case. It was
ten days after we got there that we were released from quarantine. In the meantime, we were given anti-
cholera injections. We had nothing to do during these ten days except keep ourselves and arms clean. We
envied the 132nd Infantry who we saw every night go out for their three hour leave while we were in our
company camp like prisoners. On the third of October, that was four days after reaching Santo Stefano,
we were told to break up camp and were sent to barracks similar to those we were in when at Santa Maria
la Longa. Though our cantonment was much better than the tents, we were still in quarantine.
 60

I was a pretty busy person during all this time. I had to pay over a month’s salary to the men who were
not paid when up in Quota #144. Besides I had to close up my books for the month of September. I was
not very keen on my job as I had not enough experience and had no help. I asked immediately to be
relieved but was told to wait. I also had to provide new clothes to the older members of the company who
had been in trenches three months.

The day following our breaking camp, our Captain Guerrini came from the hospital and rejoined the
company. I was very glad to have him back with us, and immediately asked for relief from office duty.
The same day a Lombard Sergeant came to relieve me. From the first moment we met, I knew we would
not be friends. I immediately gave him the books and money I had in my charge, but Captain Guerrini
insisted that I remain to help him for a while at least. The night after his appointment in office he came
back from Santo Stefano as drunk as he could possibly be. In some way he had evaded the guards and had
gone to town in spite of our quarantine. The next day we quarreled and I told Captain Guerrini I positively
would not remain any longer with him. I returned to squad 6 as head of the squad.

My right hand at this time was also swollen with a boil, so with that excuse I had better luck to return to
my squad.

This sergeant did not last long in the office as a fraud in the accounts was found and ten days later he was
sent to Division Headquarters and never came back. Captain Guerrini sent me back to the office until be
could find a sergeant to relieve me again.

On October ninth we were let out for three hours for the first time since we left Aquileia on June twenty-
seventh. Most of the boys went to Santo Stefano. They certainly were glad that the quarantine was lifted.
Some got drunk that night, especially the few Venetians we still had left in our company. I went out with
Corporal Corimi and had a wonderful celebration. On that day my boil on my right hand was operated on
with two small cuts and in the evening was already much better.

Chapter 17 – The Tailor and the Shoemaker

In the company we had a tailor and a shoemaker. They were paid 10 lire per month for their work and had
the advantage over the others by not being sent to the trenches and stayed with the cooks.

Although the tailor was paid by the government for any work he did, the regular officers, non-
commissioned and commissioned, and even some privates would tip for his work. As all the regular
officers were supposed to buy their own uniforms he would save them much money by taking a new
regular private uniform and fix it up to fit them. The tailor was not supposed to do any work for the
officers, he being paid for doing work for the regular men of the company, but nine times out of ten, when
a poor private needed the tailor, he could not get him because he was doing some work for either the
regular or commissioned officer where hr would receive a tip. The shoe maker was much the same as the
tailor only he had less chance for tips as when a pair of shoes were to be repaired they would be placed in
the sack and another pair of shoes either repaired or new would be given the man.

The only chance for tips was when the shoe maker would take a new pair of clumsy shoes and make a
close fitting pair for some officer.

The shoemaker and tailor would do repairing when the company was drilling or was up in trenches.
 61

The tailor at this time was a friend of mine named Garcia from Salerno and about my age, while a man
thirteen years my senior named DeLura from Lecci was the shoe maker, neither had ever been to the
trenches before. DeLura had six children.

The time that passed from October ninth to November first was much the same as that was done four
months before at Santa Maria la Longa. I returned to the office on October fifteenth and remained in
charge until October twenty-third when Sergeant Pinnaro, a Roman, relieved me, though I continued to
remain there in the office as his assistant.

Chapter 18 – New Men and another Deserter Shot

On October twenty-second, forty-six new men came to our company. Thirty came from the 82nd Infantry
of Rome while sixteen came from the 59th Infantry of Frosinone. Those from Rome were all men who
before this time had been found incapable for trench duty, but now the war having extended through a
longer period than originally believed, most any man was drafted into service. These men, really not the
best type of healthy soldiers, were from all parts of Italy, but mostly Southern Italy.

From Frosinone came many who had been wounded and were now able again for trench service. Most of
the boys had been wounded with the 59th Infantry at Col di Lana, some were also original members of
our regiment wounded at Mt. St. Michele during November and December of the year before.

Commissioned and non-commissioned officers also came with this batch of new men. Among the new
men came Sergeant Pinnaro who relieved me at the office of the company the next day, but I remained
with him until November second. Sergeant Pinnaro and I got along very well and had very nice times
together during our short acquaintance. We would go together to a farmer’s house and would get swell
meals a couple times a week. The women folk of the household would fix us the finest spaghetti dinner
one could imagine. I got all the food from our cooks raw for both of us and saw that we got a little more
than our share. That was left after we cooked enough for ourselves we left to these poor peasants who ate
nothing but “polenta” or cornmeal much.

On October twenty-fifth I witnessed for the second time a poor fellow being shot for desertion by a squad
of twelve men. This time our third platoon officer commanded the firing squad which was the 10th squad
of our company. I went along as witness or assistant to the officer. The layout at dawn of October twenty-
fifth was much the same as that one I had seen at Santa Maria la Longa. All the squads of the different
corps in the Italian Army were present as before with an extra abundance of Military Police. This man
was sentenced to be shot as he had once deserted his regiment, and as the desertion came when the
regiment was at rest, his sentence was to be shot in the chest. That is, as already been explained, an
honorable way of which his relatives will be notified that he lost his life while fighting the enemy. The
usual speeches from generals and other officers, then he was blindfolded and everything was made ready
for the execution.

The firing squad was very nervous, and at the command of fire none of the twelve shots hit the man. The
officer pleaded that if they do not hit him they were not only making it unbearable for the poor man but
also themselves. As it was up to them to execute him and the sooner the job was finished the better for all
concerned, they had better steady themselves, but this did not work because after a couple of minutes
there was a new volley of twelve shots and only one hit the prisoner wounding him on the leg. The
prisoner fell down. Then more pleadings that they must not let the poor man suffer like that and to all
send another volley aiming at him on the ground.

In the meantime, a medical captain offered to kill the man with his revolver, but the general refused to
have him do it. The third volley of five shots hit him, one through the head that killed him instantly. How
 62

much suffering the poor man must have gone through from the first to the third volley of shots. He was
not a tough looking man either.

Chapter 19 – The Big Rush to the Front

As usual during our stay at Santo Stefano, our regiment went out drilling or on long marches every day
except Sundays, as we had done it Santa Maria la Longa and Marano. I, of course, was exempted from
drills and marches because of being in the office. On November first the furlough season started and four
men from our company were chosen to go, all of them were cooks as they were the only ones of the
original 131st regiment who were still in our company. I was expecting my turn on the next batch the
following day. On the same day, the general of our army corps, that is the general at the head of the eight
regiments of which we were one, came to pass an inspection on us. We had to parade in front of him; of
course, I wasn’t there. Medals were given to our regiment and to individuals who merited them. When
these big men came to pass an inspection, it was always a bad omen as they came to see how fit we were
to return to the front. We had, however, no idea it was as bad as it really was. I figured I would he chosen
to leave for furlough the next day, November second. Instead at night when we were all in bed, that
famous alarm signal woke us. Pinnaro and I were informed by our captain of the alarm a few minutes
before retiring time and about two hours before the alarm actually was sounded by our bugler. We, in the
meantime, had time to put everything away.

When we came out with our belongings we saw hundreds of lights from “Camions”, military automobile
trucks. This was something new for us as we had never ridden to the Front in an auto truck before. As
each company was ready, they loaded us in them, twenty men per truck. We figured they must be in an
awful hurry to give us a ride to the trenches. Sergeant Pinnaro and I went with our Captain Guerrini.

After the promises that we would never cross the Isonzo again, we had to re-cross it, though not on foot as
the trucks took us all the way to Vermigliano where I and my sick gang had passed on September twenty-
seventh on our way to Pieris. Here near Vermigliano on a large lot we put up our tents for the night, as the
trip in the auto truck did not take over three quarters of an hour. Of course, all this was done in pitch dark
as no lights or matches were allowed. At dawn of the next day we were told to immediately break camp
as out tents had been visible not only to enemy scouting planes but also to their balloons. Of course, no
one slept much that night as we were trying to figure out what the next day would bring us. As we heard
an awful lot of fighting going on near Opacchiasella, all furloughs were postponed.

During the day we had very little to do except to wait for night to go to the trenches. We still did not
know exactly where we could be sent. We left all our luggage at Vermigliano and in the evening at dusk
we left for our unknown destination. We had with us our regular war equipment, that is, ammunition,
canned food, etc.

We passed San Polo and our old trenches at Cave di Selz where on the twenty-sixth of July the enemy had
tried poisonous gases on the boys. At that time the enemy was but 50 meters away but now we were told
that the enemy was 16 kilometers away. Slowly in single file we walked passing Doberdo. Pinnaro and I
were in front with the Captain. It was now raining hard as is usual when going in the trenches. On our
hike we passed many old enemy trenches full of ammunition, rifles, machine guns, etc. These trenches
were evacuated by the enemy only a few days before. Hundreds and hundreds of dead of the enemy were
lying all over the field. In one place a parapet wall was made of Austrian dead about five feet high and
about fifty feet long. The bodies were laid cross way or the length of the body was the depth of the
parapet. Whether these bodies were placed this way to make it easier to bury them or were used as a part
of a trench for hiding the living men from Italian bullets, I was unable to ascertain. The fact was that that
pile of human corpses must have been at least five hundred in number. We reached an old enemy trench
just about two kilometers before reaching Opacchiasella at about 4:00 a.m. It was still raining hard and
 63

we had walked all night long. We were tired, so we were ordered to rest in this trench until further orders.
The men huddled together, put their capes on and laid down to rest in the mud. I, in the meantime, was
sent from one platoon commander to the other with different orders from the Captain. We had, of course,
no food that day except our reserved food, nor did we have water except those who luckily had water in
their canteen. Others drank rain water from pools.

While in this trench, an order came that all special work troops in every company should be taken along
to trenches, only the company office sergeant was allowed to remain behind with the company’s
documents.

This meant that the tailor, shoemaker, and I were to go up in the trenches. The barber was never exempted
from following the men in the trenches, but the tailor and shoemaker had so far always been exempted.

Many of the boys thought I would feel bad about going to the trenches with them instead of being left
with Pinnero. Captain Guerrini, himself, told me he was sorry he could not leave me behind. He told me
that I was to stay by him all of the time as his aid. I was not sorry to be not left behind, in fact I liked the
idea of being by the side of our captain immensely.

At about 1:00 p.m. we were rested enough and received orders to advance to 0pachiasella. Only our
battalion was given these orders. On the way to 0pachiasella we met hundreds of Austrian prisoners being
brought to the rear. Opachiasella was only ruins; it must have been a very swell village with a church and
a few homes now demolished.

We hid behind a battered wall until dark as the Austrian heavy artillery was letting itself known. Few
from my company were wounded and two were killed while hiding behind these walls. There were many
enemy scout planes over us.

Sergeant Pinnero came with us up to this village and here he was to wait for our return. At dusk we
started again on another hike to the first line trench which during the last two days had been advanced six
kilometers. Two days ago the enemy was just two kilometers past Opachiasella, now they were eight
kilometers away from there. All night we walked through the slippery muddy ground. We must have lost
our way several times because it certainly does not take eight hours to go eight kilometers even though we
went slow and had several short rests. We were following Company 2. We were still on the Carso plateau
and there were hollows similar to those near Doberdo. We passed many of these, some full of ammunition
and arms. Many dead were scattered throughout and we stumbled over them in the dark.

Just before dawn we got to a hollow where we were told to rest end wait until, further orders. We were
only 300 meters from first trenches. Our second and third battalions were already there and we were to
wait here until we were required.

Now, this hollow was small and we were packed in there like sardines.

Our battalion consisted of about 1,200 men which included four companies complete, four machine gun
sections, of which three were Italian Fiat machine guns and one French. We had also our platoon of
“Zappatori” trench diggers and the battalion staff including messengers etc.

Here in these positions we waited for orders to advance. Being in this hollow and all laying flat on the
ground, the enemy could not see us, and for a while we were not molested by their artillery, but, of
course, shell shots were falling in all directions as we were right in the midst of a pitched battle. The
enemy, so we were told, were “retreating on all fours.”
 64

The fighting was now going on in our sector about 500 meters east of us at the village of Kostanjevica
(Castagnavizza). We could hear intense machine guns and rifle shooting.

At about 8:30 a.m. a machine gun section of some other regiment in broad daylight left some position
they were in and came in our already crowded place for shelter. They must have been about fifteen or
twenty men.

The enemy as already said sent shots at everything they saw, besides they were good marksmen.

They sent a large caliber shot in position thinking probably they would hit fifteen or twenty men who had
just come in. This shot hit right in the center of our battalion where the men were parked like sardines.
The damage this shot caused no one can imagine. I doubt if ever a similar size shot caused so many dead
and wounded as that one did. This, of course, put the whole battalion in an uproar, many men were
leaving for places of greater safety. As soon as the enemy saw men run away, many more shots came in
swift succession causing very much damage.

As I sat at my place with Garcia and DeLura near me, all of a sudden a large piece of shell fell on
DeLura’s bead and sent part of his cranium and brains on my knees, killing him instantly. While several
small pieces and shrapnel hit Garcia in the stomach and on shoulders, one hit me below the right knee and
passed through from side to side, leaving two holes in my trousers. I did not feel where I was wounded.
Everyone who was dying or seriously wounded was yelling for help. Garcia next to me was mortally
wounded and prayed that I should not leave him. I unbuttoned his clothing and carried him a short way
but he could not walk at all. I had to leave him as I could get no help and I, myself, could not walk. The
enemy were firing for all they were worth and very effectively. I promised Garcia I would send two
stretcher bearers to him. I told him about it when I met someone on my way to Opacchiasella.

Chapter 20 – Wounded and Getting Help

The place when I left it after being wounded was full of dead and those severely or mortally wounded. I
was told that the next day when the remains of the battalion were reunited only three hundred men were
present and since none were prisoners, the loss of dead and wounded was over nine hundred. This awful
catastrophe was caused by about ten large caliber shell shots. It is not so bad to die in hand-to-hand
fighting but being killed by men who are about ten miles away seems a crime.

All of our six officers, including Captain Guerrini, were wounded. Captain Guerrini was wounded on the
head and left for Opacchiasella while I was taking care of Garcia.

My wounded leg was now starting to pain and I had over eight kilometers to go before I could get to
Opacchiasella to be bandaged up. The enemy was following us wounded with their artillery. Many
wounded were killed before reaching a position of safety. Later on the way to Opacchiasella I found an
old enemy runway and here I could walk with some safety. All places of safety were filled with fresh
troops going to the trenches, mostly infantry, Bersaglieri and Arditi. When they saw the columns of
wounded returning to the rear, the poor boys, many of whom had never seen the Carso Front, asked many
questions.

All former Austrian dugouts were converted as first aid stations for the wounded. I also went in one of
them for dressing but it was so crowded with more seriously wounded than I, that I thought it better to
continue for Opacchiasella.
 65

The region I was now limping through we had passed the night before, but being pitch dark, I had not
been able to see the miserable barren waste we had gone through. Now in broad daylight, I could see it.
Many, many hundreds of dead, both Italians and Austrians were strewn all over this barren waste;
ammunition machine guns and even cannons of smaller caliber, 75 and 105 M.

As I reached Opacchiaselia I went to see Pinnaro and told him about our disaster. He said he had talked to
our Captain an hour or so before and that he had already gone to the hospital. He accompanied me to a
small first aid station where I was bandaged up. This first aid station where I was bandaged up was in
ruins of the church of the village. Here a card was made out for me to enter the hospital. I was told that if
I could only try to walk two kilometers more to where the ambulances reached I could leave immediately,
as there were very few stretchers and these were used for the severely wounded, in case I had not walked,
I would have had to stay there until more stretchers arrived. Although my knee was already swollen and
painful, I decided it was best to try to walk to the ambulances. I got a couple of sticks and hobbled those
two kilometers. Sergeant Pinnaro accompanied me for almost half of the way. H returned to
Opacchiasella for further information about our company.

The place where the ambulances stopped was pretty well sheltered from shell shots being behind a low
hill. Here there were four of them waiting for the wounded. As I reached them, I heard some one from
inside of an ambulance call me. It was 2nd Lieutenant Minini of our 4th platoon. He asked that I get in
with him. Two men of the Red Cross Corps helped me up, and after it was full of men who could sit up,
we drove away. We passed our old haunts of San Polo, Pieris, Villa Vicentina and landed in Cavenzano.
Here we got out and were placed in Field Hospital #84.

Here we were given a bath and got a complete haircut with clippers. Then came a painful operation of
having an anti-tetanus injection with a needle at least five inches long. This was placed in my right thigh
and then I was put to bed for the first time in eleven months. I was sorry to have had to lose all my
belongings which were in my knapsack. I had many souvenirs which I intended to bring back to America
and which were now lost to me.

Lieutenant Minini asked to be placed in the game room with me and so we were placed together. Our
beds were of the poorest quality and I was glad that the following day, October fifth, in the evening I was
placed with others to leave the hospital. The hospital was formerly the school house of Cavenzano.

On the day following my arrival at the hospital, I had a lively scrap with one of the attendants who was to
see we got everything we needed. In these field hospitals most of the attendants were men, and instead of
helping out the wounded when needed and being grateful for the fact they had an easy job to do in
comparison to the poor infantry, they were haughty and treated the wounded roughly. One of them made
me so sore when another wounded man asked for a glass of water four times and never got it I had to rub
it into him about dodging trench duty. I told him I would report to the medical captain at the head of the
hospital. We ate about the same food we had at the company. It was served in our regular tin mugs.

As already said, the night after I got at this hospital I was placed in a stretcher and placed in an
ambulance. We went out in several different towns, the first being Palmanova. Probably, it was expected
that we would leave on a Red Cross train for some interior Italian city and probably the train was already
full so afterwards we went around other field hospitals in the vicinity and finally came back to
Cavenzano. Of course, we were never taken out of the ambulance.

Here at Cavenzano we were placed in another hospital but not a field hospital. This one was a regular
hospital of the Italian Red Gross. This was hospita1 #60.
 66

The field hospitals are used only for us intermediates to be transferred to permanent hospitals in one or
two days after the arrival.

The Italian Red Cross Hospitals are usually considered permanent healing places. At this hospital the beds
and the food was better. We still had male attendants though they seemed much better than in the
previous hospital.

My wound was dressed daily and was not healing much although the swelling of the knee had diminished
some. The doctor ran a surgical tool from one end to the other to make sure the shrapnel had gone
through. I knew it had gone through for it was laying right near me when I found out I was wounded and
had taken it with me as a souvenir.

Chapter 21 The Hospital in Ravenna

Only three days did I spend in this hospital. The doctor saw it would take too long to heal so he told me
he would transfer me to a hospital in the interior of Italy.

On November eighth, the day he decided to have me shipped, there were two Red Cross trains leaving
Cervignano, one for Padova and another for Ravenna. I asked to be sent to Ravenna in preference to
Padova as it was nearer to my adopted home, Forli.

Again I was taken on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance to Cervignano. At Cervignano I was placed
in a regular Red Cross train. The route was similar to that when I went on furlough the year before.

About this time I was to go on my 1916 furlough instead an altogether different thing happened, although
I was headed for the same destination as the year before.

The train was awfully long - - - about forty coaches. Stretchers were two tiers high. We were put on the
train on the same stretcher we left Cavenzano hospital. The trip though novel was to me on a stretcher one
which was uninteresting as it was a night trip. We had no meals on the train. The only pastime was to talk
to men around me and sleep.

We got to Ravenna at 8:00 a.m. of the following day (November ninth). More ambulances came to the
station to take us to the Reserve Military Hospital #7 (Ospedale Militare di Riserva #7). The building we
were quartered in, the Labor Building, was where Socialistic meetings used to be held. This hospital was
one of the many large hospitals in Ravenna. We were immediately placed in bed and given breakfast.

Here at Ravenna we had better food. The beds were fairly good. The medical officers at the head of the
hospital were good. The only exception was the Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Corps who was in
charge of all the hospitals of Ravenna. He was an old, mean, and heartless man who every week or so
would come and inspect all the wounded and even if they were not entirely well, he would send them to
their regiment without a brief convalescence at home. So cruel was he to the poor infantry that even his
own officer who assisted him detested him.

He was to look after every wounded man before he was sent to the front or before he could be transferred
to another hospital.

Major operations and amputations were done in great numbers in this hospital and without giving either
gas or ether while it was done, so I was told.
 67

One piece of luck came to the poor boys in the hospital. The very day I was admitted to the hospital the
place was put under quarantine for cholera.

How long we would be in quarantine we did not know, but we did know that during the quarantine the old
Colonel would not send any one out of the hospital. Of course, we could not have visitors either but only
very, very few were from Ravenna so it did not matter to them.

We had Roman Catholic nuns who fed us while male attendants did other work we needed. These
attendants, as usual, were not very decent with the wounded.

At the head of the hospital was a Medical Captain and a Lieutenant as his assistant. No one could wish for
better men to take care of the wounded. They were kind and sympathetic with all the wounded men. The
only drawback was that their orders were subject to the approval of the Colonel and an approval to a kind
deed seldom met with success.

The nuns were kind, as usually nuns are. They would see that nothing lacked as far as the food was
concerned.

There was also a large room fixed up as a Chapel where Catholic services were held every Sunday and
the Rosary every night. All wounded able to walk would attend the services, although, of course, no one
was compelled to attend them. Before the quarantine, civilians were also invited to attend the services.

As soon as I arrived at Ravenna, I sent a card to my relatives and fiancée in Forli that I was in Hospital
#7. The following day (November tenth), the first anniversary of our defeat at Mt. St. Michele, any uncle
Bernardini, my fiancée, and her mother came from Forli. As soon as they received my card, they
immediately came to Ravenna to see me, but unfortunately on account of the quarantine, they could not
get in. They tried every way but with no avail. I saw them from the window. They had delicacies for me
in a basket and I sent down a rope and got them up. They promised to do all in their power to have me
transferred to a hospital in Forli.

In this hospital in Ravenna, I stayed much longer than I thought I would. I was there from November
ninth to December first. I had nothing to do but to rest, read, or chat with other wounded, which at times
was very annoying, especially for one who had led such an active life as I had during the past year.

My wound was not getting well very fast and pus always came out of the hole. It was dressed every other
day.

On November fifteenth a squad of enemy planes came to Ravenna after dark and sent about twenty
bombs throughout the town, aiming principally at the armories where different regiments were stationed. I
heard that no one had been killed but many were wounded. It was amazing to see how our attendants
acted during the bombardment. They all ran away into a safety cellar in the basement. After it was all
over, they came and told us stories of previous attempts made by the enemy to bombard Ravenna with
planes. This was the third time it had happened. They were telling us that it was as dangerous being
stationed at Ravenna as us being in the trenches. Anti-aircraft batteries around Ravenna were kept busy
trying to chase them away.

The nuns, the only ones around, kept on telling us not to be afraid as surely they would never hit a
hospital. Little did they know that on this very same evening a larger squadrillon of planes bombarded
Padova and several of the bombs bit the largest hospital killing many wounded soldiers which were in bed
in there. Maybe if I had gone to Padova instead of Ravenna, I too might have been bit.
 68

As soon as the evening planes were sighted, all Ravenna’s bells, whistles, church bells, etc., sounded the
alarm for the people to hide for safety.

These bells, plus the noise of the anti-aircraft cannons and the explosion of the enemy bombs, seemed as
if the world was coming to an end in the town.

Padova, as I have just stated, was hit much harder than Ravenna on the same night by a similar raid.
Many people, civilians, and soldiers were killed and many wounded.

Many of the large buildings were damaged including the main hospital. All hospitals have a large Red
Cross on the roof, besides having Red Cross banners at main entrances and at many windows, so there is
no excuse for bombing this sacred place except for spite and cruelty, such as the enemy is noted for.

My fiancée immediately took steps to have me transferred to Forli, though without success. Before I
could be transferred to Forli, I had to find some hospital in Forli who would take me. She wrote to her
aunt who was Mother Superior in a convent at Naples, and she in turn wrote to the Mother Superior of
Convent of Buon Pastore in Forli which was not used as a military hospital, to keep a bed there for me.
Getting a bed for me at the hospital was only a very small part of the work to be done. The most
important was securing my release from the hospital in Ravenna and from the Colonel.

The quarantine lasted from November ninth to November twenty-seventh and during that time nothing in
the way of release from the hospital could be acquired.

On November seventeenth my aunt and uncle Bernardini with my fiancée came again to see me. This
time somehow or other they got a permit to see me but in the vestibule of the hospital in a small separate
room at the entrance as they were not allowed to come upstairs because of the quarantine. With a
stretcher, two attendants brought me downstairs.

Here I could talk to them for the first time in eleven months and was told of the progress for my transfer
to Forli hospital.

Chapter 22 The Welcome Death of Franz Josef

On November twenty-second we got the welcome news of the death of Francis Joseph of Austria; no
news except a final victory of the Allies was more welcome than that. Francis Joseph since 1848 when he
came to the throne of Austria-Hungary was a bitter enemy of Italy. It is safe to say Italy was his worst
enemy. Even though Italy and Austria were allied before the war did not make them friends, It prevented
them from fighting each other. This man, in his long reign, had seen Italy rise from a small community
composed of Piedmont and Island of Sardinia to one of the six World powers and much of the expansion
of this new nation was at the expense of his country,

My grandfather one of the followers of Garibaldi fought against this very man in 1848-59 and 60, and
strange that I, after sixty years should do the same. When be died and Emperor Karl succeeded him, I was
told the prison life of an Italian war prisoner was very much changed.

The old man used very torturous methods against the prisoners, tying them up on a pole several inches
above the ground so as to be entirely suspended. The whipping post was also used. As soon as Karl
became Emperor all of this was abolished. He was a true friend of the Italian prisoners. His wife Empress
Zita was an Italian born princess.
 69

The death of Emperor Francis Joseph was celebrated by the pealing of all the bells and many other ways
of making noise which at first we thought to be another enemy air raid.

I had friends and relatives in Ravenna who could not come to see me on account of the quarantine, but
once it was lifted, they came. My mother was born in Ravenna and many of her relatives still live there,
among them was one of her first cousins who cared quite a bit for me. During the last days in the hospital,
after the quarantine, he used to come every day and bring me homemade food. It was through him that I
was able to leave Ravenna hospital without being examined by the Colonel, for the hospital in Forli. He
was well known in Ravenna, having lived there all of his life. He went personally to the Colonel and had
him sign the document releasing me from his hospital in Ravenna.

On the twenty-third of November, I got up for the first time. I was a little weak. My leg was not much
better and I needed aid to get around.

I did not get up again until the day before I left the hospital. During the last days at the hospital, my friend
whom I met in 1911 came to see me also.

On November thirtieth, the day before leaving the hospital, I was paid up in full. I was also given my
clothes. In the evening my cousin came for me and took me to his home. He asked permission from the
Captain to take me out. I was given a cane at the hospital with which to walk.

I passed a nice evening at the home of my cousin, had supper there and later in the evening other relatives
of my mother came to see me, among them his sister, another cousin of my mother’s who took a great
liking to me.

Late at night I was accompanied back to the hospital. I only regretted that we were so long in quarantine
that my relatives could not have come to see me more often.

The next day, December first, I was ready to leave the hospital. I thanked the captain and other officers
for their kindness to me. The Colonel I saw only once during my stay at the hospital and then he did not
speak to me.

Chapter 23 The Hospital in Forli and Elisa, the Fiancee

From Ravenna to Forli by direct route with the small steam train way is only twenty-eight kilometers. I,
instead, went on railway to Forli going through a distance of ninety kilometers and having to change
trains at Castel Bolognese besides. That is what I call the height of foolishness. Instead of two hours that
the slow train takes, it took me five hours by railway. I was accompanied to the station in the ambulance
at about 1:00 p.m. and after waiting a short time for the train, regular second-class passenger train, I got
on, and at Castel Bolognese got off again waiting for a train going south coming from Bologna.

In the same compartment with me on this train was a wealthy Italian family who seeing I was wounded
treated me very kindly. The gentleman spoke to me about the war and he seemed to be one who wanted it
to be over with as soon as possible.

On arriving at Forli at about 6:00 p.m., I found my aunt, uncle and Elisa at the station waiting for me.
They knew I would come by rail and were waiting for me all day on every train coming from Bologna.

I did not go to the hospital that night. I went to my relatives to sleep and in the afternoon of the following
day, I went to the hospital accompanied by my aunt, Elisa and her mother.
 70

The hospital I entered was not very large, being formerly a convent for nuns. I was introduced to Mother
Superior in charge of the hospital. Before going in, I spent a pleasant day out, but my knee was now
swelling again and I could not walk much.

The treatment in this hospital was one hundred per cent better than that of Ravenna. The nuns were sole
authority and were very just. The doctors only came once a day from other hospitals. Though the head
doctor of Forli wounded was also a Colonel, small hospitals such as the one I was in were taken care of
by civilian doctors. These doctors as a rule, strange as it may seem, were more lenient with wounded
soldiers than military doctors.

The Buon Pastore hospital was small being only of about sixty or seventy beds. Most of the patients or at
least ninety per cent were wounded, only ten per cent being sick.
Seems strange that wounded were always preferred to sick even if the sickness was the result of duty in
the trenches. The sick boys were much more roughly treated especially at the hospital at Ravenna where I
had come from.

I was an entire month from December second to January second in this hospital.

The visiting days in this hospital were Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, two hours per day between
12:00 and 2:00 p.m. These were the best two hours of the day as I always had some one come to see me.
My fiancée, her mother and my aunt being usual visitors, never missing a day.

My uncle, Grandfather and Grandmother on my Mother’s side came occasionally. Also Uncle Bernardini
and Elisa’s father and a few friends.

Now to say a little of my former fiancée who broke up our relationship after over four years of intimate
acquaintance.

I met this girl in Cervia when my father and I were there in 1911 at the sea shore. She was there with her
parents who were there for a few weeks. We returned to Forli from Cervia together. During the days there
we got acquainted. She was fifteen years of age and I was sixteen. After returning to the States, we used
to send each other occasional cards.

On my return to Italy and Forli in 1915, I found both she and her parents enthusiastic about the war and
they sort of admired my nerve for coming to Italy to fight. On the first leave given me before becoming a
soldier, she was glad they would soon put a uniform on me. She and I were both glad when I left Forli for
the front. We then started to correspond frequently and after my first furlough in 1915 at Christmas, we
wrote to each other every day. After my Christmas 1915 fur1ough she didn’t seem to be so glad that I
returned to the trenches. We had now grown to like each other. Most of those fifteen days were spent at
her house.

On August 10, 1916, just as the four scouts and I were about to jump the trench and look for the enemy
and where we captured our twenty-three prisoners, I received a letter from her in which she said “yes”.
That letter certainly came at a funny moment, From then on we considered ourselves engaged, although I
did not buy her a ring until I got out of the hospital.

The month at the Buon Pastore hospital and a month of convalescence which was given me after I was
released from the hospital we were almost always together.
 71

She was the only child in the family, and therefore, much cared for by her folks so that every time we
talked of her coming to the United States there were protests from them.

They were well-to-do, her father being a barber who owned his own shop and had two helpers. They also
owned their own home. They could not bear that their daughter leave them to come to America.
Nevertheless, they liked me and would have been very happy if I had remained in Italy after the war and
lived with them. After pleading with them, they finally consented to let her come to America after I had
returned and made a position for myself there.

But after I became a war prisoner and being over two years without returning to Forli, I found the folks
had changed their minds and had also chanced their daughter’s mind. When I returned after being
prisoner for a year, they were perfectly willing that the marriage should take place only on the condition
that I remain in Italy.

Her parents would not let her come to the United States, and she being an Italian girl even though past the
age when she could do as she wished, obeyed her parents and promised them not to go to America and
leave them home alone. I, naturally, wanted to come home, and at that time I had been in Italy over four
years and was very anxious to get back. So, naturally, the engagement was broken off.

In the small hospital of Buon Pastore, I had a better time than at any other hospital. The boys there,
though very few from Forli were jolly. They had no fear of returning immediately to the Front because of
our good doctors who would see that before they left the hospital they were entirely well, and then he
would give them from twenty days to one month to go home to recuperate. Most of the time was spent
playing cards, checkers, reading books brought to me by Elisa and we also sang, or tried to anyway. I was
not allowed to get up much. The doctor ordered me to rest in bed as the shrapnel hole in my leg was
closing up and then would open again sending out pus.

Being a convent, I thought that we were obliged to go to mass all the time, but I found that these nuns
were tolerant and only those who wanted to could go. Only once, on Christmas Eve, did one ask me in a
kind way if I would attend the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Though I was not very religious I could
not refuse her. So, shortly before midnight all those who could in some way or other walk down to the
Chapel went. The Chapel was already full of civilians, mostly old women, but benches for us were
reserved. We came down in our kimonos, those crippled with a cane. The mass was a long one but it was
a new experience for me as I had never attended midnight masses before. On Christmas we had the best
of food, cakes, sweet wine, etc., but not being visitors day, visitors were not allowed.

After Christmas, seeing that my wound was getting better, I asked the doctor to be sent out of the hospital
as I was getting tired of the inactive life. He promised to let me out after New Years with twenty days
convalescence at home. I was a little disappointed, as I wanted a month, so I sent Uncle Bazzini to the
Captain who was in charge of the hospital and had him give me thirty days to recuperate. After the thirty
days, I was to go to the primary quarters of my regiment at Frosinone. This was also some thing new. If I
had remained at Ravenna, I would have been sent directly to the Front and probably to join another
regiment. I had heard interesting things about Frosinone and therefore was glad to go there.

While I was still in the hospital, I got a card from Pinnaro telling me that the poor boys after being
reorganized had returned to the Front. I was sorry for them, though I longed to be with them. I had been
with them for so long.
 72

1917
Chapter 1 Returning to Active Duty

On January second, I was released from the hospital and went to my relatives. I slept at my Mother’s
folks and for meals I divided equally in three parts being once at my Uncle Bernardini, once at my
Mother’s folks and once at Elisa’s house.

That month from January second to February first was one of the most pleasant months I had ever spent. I
used to go out with my Grandfather after dinner at the “Cafe” where we had a cup of coffee and talked
war with the old men, his companions, until almost time for supper. These old men knew much more
about the war than we did. Some were with Garibaldini in 1859 and it was great to hear their experiences
with the Austrians in Trentino.

Of course, most of the time I spent with my fiancée and now she was sorry that the war was not yet over
as she did not wish me to go to the Front again lest something serious happen to me. She tried hard to
have me placed in an ammunition factory for the rest of the war saying that I had already done my bit. I
did not want to go to such a place and have the poor boys at the Front call me an “imbosciate” for doing
what Jack Dempsey was doing here in America at the navy yards while the “dough boys” were over there.

I was glad to go back to the trenches after I had seen a bit of the life in Rome and Frosinone.

I spent several days at Bertinoro with my aunt and uncle up there. The scenery at Bertinoro is about as
pretty as I have seen during the whole time I was abroad.

The month passed in a hurry and February first came in no time. I got my things ready and prepared for a
new life. On February first, my Uncle Bazzini. who is well-known in this region sent me with a note to
the Military District of Forli to a friend of his to see if he could prolong my stay in Forli. But he was not
there so there was nothing else to do than to leave. The train I decided to take left Forli for Ancona at
12:15 p.m., and after bidding goodbye to all my relatives, I was accompanied to the train by Elisa and my
aunt. I also had a nice basket of food to last me to Frosinone.

The train I took was a regular express passenger train and we went in a second class coach, taking
chances of staying in that coach until I was chased out. The train as usual with all trains was five minutes
late leaving Forli at 12:20 p.m. This route I had gone over twice before in 1911 when I went to Rome
with my Father.

We passed through Rimini, the famous watering place, but it was now almost dead.

Austrian destroyers had bombarded the town several times since the war began. Near Rimini we could see
the three peaks of our smallest ally San Marino. From Rimini to Falconara we had the Adriatic Sea at our
left. In some cases the sea ran right up to the railroad tracks. The distance from Forli to Falconara is 132
kilometers, or 82 miles, which we made in three hours. We passed through vineyards all the way and had
the Apennine Mountains on our right.
 73

Falconara is but nine kilometers from the city of Ancona. It was not necessary to go there as the train
from Ancona to Rome comes by the way of Falconara. I waited twenty minutes at the station for the train
to Rome.

I again went in a second class coach only to be sent to a third class one later on at Foligno. When I left
Forli there was heavy snow hut now as we were moving southwest, it was vanishing quickly. At Foligno
it was all gone. We were now passing the region of Abruzzi and cutting through the Apennines.

The trip from Falconara to Rome was 286 kilometers, or 178 miles. It took nine hours to make the trip.

The principle cities we passed were Fabriano, Foligno, Terni, Orte. At Foligno I and a couple of other
boys I met on the train got a nice bawling out from railway inspectors for riding in second class coaches
and were sent to the third class ones.

At Terni we stopped a short time. Terni is the Essen of Italy where cannons, rifles, ammunition, etc., are
manufactured, though at that time there were factories throughout Italy for the manufacture of arms. We
arrived in Rome at 12:45 a.m. A buddy who I met on the train and I went around to look for a place to
sleep. We found a small hotel near the stations and went to sleep there. We got up after 8:00 a.m. and as
the train for Frosinone did not leave until 10:30 a.m., I had a couple of hours to see Rome. I went to see
the Victor Emanuel Monument at Piazza Venezia. I had seen this monument in 1911 with my Father
when it was dedicated, but at that time it was not quite finished, All of the bust reliefs were in plaster of
paris, but now they were of marble. It is to be sure the largest and one of the prettiest monuments. The
only trouble is that it seems crowded in that square.

I was told, however, that some time in the future many of the old buildings around it will be torn down
and Piazza Venezia made larger. I also had time to take in a few of the many fountains which Rome is
noted for, of which one of the prettiest is that near the railway station at Via Nazionale.

I took a street car to the station and was there just in time to catch my train.

From Rome to Frosinone is 86 kilometers, or 53 and 1/2 miles, and we made it in one hour and forty
minutes. Frosinone is due south of Rome on the railroad line to Naples. The scenery was very beautiful.
The Roman Campagna, with the ancient aqueduct was tremendous. The first station from Rome is
Ciampino. This place is noted for an aeronautical school and also for the building of most of Italy’s
airplanes, balloons and dirigibles. It was there that the “Norge” the famous dirigible, which crossed the
North Pole in 1926 which was headed by Admunsen, Ellsworth-Nobile, was built by Colonel Nobile of
the Italian Army. The “Roma” which was bought by the United States and later christened “Los Angeles”
was also constructed there.

At about noon I reached the Frosinone station. The city of Frosinone is almost four miles from the station
built on a hill on the order of Bertinoro.

I left Forli just twenty-four hours before with over one foot of snow in the town, and here in Frosinone
Just 313 miles from Forli, we were having almost summer. Everything was green - - - the trees, grass, etc.
The surrounding country is very sterile and can only be used for sheep grazing. Very little farming is done
here. I then took a bus which is at the station awaiting the trains either to Rome or from Rome for
passengers. It took about an hour to make the incline to the city and I no charged one lira.

Before I went to present myself at the district of my regiment, I met Lieutenant Minini as I got off the
bus. He was wounded with me and was also at Cavenzano hospital with me. He took me by the arm and
 74

went with me to a restaurant. We had a lovely chat, and after our meal, which he paid for, we went out for
a walk through the town. He was in Frosinone only two days before I arrived. I left him for a moment and
went to Military Headquarters of the regiment to show myself and give them the document given me by
the doctor in Forli authorizing my thirty days stay in Forli. I afterwards went with the Lieutenant to a
movie.

Frosinone is quite important as a military town. It is the Headquarters for three infantry regiments, the
59th, l3lst and 239th. The 59th regiment is the only one which existed before the war. The l7lst was form
just preceding the outbreak of the war in 1915 with men who were recalled to arms. The 339th was not
formed until 1916 when the class of 1896 went to the Front.

Frosinone is, therefore, full of soldiers, but they do not stay very long here as almost as soon as they
arrive they are sent to the Front again. Only very few of the men who are doing military service here are
from here or the surrounding country. Only the 13lst regiment when it was first organized had men from
the community. As or the town, itself, it had about 15,000 people very picturesque in their native
costumes, the women especially. They wore bright colored skirts with corset also of various colors worn
over the rest of their clothes and bright colored rags on their heads. The men were also strangely
costumed. They wore a bright sash around their waist, most of them were barefoot, but now during the
winter they wore rags around their feet. The women and children were barefoot.

With very few exceptions the town was one dirt hole. The stores, especially the cheap wine and vegetable
shops, were very filthy. Also, the inhabitants were dirty, especially the women and children. These people
spoke a Roman dialect which can be easily understood by anyone speaking Italian.

The town, as I said, is on a hill. The streets are very narrow and crooked. There are, of course, a few
squares or piazzas but not kept as neatly as in Northern Italy. The neatest place in the town is the square
and the immediate vicinity of the military headquarters.

After returning from the movie, which was not very good, I returned to headquarters and found myself an
old straw mattress so old and dilapidated that the straws inside were like dust. We slept on the bare floor
with these mattresses. We were given one blanket which in the morning was taken away. There was much
disorder at the headquarters. Superior officers were always going in or out.

The day following my arrival I went to the military doctor who was supposed to see if I was again capable
for duty in the trenches. He examined my wound, found it healed, and found me fit for the Front again as
I had thought. Though the news that I was to leave soon for the Front brought no terror to me, it did to
many who were examined and were found able.

It was a joke to see how many hung around the headquarters with their arms in a sling and walking with
canes, not one in twenty was there with anything the matter with him, but he in some way or other seemed
to put off his departure for the Front. Then a bunch was needed to go to the Marching Battalion, the place
where we slept was raided during the night while we were sleeping. The men not having a good reason
for remaining at Frosinone were taken and guarded so that they could not escape from the dormitory.
Raids of this order were held almost daily. Of course, once the name was on the parting list, there were no
more chance to dodge going to the Marching Battalion. Some men seemed to know on what nights the
raids were made, and on those nights, they slept out. Taking a chance of receiving a light punishment the
next day in preference to going to the Marching Battalion and ultimately to the Front.

In town the same day, I found two of the boys of my company who had been wounded with me. We
stayed together for the remainder of the day. The men here (that is those who had been there at military
headquarters) were good not only in dodging going to the Front but also dodging doing any service in
 75

headquarters. So the evening after I landed there, I was chosen as a sucker to do picket duty around
headquarters. I was given twenty-seven men and one bugler. With this bugler, I had an argument as he
thought I was a rookie and did not know how to place my men. Although there were about two hundred
men from which to choose from for duty, when the time came to pick the men, they had a hard time
finding twenty-seven men for picket duty, all the others had beat it to town. The bugler was an old man in
the headquarters having been there over a year, although he was declared fit for trench duty.

Twenty-seven men for picket duty were the most I had seen. I was to function for both corporal who went
with the men who were to be relieved and also functioned as sergeant to inspect the men. I had nine
different places to station pickets as follows:
One at the front entrance of our headquarters.
One at the rear entrance of our headquarters.
One in the ammunition room.
On, in each of the three prisoners’ cells.
One in each of the two vaults.
One in the dormitory door.

The men, as usual, had two hours duty and four hours sleep or rest. Every two hours I with nine men went
to relieve the nine which were on duty. I had no sleep that night as it took from thirty to forty-five minutes
to relieve all the men as they were far apart. Then it took another thirty minutes or more to wake up the
new men who were to go on duty. In the daytime, I had much to do also, for besides doing what I did at
night, I had to arrange for meals for the men I had, keep the place clean, and last but not least when any
officer from major up came, I had to get all my men which were not on duty lined up inside the yard with
their rifles and present arms to them.

The sentinel out in the front door had to keep wide wake and give me a signal when he saw any of them
come up the street. It seemed that in Frosinone were more officers than privates.

These headquarters were a very busy place. New men came every day from hospitals and other places
belonging to the 59th, 131st or 239th regiments.

The discipline in this place was not very rigid. About one hundred would sneak out of the front door
during the day and would not return until 9:30 p.m., sometimes not until the next day as there was no roll
call to find the missing. Besides these men were not organized in companies or squads of any kind. A
man living in the vicinity could go home and stay there for even a week and never be missed.
I tried to have as few sneak outs as possible because I wanted at least twenty-seven men inside who could
relieve me after my twenty-four hours were over when many came to me to let them out end I refused, I
was called the most stubborn corporal that ever did duty at headquarters.

Another job I had during the day was to keep peddlers out of our entrance. They were for the most part
women who sold oranges, figs, and other fruit. They were always crowding at the gate where some of the
boys would buy their wares and would get a nice bawling out from the officers who were going to and fro
and who could not pass because of the vendors.

The more I saw of the women of Frosinone the queerer they seemed to me, not only on account of their
dress, but also their habits. They carried nothing in their hands except their work - - - knitting, etc., which
they might be doing as they carried things from one place to the other. They carry everything on their
heads from an orange to bundles weighing as much as two hundred pounds. It might seem queer to see a
woman walking down the main thoroughfare of the town with an orange or a closed umbrella, or young
live pig or lamb, even their knitting when they were tired of working at it, on their heads. Of course, the
 76

most common things they carried on their heads were baskets of fruit, pitchers of water, bundles of wood,
etc. It is a fact that at Frosinone one never sees a woman that has nothing on her head.

In Frosinone, the Patron Saint is St. Severo. So, in every family where there are boys, there is always one,
usually the eldest son, who is christened Severo. And, as there are few Frosinone boys who are working
in the offices at the headquarters their mothers or sisters would come to me and ask if they could speak to
their “Severo”, thinking that with the name given me, I could readily find out what office they were in or
what their last name was. It must be remembered that the inhabitants in this region before and during the
war were fifty percent illiterate. The illiteracy among the women was much greater.

On the day I was on duty I had to keep everything extra clean as a Lieutenant General from Rome was
expected, but fortunately he did not show up. At 6:00 p.m. of February fourth, I was relieved from duty
which lasted twenty-four hours.

The same night I went to a movie, but being so tired of my sleepless previous night, I did not wait to see
the finish of the show but went early to my empty straw sack to sleep, and I did sleep tight that night.

The next morning we again expected the Lieutenant General, and I was not in time to beat it from the
dormitory. I was caught and placed in charge to have the dormitory thoroughly cleaned. This time the
General did come and seemed satisfied with the condition of our headquarters.

After the General left, I left the Armory myself, and in the main square sitting at a table drinking coffee
along with the other officers, I saw Captain Fronconi of Company 2 of my regiment. When he saw me, be
got up and came to meet me with a friendly handshake and then introduced me to the other officers who
were with him. Though I was not in his company, I knew him well from October 1915. We were together
on the never to be forgotten day of November 10, 1915. He was wounded on the same day and place with
me. We had a nice chat together and he ordered a cup of coffee for me and I sat down with him. I found
out that Captain Guerrini was sent to Bologna and would do special duty there in the Censor Department.
Captain Fronconi was Chief of the Marching Battalion which was headquartered in another section of
town.

It received reinforcements almost daily from the headquarters of the regiment, and the method used to get
men to get to the battalion has just been explained. This battalion is composed of companies of able
bodied men to return to the Front, and any time any of the three regiments who were headquartered at
Frosinone needed men to fill the gaps, these men were sent there. Just as they were sent to us when we
were in Marano and at Quota #144.

Captain Fronconi asked me to go to his battalion where he said he needed me. He also said he would keep
me in Frosinone as long as he was able. The next day his battalion was moved to a neighboring town and
I had not had the time to be transferred.

Although men were leaving almost daily for the Marching Battalion I for some reason or other was kept
at headquarters. The reason I think was that they were shy of corporals to do service around the place, and
I was kept there until more came in.

In the first few days of my stay at Frosinone, I went through every bit of it. There was nothing else to be
seen, so during my spare time, I went to the movies but only occasionally would there be a good film.
Once I saw a Charlie Chaplin comedy in the movies there.
 77

Chapter 2 Taking Deserters to the Front

On the morning of February seventh as I was writing a letter, a Second Lieutenant came to me and asked
me if I wanted to so with another corporal and a sergeant to take sixteen deserters to the Front to the 131st
regiment. I willingly accepted as I was glad to see my old pals again.

During the afternoon, we got ready for our departure. The three of us went to the prison where the men
were, and we distributed new equipment to all of them for trench duty, besides being newly uniformed. It
took all day to get them ready as they would not do anything themselves. We even had to prepare their
knapsacks, etc., for them.

These men were mostly Southern Italians, the majority from Naples. They did not desert the Army at the
front, they deserted it before they left for the Front. many were living up in the mountains in
uninhabitable places when caught by the military police who were always on the lookout for deserters.
Their only punishment was that they were sent to the trenches after they were caught. If once we were
able to get them to the front, they would not dare desert, as desertion from the front would mean
execution. Very few would take chances of being shot by deserting while in the trenches.

The three of us only went with them to take care of their equipment and to act almost as attendants to
them. We were not armed, not even did we have the bayonet on our belt. Four Carabinieri Military Police
came to escort the men and to see that they did not escape. This was a new experience for me and I
certainly appreciated being chosen to go along. The men had no grudge against us, as we were not their
escort but the escort for their equipment.

After we had everything ready it was around 6:00 p.m. so we went to rest as the trip started at 2:00 a.m. In
the meantime, we could sleep for a few hours for we were sure we would not get much sleep once we
started on our journey.

The reason for leaving at night was so not to have the civilians see the procession of deserters going
through the town on the way to the railway station. At 3:00 a.m. on a military cart, we loaded all of the
equipment and also two deserters who were lame and could not walk. Corporal Paolini and I escorted the
two men and the cart. These two men were not handcuffed as they sat on the cart. The other fourteen
prisoners with the four M.P.’s and the sergeant went to the station another way. They took a short cut and
although Paolini and I left before they did and took the main road, they arrived at the station before us.

The prisoners were handcuffed in couples, then the seven couples were fastened together with a long
chain, the couples being about three feet apart. It seems a pity to send men up to the Front tied in this
fashion, but that was the only way to get these men to do their duty.

Besides having two lame prisoners, there was also one who pretended to be crazy and at short intervals
would go into convulsions, throw himself down and become unmanageable. He was one of the fourteen
men taken by the M.P.’s. Paolini and I did not quite relish the responsibility of getting the two men to the
railway station. First of all we had no arms of any kind, and secondly no one could vouch that the
prisoners were actually crippled. Therefore, the half hour that it took to get to the depot was a restless one
for us. The two of us also got on the cart, and to make matters worse it started to rain. In this section of
the country, there is very little rainfall, but on that night, of course, it had to rain hard.
 78

We left on a regular passenger train from Frosinone to Rome. We got half a coach for ourselves - - - a
third class coach. Our work was to load and unload the prisoner’s equipment from the train.

We had food for the prisoners for the trip which we gave them at meal time. We had no food for
ourselves. We were given money in place of it, 42 cents a day including our wages. We were paid for five
days, the estimated time required for the trip.

It took us four hours to get to Rome. Here the prisoners were placed in a cell at the station while I went
out into town to get some food for myself for the trip, at least for the first day. After three hours in Rome,
we left by the way of Rome - - - Orte - - - Arezzo - - - Florence - - - Pistoia for Bologna. We took a
regular third class passenger coach. We had a nice trip; uneventful from Rome to Florence, a distance of
two hundred miles. The prisoners behaved very well. It took nine hours to reach Florence from Rome. On
reaching Tuscany, we came across snow covered plains in place of the nice summer weather we had in
Frosinone.

Though at Florence we did not change trains, we stayed at the station almost three hours before
proceeding for Bologna. During these three hours, which I knew we would be there, I went out to see my
old town again having been away from there since August 1913. When I returned to the train, I could not
find it, the track where it was on was empty. For a while I thought the train had gone and I was left in the
lurch, but after asking a railway inspector, I found out it had been switched to another track.

One of the first stations after Florence was Prato near where I spent my early childhood.

The trip from Florence to Bologna consumed almost four hours and was one hundred-thirty kilometers or
eighty one miles long. After passing Pistoia, we went to the mountains. We crossed the entire Apennine
Range. The mountains were high and we wound in and around them every now and then going through a
long tunnel. There was a heavy blanket of snow throughout the surrounding country. There were small
depots on the way which we could see no towns for; many of the towns which had these little depots were
from eight to fifteen miles away among the mountains. At Bologna we got off. The prisoners were taken
to a small waiting room all chained and handcuffed. While Paolini and I were unloading their baggage,
the train started off. But it was only switched to another track and then we finished unloading the
baggage. It was 3:00 a.m. when we arrived in Bologna and two hours later we left. I did not leave the
station; I rested a while in the waiting room.

We followed the usual line of Bologna, Ferraro, Rovigo, Padova to Mestre, a distance of 152 kilometers
or 95 miles. The distance was made in five and one-half hours.

Up to this time, the trip had been uneventful, only a few inquisitive passengers passing their opinion off
as to how the men should be treated. Upon reaching Mestre, our crazy prisoner started to get rough again
as he had when we left Frosinone. He was a great nuisance for us and his fellow prisoner with whom he
was tied. He had convulsions which certainly looked real, but the other prisoners said were fake. His
mouth was foaming, and as we got out of the train at Mestre, he had to be placed in a separate cell. The
queer part of it was when no one was looking he was quiet and did not try to harm himself, but as soon as
some one was looking, he acted wild again. At Mestre we again changed trains, again unloading and
loading baggage. Here we stayed until noon and then left for Treviso. The distance was short, only
thirteen miles or twenty-one kilometers. An hour later we got to Treviso where we were all loaded in a
large military truck and taken to a place where all deserters are taken before being sent to their regiments.
It was also the headquarters of the Military Police. There must have been over one hundred deserters here
in different cells, all waiting to be taken away.
 79

The remainder of the day we were free to go where we pleased. Paolini and I went first to a restaurant for
a regular meal and then went out to look at the town. Treviso must have about 30,000 people. It is very
clean in contrast to Frosinone. These people are Venetian. but regardless of their other failings, they are
very clean people.

Treviso, though an important military town when I passed through it in February 1917 was destined to
become oven sore important after the disastrous retreat of Caporetta. It came near falling in the hands of
the enemy at the end of that same year.

As we were very tired not having slept for 72 hours, we returned to where the prisoners were at about
7:00 p.m. Here the Military Police had fixed up two nice bunks for us with straw mattresses and blankets.
We laid down immediately and rested until 5:00 a.m. the next morning. An hour later our prisoners were
placed in a truck and taken to the depot again. We waited over an hour for the train to Portogruaro. In the
meantime, Paolini and I went to a coffee shop and had coffee with milk and rolls. The trip from Treviso to
Portogruaro lasted only two hours, the distance being 53 kilometers or thirty-six miles. The day was not
bright. The snow which covered the regions of Tuscany and Emilia was now gone, but, of course, it was
not as warm as Frosinone. Here at Portogruaro for the fifth time we had to change trains and we were kept
busy unloading and loading the baggage. We had three hours time before leaving Portogruaro so the
sergeant, Paolini and I went to see the town. It was a typical Venetian town of about 20,000 inhabitants,
though now there are again as many soldiers. We went to see an ancient windmill. In the meantime, the
crazy prisoner was almost beyond control. So, not to cause disturbance, both his hands and feet were
handcuffed. Strange as it may seem, no rough tactics were used on him. The M.P.’s were kind and patient
and talked to him in a gentle way. He would not listen and kept making noises and rolling himself around
the floor. Here at Portogruaro the prisoners were taken to a small waiting room at the station. From
Portogruaro our next stop was Cervignano, a distance of 12 kilometers, or 28 miles. It was already
4:30p.m. when got to Cervignano. And, again for the sixth time, we got off and unloaded our baggage.
The prisoners were taken away in a shed, and we were told that we were to remain here until morning.
Again we went out to Cervignano to look over the town. To me it was not new but to the Sergeant and
Paolini it was. That was the first time Paolini had been in former enemy territory. From here we could
hear an occasional booming of a cannon, but at this time the entire Front was relatively quiet.

It was very cold out on that day, the coldest I had seen in that section of the country. I was given a place
to sleep on the bare floor of a barrack. I laid my blanket on the floor end my cape over me as a blanket. It
was so cold I could not sleep at all. My feet were frozen all of the time. I went to the kitchen during the
early morning hours to warm up.

In the morning we were told that the 131st regiment was at Trivignano, so that necessitated taking the
train again for Palmanova. We reloaded our baggage, this time for the first time in a baggage car. Paolini
and I remained in that car. At Palmanova the sergeant, two Military Police and thirteen prisoners got off
and walked to the regiment which was to be a Trivignano but was found at Clugano instead. To save the
lame prisoners and the crazy one some walking, after we got all of our baggage off at Palmanova the
other two Military Police, Paolini and I with the three prisoners waited for a train to Udine to take us to
Santa Maria la Longa only ten kilometers away. We waited two hours for the train then we got on and
after a fifteen minute ride got off again at Santa Maria la Longa. This station I knew well also. I knew a
coffee shop where Paolini and I went for coffee. We were famished, it was already 11:00 a.m. While
Paolini and the Military Police and the prisoners waited for a cart, I left alone for Trivignano to find my
old buddies seven kilometers, or four and one-half miles away. After that nice long walk I was
disappointed for instead of finding the 131st regiment, I found the 132nd regiment. They told me that the
131st was at Claugano only four kilometers away from Santa Maria la Longa by another road. Of course,
it made me angry to have to come back. When I got to Claugano I was again disappointed. Only the
second and third battalions were there. The first battalion had not yet returned from the trenches. That was
 80

surely a bad disappointment for me, as all during the trip I had figured on staying a few hours with the
boys.

Because of my going to Trivignano and then returning back to Claugano I lost time, and when I got to
Claugano, everyone in our party was there already. They had come direct. I found the sergeant, Paolini,
all the prisoners and the Military Police. Being in the war zone, the prisoners were let loose to go with the
other men. They were also armed. The crazy member of the party found the officers at the Front not as
good as we had been, for they tied him to a tree to get over his spasms; and he did get over them too, for
when he saw the men up here meant business, he got as quiet as a lamb. He was released from the tree
towards evening.

After hunting around to see if I could find someone I knew, I bumped into Betto, an old member of my
squad whom I had known since September, 1915, and who had joined the 131st with me and also drilled
at Brisighella with me. Of course, I was very glad to see him. He told me he had been transferred as
messenger to second battalion from my company. From him I got a lot of news of the boys and all that
had happened during and after the disaster of November 4, 1918, when I was wounded. He took me to the
Medical Lieutenant of our battalion who had already returned from the trenches. He knew me well and
glad to see me. I spent the rest of the day with Betto. At 9:00 I again heard the bugler sound silence. By
that time I had found Paolini again and had a very comfortable place to sleep in a barn on the hay with
eleven cows for companions. We had a good night’s sleep, this being the second since leaving Frosinone.
In the morning we were given coffee by my friends, as I had now found another who was formerly in my
company. They gave Paolini and I bread also. We then found our sergeant and he told us we would not
leave until 5:00 p.m. of the same day, February 12th, for Palmanova. We had plenty of time to talk with
our friends yet. We went to look for the men who were our prisoners. They were now mingling with the
other boys as if nothing had happened. Even the crazy one seemed alright. During the day I spent much
time with Betto. We spent almost a day and a half with the boys. Having so much time to stay there, made
me more disappointed than ever on not being able to be with all of the boys. After spending a nice day
among my few friends at about 1:30 p.m., we left for Palmanova. The poor boys whom we left here
envied us as we left for Frosinone. They were here in peril of their lives at all times, while we were
eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves 500 miles from the Front. In a way I could not blame them. It was
not on account of any ‘pull” I had with the higher authorities that I was able to do this; it was just a little
stroke of good luck which at the end of the same year I wished I had never had.

Palmanova is a very strongly fortified city being about two miles from the old Italian-Austrian frontier.
There are walls all around the city and everything passes through the city gates of which there are five.
We went through one of these gates, had dinner and then took a stroll through the town.

Chapter 3 Returing to Frosinone

We left Palmanova at 5:00 p.m., changed trains at San Giorzio di Nogaro and then took another train for
Mestre. We got to Mestre at 9:30 p.m. that night (February 12th) and here in this cold region again we
were told to wait until morning for a train to Bologna. I had another night similar to the one I had had
when we arrived at Cervignano. We slept on the bare floor and it was biting cold out and no fire. In the
morning to make matters worse instead of taking the train for Bologna, we made a mistake and took one
going to Milan. We got off in time at Padova and then waited there for a train for Bologna. Whether it
was because of the cold weather or because of the mistake we made on the train, the matter was that our
sergeant had a peeve on and I had sort of hinted that we would like to stop at our homes for a day or so.
He was stubborn and would not listen. He insisted he wanted to take the express for Bologna, Florence
and Rome. But we were not yet at Bologna. After leaving Padova for Bologna, he sort of relented. I told
him to take the Bologna, Ancona, Rome route instead of the one had chosen. After much hesitation, he
agreed with Paolini and I. Paolini was going to Foligno while the sergeant said he would pass a few days
 81

in Rome. So anxious was I to get to Forli once more that I told him I could go all the way to Frosinone
without documents. He took me up on that saying I could get off at Forli. Paolini was given the receipt of
the prisoners which, if he was caught could explain, and he would say he had lost his traveling document.
The sergeant kept the traveling document himself, and I had nothing to show if I was caught. All railway
stations were patrolled very strictly by Military Police. As I had three stations where I would have to have
documents as I had to change trains at Faenza - - - it was 313 miles without documents - - - it was a very
risky proposition.

We made arrangements to find each other at Frosinone on the morning of February 16th, that day being
February 13th. At noon I got off at Forli, and as there are always Military Police at the station, I left by a
small gate just outside the depot not seen by them.

Of course, I was glad to get to Forli again even though it was only thirteen lays since I had left it. I went
to my relatives and fiancée. As I left Forli at noon on the 15th of February, the two days in Forli, I dressed
as a civilian and had a very good time. Being pretty well known in Forli, I had no fear that the Military
Police in the town would ask me for documents regarding my stay there.

At noon on February 15th, I left Forli for Faenza. I had to pay my fare to Faenza. I was accompanied to
the station by Elisa and my aunt and had a basket of food to last me until I got to Frosinone.

Faenza of all the stations I had to pass was the most dangerous to be caught. In fact on my next trip, I was
caught there.

There were military trains which passed through Faenza for Florence from the Front. On these trains there
were no controllers, as only those who were going on furlough or special leave were supposed to use
them. I knew that at 2:00 p.m. there would be such a trait from the Front at Faenza bound for Florence
and South. The one and one-half hours I had to wait for that train were the most miserable of the trip. I
had to hide behind freight cars so as not to be seen by the Military Police who at Faenza were worse than
any other place.

When the train came which was composed of almost all freight cars, I jumped on one of them and then I
knew I was safe to Frosinone. Of course a military train was the slowest sort of animal. All passenger
trains and even freight trains were given preference to it. At many unknown stations we would stop for
hours

It took eight hours to go from Faenza to Florence, a distance of sixty-two miles, less than eight miles per
hour. The train stopped at Florence only two hours and then proceeded on its way to Rome. From
Florence to Rome, it took exactly sixteen hours or about twelve miles an hour. There was an old saying
that military trains are never in a hurry. When we went to the Front with the prisoners and on our return,
we always took regular passenger trains as we were on duty and that required more speed.

The few coaches on the Military train of second and third class were full to capacity, that one was more
comfortable on regular (eight horses forty men) cars. Many times some of these cars would be entirely
empty.

It was about 6:00 p.m. when we got to Rome, and two hours later the same train left for Naples. I got to
Frosinone at Midnight and I decided to walk the four miles to the city and then to the Armory and sleep
on those old mattresses. Although we were to meet at the headquarters on the morning of the sixteenth, I
could say because of a little delay on the trains I was not able to get there until evening, as they could not
know whether I came at 5:00 p.m. or Midnight when I did come.
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On the morning of February seventeenth, I met Paolini and the sergeant and the three of us showed up at
the office end returned the receipt of the prisoners.

Chapter 4 Taking More Deserters to the Front

In the afternoon I met Bandiera who was wounded on September sixteenth. We spent the rest of the day
together. On my return to headquarters in the evening, I met the office sergeant and he asked me if I
wanted to go on another trip to the 131st regiment with more deserters. This time there were more
deserters, twenty-three of them, and instead of three men to escort the baggage, we were six men, one
sergeant, four corporals and one private. There were also five Military Police to take care of the deserters.

I had hopes to have better luck in being able to see the boys of Company 3, but even that time I was not
allowed to see them.

Right after dark, 8:30 p.m. of the same day, February 17th, the whole gang left Frosinone. The baggage
going on a cart by the main road while we all took the short cut to the station. The path was muddy and
the night was pitch dark, there being no moon or stars out. The deserters were handcuffed and chained as
before. In this bunch there were no sick ones or crazy ones. They behaved pretty well until we reached
our destination. They seemed much rougher than the other bunch end less willing to be agreeable with us.
This time we took a regular military train. We had only a freight car for ourselves. There was a small
stove in the center to keep warm when the cold regions were reached. This Military train took us all the
way to Vicenza, and therefore, we had no shifting of
baggage until we reached the Front. In the car were benches. the prisoners once in the car were released
from the chain, but their handcuffs were not removed. Two men at a time were allowed to have their
handcuffs removed for an hour or so.

The trip to Rome was made in three hours which was not so bad considering that we were on a military
train. At Rome the train did not stop more than 15 minutes. The route from Rome to Vicenza was new to
me. From Rome we went to Civitavecchia, the sea port of Rome. The distance from Rome to Civitavechia
was 81 kilometers, little over fifty miles. Though Civitavecchia is not as important a place as Naples,
Genova or Palermo as far as large foreign vessels stopping there is concerned, much freight is carried
there.

From Rome to Pisa, a distance of 334 kilometers, or 208 miles, it took us exactly sixteen hours. We
stopped a very long time at Grosseto. Grosseto is a province and city in Tuscany. It is around this town
that there were extensive areas of marshes which up to the year of 1925 had been almost useless but
which under the Fascist government of Mussolini was being turned into farmland.

At Grosseto our Military Police which came with us from Frosinone were relieved and five more were
sent. They came with us as for as Treviso. All day long we coasted the deep blue Mediterranean Sea,
which in itself was a pretty picture. We got to Pisa at 7:30a.m. and it was too dark to see the leaning
tower from the train.

Being a military train, it did not run through a particular route as the passenger service. It went on any or
all lines more suitable to reach its destination.

From Pisa we still kept going on the line for Genova until Avenza about fifty kilometers away, then went
northeast to Parma. On the way we passed Massa which is near the famous marble quarries. Also
 83

Viareggio, which besides being a very good seaport is also probably the best bathing resort in Italy. The
distance from Avenza to Parma is 120 kilometers, or seventy-five miles. We now were traveling through
an entirely different part of the country. Instead of the blue Mediterranean Sea and lowlands, we were
now going over tops of mountains and through vast tunnels. Instead of blue, the entire landscape was
white. There was a heavy blanket of snow throughout the surrounding country. It took twelve hours to go
the rest of the distance of 163 kilometers or 102 miles from Parma to Vicenza, a little better than eight
miles an hour. The reason for this was that we made long stops at the cities of Piadena, Mantova and
Verona. Before reaching Parma we got into the great valley of the Po River, the largest river in Italy. We
crossed the river about twenty kilometers before reaching Mantova. It was very, very wide at this point.
Mantova and Verona are large cities and much manufacturing is done here. We got to Vicenza late in the
evening at about 7:30 p.m. Here we waited for a regular passenger train for Mestre.

Vicenza came very near falling into the hands of the enemy during the Austrian offensive in May 1916.
So near that the enemy guns reached the city for a while. In June however, the enemy was repulsed to
their original positions. That was the famous Trentino offensive where the 129th and 130th regiments were
also sent. About two hours after we got to Vicenza, we left for Mestre a distance of about 67 kilometers,
or 42 miles. We went as before from Mestre to Treviso. When we got to the same Military Police
headquarters as on our other trip, it was after midnight. On the same train with us as we got off at Treviso
were forty-nine other deserters. I had a nice night’s sleep as on the previous time, as I had hardly a wink
of sleep during the three nights of our trip. Here we slept until late in the morning and then five of us went
to a restaurant for a meal. Instead of a meal we got hardly anything and paid 17.80 lire for it. These
Venetians certainly made money from the soldiers.

When we returned to the Military Police headquarters, we were told that the 131st regiment had changed
location and was now to be found near Cormons. It seemed almost impossible to us because only eight
days before they were near Palmanova. But it was true that the boys had told us they expected to change
Front as soon as the first battalion came from the trenches. There was nothing else to do but to go to
Cormons, so at noon of the same day we loaded all of our baggage in a truck and took it to the station and
left on a passenger train for Udine 108 kilometers, or 66 miles, away. On the way we passed Sacile my
first stop to the Front in September, 1915. In four hours we reached Udine, We only stopped here two
hours and transferred on a train for Cormons. This train though consisting of only passenger coaches was
a Military train, as no civilians were allowed beyond Udine unless they had special permits issued by the
war department. We had a small lunch at the station before leaving Udine.

On our way to Cormons which is only 21 kilometers or thirteen miles from Udine, we passed Buttrio
where my old regiment the 11th Infantry was resting, and a little further up we passed San Giovanni di
Manzano where in the early hours of the morning of September 29, 1915, I, a greenish sort of recruit, first
beard the thundering of the cannons.

At Manzano all the lights of the train were put out as we were now nearing the danger zone, even though
the enemy was many miles away. In less than an hour, we reached Cormons. The deserters were taken to
the headquarters of the Military Police where as usual there are cells for such men. We brought their
baggage to them, and then the Military Police found nice sleeping quarters for me. We stayed two full
days at Cormons and three nights as we did not leave until the morning of February 23rd. The reason for
our stay here was to locate the 131st regiment. We were told it was no longer in the Isonzo Front, but they
could not tell us where it was. It was only two days later that we got a telegram from Udine saying the
regiment was in Carnia, the most peaceful section of the entire Front, but way up in the mountains.
During our stay here we had a good time and spent almost all of our money as everything was expensive.
I got a shave and it cost me four lire. I was glad I came out of that barber alive even though my face was
mutilated.
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From the day I left home until I returned, not once did I shave myself. I always had to depend on some
barbers, either the company barber or civilian barbers. Of course, when I was in Forli, my fiancée’s father
always shaved me.

Cormons was even more lively now than then I saw it when we were in the trenches on June, 1916. It was
now much farther from the firing line, also trains came and went even in the daytime.

While here I wanted badly to go to Gorizia only about 10 kilometers away, but my sergeant would not let
me. The most disappointing thing for me in my military career was that I returned home without seeing
either Tricate, Trento or Gorizia.

We started back for Treviso again so that we could go to Carnia. We took the same road and after
changing trains again it Udine we were back to Treviso at noon of the same day (February 22nd). We
took the baggage to headquarters as before and spent the rest of the day bumming around town; in the
evening we slept in our usual cots. In the evening before returning to headquarters, I went to a movie and
saw an American picture, “Fedora”. This was one at the few American pictures I saw in Italy. Most of the
pictures were Italian or French.

Early the next morning, we left Treviso for the station of Per-la-Carnia on a regular passenger train. We
passed Udine again and proceeded to our destination, the distance being 143 kilometers, or 90 miles from
Treviso. From Genoa to Per-La-Carnia we had the beautiful Carnia Alps at the right. They are very high
mountains. The scenery was very, very beautiful in this region.

At the station Per-la-Carnia, we got off and took a miniature train to Tolmezzo some twelve kilometers
away. There is no town or village at Per-la-Carnia station. It is just a small wooden shanty where those
who wished to go to Tolmezzo or neighboring regions get off and change trains. The station was at the
foot of a great mountain range. High mountains on all sides.

On the small railroad to Tolmezzo we wound in and out among the mountains, always having the
mountains at our right and the Tagliamento River to our left. This river though shallow in some parts was
very wide. At 3:30 p.m. we reached Tolmezzo. Here we stayed for the rest of the day, slept on some straw
in a shack near the station. The deserters were taken to Military Police headquarters. We found out during
the day that the regiment was in the trenches thirty-four kilometers away and the only way to get there
was to walk. The headquarters of the regiment was at Paluzza eighteen kilometers away. Early in the
morning we loaded all the baggage in a cart and followed it. The deserters were handcuffed and chained
together and were taken care of by five mounted Military The road was a nice wide one winding around
the mountain side. We passed two small villages and at the third one, Avvosacco, we stopped and had
dinner. The deserters were taken to Military Police Headquarters. We remained in this village for over
three hours and rested up for the next lap of our trip.

Avvosacco is a quaint little village among the mountains ten kilometers from Tolmezzo. There are a few
hundred people and some soldiers who told us that we were going right to get to the 131st Infantry, who
we were told had passed through there about ten days before for Paluzza.

At about 2:00 p.m. we left Avvosacco for Paluzza eight kilometers away. I rode on the cart most of the
way, as the others had been on the cart in the morning. The road was like before, wide and very well kept,
winding around a mountain side.
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Two hours later, we reached Paluzza and the headquarters of the 131st regiment. Again I was
disappointed as the entire regiment except for their headquarters were up in the trenches fourteen
kilometers away near the village of Timan.

I was lucky enough to meet Recanati of my old sixth squad who was now at the regimental headquarters.
I spent in hour with him. He said be could have taken me up to the trenches in a cart that very day if I
could persuade the sergeant to wait a day before leaving for Frosinone. I found the sergeant drinking in a
small wine shop with a friend of is and he would not consider remaining while I went to see the boys. He
was intoxicated and would not listen to reason.

As soon as we got to the regimental headquarters, the deserters were released and were armed. They
would be sent to the trenches the following day, so I was told.

Chapter 5 Sneaking a Trip to Forli

Paluzza was larger than Avvosacco. There were more soldiers there as it was a regimental headquarter.
As this was the last time I saw the 131st regiment, though I did not know it then, I was very glad to have
missed the boys again. Two hours after arriving, the six of us started for borne. The sergeant and one of
the corporals were so intoxicated that they could hardly stand up, let alone walk. This made it unpleasant
for the other three boys and myself. We returned by the same road we went up on. Always among the
mountains with the But River, a tributary of the Tagliamento River, on our right. We passed again
through Avvosacco and Arto, the last named was quite a nice little village. It was larger than any of the
others except Tolmezzo. Then about eight kilometers from Tolmezzo, the sergeant could go no further,
and luckily an empty cart driven by one of the boys of the 132nd Infantry came along and we all got in it
and arrived at Tolmezzo Just as it was getting dark. I don’t know what we would have done had the cart
not come with two drunkards on that road. On reaching Tolmezzo, we took the driver of the cart to a wine
shop and treated him with a couple of drinks and then with one corporal and the private I went to sleep in
the same shack we had spent the previous night. The sergeant and two other corporals were drinking some
more which made me disgusted with the whole bunch. The next morning we left Tolmezzo for Per-la-
Carnia on the same miniature train then took a train for Mestre. We got there shortly after noon and an
hour later left for Bologna on the express train. Here the sergeant made known he wanted to go home for
a couple of days. As one of the corporals lived near his way, he with the traveling document and the
corporal left for Milan shortly after arriving at Bologna, while I with the other two corporals and the
private were left only with the receipt of the prisoners to take us home the best we could. The three of
them lived near Rome. We tried to take the Bologna—Ancona Express, but just as we were getting on,
the Military Police came up to us and told us that since we were returning from an errand there was no
hurry to get beck to headquarters so we should take the military train to Frosinone. During the night at
1:00 a.m. the military train for Florence and Rome came so the three boys got on the train and I was left at
Bologna depot without a document of any sort and thirty-seven miles from Forli.

At 3:00 a.m. another limited for Ancona came. I sneaked on. The trip was full of agony. Not only was I
stealing a ride on the government, but also had nothing to show where I wanted to go. I was so afraid a
collector would show up that I spent most of the time in the water closet. Luckily, no one came and after
an hour and s quarter, the train stopped at Forli where I got off and went out of the depot from a side gate.
I waited for daybreak at a coffee shop where I had breakfast. Then I went to my relatives’ home. At Forli
I spent four and a half days which happened to be the last days until I was released from Austrian prison
camps almost two years later.

As usual; I had a good time especially at that time since Elisa and I were pretty strong for one another.
 86

I was in Forli from February 27th to noon of March 3rd. At 11:55 a.m. of March 3rd, I left Forli for
Faenza where I would take the military train for Frosinone. As I got out of the train at Faenza, a Military
Policeman happened to be right in front of me, He immediately took me to the military office to have my
papers okayed. When I told him I did not have any and asked him to kindly let me go, he simply
disregarded my pleas and brought me to the military office. Here I told the officer my story on how I
happened to be in Faenza. The only lie I told him was that the other boys went to Frosinone direct while I
stayed one day in Forli. Of course, he doubted my story he immediately telegraphed to Frosinone asking
whether I belonged down there and a letter confirming my story.

In expectation of a reply from Frosinone, I waited around at that station for two days. I loafed around the
station all the time, told tales with the 6uard off duty and went to the office every little while to find out
about the telegram. At noon of the second day, I went again to the office. There I met a sour-faced colonel
who made almost everybody afraid of him by just looking at him. He told me he would let me go to
Frosinone anyway even though they did not hear from Frosinone, which I doubted. Later I found out at
Frosinone they had twice telegraphed to Faenza to release me.

I left on a military train at 4:00 p.m. A Brigadier of the Military Police which is like a sergeant of the
regular army was to accompany me to see that I would go direct to Frosinone. He found me a place on a
regular third class coach and before the train left told me he thought I was honorable enough to go to
Frosinone alone, handing me the papers. If in some way he heard I left the train, my penalty would be
doubly heavy. So, at last I left Faenza and after an uneventful tedious trip by the same route as before I
reached Rome. As it had rained very much in the last two weeks, the Tiber River was now flooding the
surrounding country as it does most every year.

At Rome I sneaked out of the station and went to a movie, but returned in time to catch the military train
before it left for Naples.

Being the same military train I took on my other trip, I reached Frosinone again at midnight. I went to
headquarters to sleep and the following morning, I presented myself to the headquarters. Here I was asked
why I was lost at Faenza. The other boys had already arrived, and when they presented themselves they
told them I was left behind in the station when I went to buy some food and the train in the meantime had
left. I told the same story to the office. This was believed and nothing more was said.

The same night I was chosen for sentry duty as before. The next night after being relieved, I went out with
Bandiera for the last time, as the same night he left for Brescia where he would lead a machine gun
section. I was very sorry to have him go. It was the last time I saw him.

Two days after I was Corporal of the Day and had another heavy day, especially where one had to pick on
a lot of unknown boys to help clean up the headquarters and all dodging and getting sway; also distribute
food and take the boys not feeling well to the doctor.

Chapter 6 Escorting the Sick to Rome

On March eleventh, the day after being Corporal of the Day, I was chosen to escort five sick men to
Rome to be visited by a Colonel of the Medical corps. I got all the necessary papers together and since I
had plenty of time before leaving for the railway station, I went out for a walk. When I returned I found
only three of my five men. The two others, I was told, went to the station with an auto truck which
happened to go that way and would wait for me down there. So, with the three men, I went to the station,
and when I got there, I found only one of the two were to be there. The other had mysteriously
disappeared. I was so angry to have one of the men escape me that I immediately reported it to the Major
who was at the Military office at the station. He told me to proceed to Rome with the four men and he
 87

would take care of finding the other. At Rome I took the men to the Red Cross section at the railway
station and left them there. Then I went out to see the sights of Rome.

I certainly walked around that day. It was past midnight when I pulled in to sleep in a small hotel. I went
to Castel St. Angelo, also to St. Peters and the Pantheon.

The next morning I went out to see when I could leave for Frosinone. I was told to wait for the military
train which would not come until 5:00 p.m. in the evening. I had no idea to stay that long in Rome, so
after going around town all morning, I went and sneaked on a passenger am leaving Rome at 12:30
(Noon).
During my morning walk, on a large building I saw a large American flag out of a window, end it seemed
so strange to see it alone over 3000 miles away from its hone. It was the first United States flag I had seen
since leaving the States and I stopped for quite a while to admire it.

On the train to Frosinone, the ticket collector came, and when I showed him my pass, he said that only
authorized is to go on military trains as I was returning from an errand. He was angry and wanted me to
pay out of my pocket for the fare to Frosinone if I stayed on his train, or else he would let me off at the
first station. But after some pleading on my part, I was allowed to travel on that train until I reached my
destination.

Chapter 7 Promotion to Corporal Major and the Knife Fight

As soon as I arrived at Frosinone, I was sent for by the office of the headquarters. I was promoted to
Corporal Major and was given the stripes to put on my sleeves. This seemed to me a queer promotion. I
was then told I would be used to drill the boys just then called to arms of the class of 1898. As this was
something new, I appreciated the chance to do it.

Shortly before the class of l897 or those who were forty years old had been called to colors my Uncle
Tumedei of Bertinoro fell among the last lot. If the war had lasted much longer, I thought at the time my
father might be called.

Being Corporal Major my salary was increased to nine cents. In the war zone, these salaries were
increased eight cents per day. It was a good thing my Uncle Bazzini sent me ten lire every so often or I
would not have had money to go to the movies or eat in a restaurant at times.

Several promotions from private to corporal and from corporal to corporal major were made the day
before when I took the five men to Rome. Since I probably was on the list, they waited for my return from
Rome.

Already companies of recruits were being formed. I was sent Company 9, all of the recruits were
Sardinian. I saw them come in their vivid colored costumes. Most of the boys were shepherds and many
could not read or write.

These Sards were the best soldiers in the Italian Army. They fought with real patriotism and the Sassari
Brigade was by far the most glorious of other Italian brigades. Time and again they were mentioned in
Cadorna’s daily bulletins.

This brigade was made up exclusively of Sards; even the officers were Sardinian.
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At the beginning of the war, all brigades were made up of men who came from the same region or
province. That is, there were brigades made up entirely of Romans, Tuscans, Lombards, Neapolitans, etc.,
but as the war kept on and these brigades were reduced because of dead and wounded, these men were
replaced by men of other regions so that all brigades after the first year of the war were mixed with men
from all regions. Only the Sassari brigade was being continually reinforced with Sards only.

We went to a place not far from general headquarters for our cantonment.

Three days later I was transferred to a new company being formed of all boys from the Province of
Foggia and from the Province of Salerno, 143 men of the former and 70 of the latter. The first were
uniformed at the Military district of Foggia, but those from Salerno came in their civilian clothes and we
had a hard day trying to give them all that was required to make them completely uniformed privates. It
reminded me of a year and a half before when I was just like these poor boys are now, all confused
donning the “monkey” suit for the “clown” suit as they say in Italy.

The text day seventy more rookies came to our company from Foggia, but uniformed. I looked after them
and found sleeping quarters for them.

I had now made new chums among the corporals in our new company. Among them two corporal majors
and a corporal. The four of us were together continually for over two months until I left for Rome on the
way to the Front at the end of May.

I had never seen a regular knife battle until March eighteenth. I saw one between eight boys, four
Foggians and four Salernites. There was a lot of noise when I came in to sleep that night in one of the
rooms of our cantonment, and I went immediately to see what the matter was and saw eight boys with
knives open trying to get at each other. They were wild with anger besides many of the other boys on the
sidelines were encouraging them.

I was alone among the angry mob and tried to yell at them to stop, but although at other times they were
kind, gentle and obedient, especially the Foggians, now they were like mad bulls only seeing their
adversary. There was nothing I could do except to call the commander of the company, while in the
meantime, I sent a corporal, whom I met, for the Military Police.

Five Military Police, the Lieutenant and I returned to the scene of the battle almost immediately after I
left. They were all armed except myself, and by threatening to shoot if they did not lay down their knives,
they were finally made to stop. Though there was much yelling and much dodging, there was actually
little fighting as only one man was injured in the arm. The eight of then were sent to prison but before the
cantonment was quiet enough to sleep, it was after midnight. The strange part of it was we did not
ascertain the cause of the scrap.

Chapter 8 The Trek to Ferentino

The next day we started to get ready to leave Frosinone. Three companies left the same day for Arpino,
while three companies including mine left two days later for Ferentino.

The boys who went to Arpino, a small town about fourteen kilometers from Frosinone, were glad to leave
as they were going to a small place where there were no other soldiers and would not always be bothered
by the officers in Frosinone, where they were in abundance. Two of my friends, Corporal Majors Maroni
and Berticoni, left with them.
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On March twenty-first, as usual when we had some important march or place to go, it rained bard all day.
But regardless, we started for Ferentino, a town now such smaller than Frosinone, but such less important.
There were no soldiers there at all and it was governed by the civil authorities at Frosinone. Like
Frosinone it is on a high hill and the inhabitants are of a similar nature. It is twelve kilometers from
Frosinone.

The boys, not yet used to military ways, thought the rain would prevent their going to Ferentino but were
sadly disappointed when at about 10:00 a.m. they were ordered to get their belongings and get ready to
leave. We got all of our men ready. I had the first platoon and in short order got it ready. My boys, I
thought, were the best in the company and liked me very much. I had sixty-eight of them. Our march with
these new boys not accustomed to a long march especially with the heavy equipment they were carrying
on their backs for the first time and in the heavy rain were very difficult. We went very slow with only
three rest periods, but nevertheless twelve of my boys could not keep up the pace with the rest. We were
placed in the public school building for girls the first day we got there. The following day we were moved
to another building. This new cantonment was large enough for the whole company, but not comfortable.
My platoon suffered by getting the worse place. I made a strong complaint to our Captain with the only
result that if I did not do as I was told I would be sent to prison.

It was four days later my frequent complaints won new quarters for my platoon. We were placed in a
vacant room in the Bishop of Ferentino’s palace. Here we were very well placed. The boys had straw
mattresses laid on inclined planks. I had a homemade cot for myself. Here we were a happy family away
from officers and the office of the company. The only work we had to do was to keep our own quarters
clean. We were about three blocks away from the main quarters of our company.

Our first four days in Ferentino we did nothing except clean up, get acquainted with our men, and a few
simple drills on saluting and marching.

On the fifth day, or on March twenty-sixth, on a Monday, the following hard program was put in force.
At 5:30 a.m. we were awakened
At 5:45 a.m. coffee was distributed
At 5:30-6:30 am. cleaning and putting our places in order
At 6:30-10:30 a.m. drills
At 10:30 a.m. dinner
At 11:00-12:00 (Noon) rest
At 12:00-5:45 p.m. drills
At 5:45 p.m. supper
At 6:00-8:30 p.a. we were let out
At 8:30 p.m. back to cantonment
At 9:00 p.m. silence

Usually on Sundays the afternoon we were dispersed, but not so while at Ferentino. We went through the
same routine as on weekdays.

Ten hours of drilling per day was as stiff a program as I had seen during my military career. The boys
were made to go through different sorts of stunts. Of course, at first we gave them simple drills as salute,
mark time, forward march, etc. As I said before, they were very good, affectionate, but awfully dumb.
They did not know their right from their left foot. We had to go so far as to tie handkerchiefs on their
right arms to distinguish them from the left. Of course, there were few exceptions. The majority are
illiterate, especially those from the Province of Salerno. I used to write letters for the boys in my platoon
to send to their homes.
 90

The place we held most of our drills was either near the cemetery or at the sulfur springs. The sulfur
springs was a place about five kilometers from our headquarters. Here not only did we bathe in these
springs but we also drink the water, which we were told many from miles away came for. Few of us did
not care much for it as it smelled and tasted like rotten eggs.

It was with much regret not only on my part but also on the part of my rookies that our Captain decided to
install a new system, that was giving each platoon sixty-eight men with their names in alphabetical order
thereby giving me (first Platoon) all men whose last names started with letters “A”, “B”, “C” and a few of
“D”. All made a kick at this system. The non-commissioned officers and privates especially, due to their
having grown to know one another, and of course, they preferred to remain where they were. This change
was made by the office sergeant with our Captain at the sulfur springs during drilling time about ten days
after we got to Ferentino.

On our return to headquarters, each man went to his new place that as assigned to him. I fixed all my
men’s places where they were to sleep in alphabetical order. Only seven of my former men remained
with me.

These men at first were a little misbehaving but later on turned out to be good boys, though my former
boys never forgot me.

One strange incident happened on the same night of the transfer. When the roll call was made, all of my
men were present, but in the other platoons eight men were missing. All of my eight men were transferred
from my platoon to the other platoons. They objected to leaving my platoon and for some reason or other
that evening they never came back. I was sorry for them as with me they had been very fine boys. This
was the first and last case of desertion among these boys. They were all Foggians. Late the next night we
were told the boys had been picked up at a place about one hundred kilometers away by the Military
Police. Only seven were caught, the other one managed to escape.

Being rookies who had not been fifteen days in the Army, they were given a light punishment - - - twenty
days in jail at Ferentino and then returned to the company. In the meantime, our Captain gave the other
boys a lecture on desertion and the consequences as punishment. That lecture evidently taught them a
lesson as it was never tried again.

A few days later I had the misfortune to be on guard duty at the prison where only my former seven men
who deserted were placed. I hated to act as their jailer. Although they had caused such annoyance to
previous jailers, they were very good and well behaved and contrary to the usual custom, I slept all night,
as the sentries relieved themselves in order that I might sleep. The next day I talked all day with the
prisoners.

It was after fourteen days in Ferentino that we got rifles, a batch of seventy-five of the old model (1878
model) came and were distributed to one platoon (mine) to start off with. There were also a few new
model ones of which one I made myself owner. After using them three days, we passed them up to the
second platoon. My platoon, without boasting, was now the best platoon for marching and keeping step in
the company, and I used to pride myself of having the best platoon.

On our return from our drills, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Platoon ranks were broken in front of the main
headquarters while my platoon continued our march to our headquarters passing through the main square
of the town with all of the civilians looking at us. One day as we crossed the square, the major happened
to see us, and when I gave the command “eyes right”, he stopped us then and there and complimented
both the boys and myself for the good time the boys were keeping and the salute to him.
 91

A service which I did not care much for and which I was called on to do a couple of times was to go to
the railroad depot at Ferentino which was about five miles away with two privates and not as Military
Police to see that no soldiers would get off at the trains nor get on trains without the necessary papers.
This was started after the eight boys tried to run away.

The service did not amount to much as the Ferentino station was very unimportant as far as military
traffic was concerned. We had nothing to do there except rest and await trains to and from Rome.

As we could not get our usual meals we were given money instead - - - 40 cents each. We were told to eat
what we could find, and we could not find much because there were not any stores at the station, The only
thing we could eat was fresh cheese made from goats’ milk which we purchased directly from the
shepherds out in the pastures near the station. There was also plenty of milk.

As this service was only during the day, the part I didn’t like was the hike early in the morning and the
hike back at night amounting to more than ten kilometers, getting to town when it was time to retire.

Chapter 9 Life in Ferentino

Ferentino as I said before was much the same as Frosinone, both the town and its inhabitants, although
the inhabitants were a little more rural. They were not in contact with so many military officers as those
of Frosinone. The stores and wine shops were the same only probably a trifle cleaner.

We, the gang (Barrettini, Ferrario, Pini and I), were always together, unless, of course, one of us was on
special duty. Every night we would go to the same wine shop and have a young lady there prepare supper
for us, but as our salaries were not large out suppers had to be within means, so we usually had beans,
cheese, or eggs. Of course, when one of us was lucky to get a money order from home, then we would all
have a special meal on that day, which luckily happened rather frequently, as the folks at home knew we
could not do anything very much on 5 or 9 cents a day. Then we had a special dinner, then Ferrario, one
of the “bums” as we were called, would do the cooking. He was from Milan and a cook by trade. He
could prepare the best meals with the least expense.

The same wine shop was also frequented by some of the boys of my platoon and I always had to have a
drink with them.

Every Sunday we also took in the movies, which is only open on Sundays in Ferentino. There was usually
three prices for admission depending where we wanted to sit. Kids and soldiers were admitted at half
price. So we were favored with half of regular admission. The “gang” would choose the middle price
seats which were eight cents and for which we paid four cents. The movies were for the most part Italian
or French with an occasional English or American film.

April 3, 1916, Was Easter Sunday and many of the boys from Foggia and Salerno were given five days
leave of absence to spend Easter Sunday at home. Many of the non-commissioned officers and the
regular officers also went home. I could not go as it would take too long to make the trip and would leave
me only one day free at Forli. The expense of the trip I had to pay myself. So I decided it was not worth
the journey for one day’s stay in Forli.

On Saturday, the day before Easter, I got the bad news of the death of my little sister, Lina. It was big
shook to me as I had hopes of returning home soon and seeing all of the family well.
 92

The following day, Easter Sunday, I spent alone in our cantonment, refusing to go out with the gang.
Everybody was out having a good time and I was the only non-commissioned officer in. Even not being
assigned for service, as long as I remained in. I did all the work in our cantonment such as taking care of
the distribution of dinner and supper and the cleaning of the cantonment. In this way both the corporal
and sergeant of the day were relieved of their duties and could enjoy themselves with the other boys.

The loss of my little sister who at her death was six years of age was something I could not easily forget,
even to this day (ten years after her death).

About ten days after we got our first batch of rifles, we got the others, enough for one to each man.
About seventy were of the new model and the others were all of the old model. We had a difficult time
deciding to whom the old ones should go and to whom the new ones should go to. The Captain of our
Company, therefore, gave each platoon an equal share. It was up to we platoon commanders to distribute
them to whom we saw fit. Although some of the others were partial, I hit on an idea to have each man
have an equal chance to have one. I placed sixty-eight pieces of paper in a hat of which seventeen were
marked and the others were blanks. Those who received a marked slip got a new rifle and those who drew
a blank got an old one. This way caused no jealousy to any one. Then the boys of the other platoons heard
of our system, they complained because their commanders had not done the same. Aside from being a
much better rifle, the new model was also several pounds lighter and also smaller. Although we called it a
new model, it was not exactly new because it first came in use in 1891, twenty-four years before the war.
The Italian rifle was the smallest caliber rifle of any of the Allies or enemy except Japan.

Chapter 10 America Enters the War - Bernard wants to join the American Army

On April sixth - - - Good Friday - - - United States declared war on Germany, but on the hill, Ferentino
where we were, no one knew anything about it. It was not until the next day that I found out about it by
the papers that came from Rome. Only one place in the whole town sold them. Even then it did not cause
much comment, none at all to the civilians who knew little or nothing of the United States and not much
by the officers who probably thought the United States would not cut much figure in the war being so far
away from the actual firing line.

On May third while still at Ferentino, I wrote a letter to the American Ambassador, Thomas Nelson Page,
at Rome asking if there was any chance for my being transferred to the American Army in France as soon
as the first men of the American Expeditionary force arrived there.

Seven days later I got an answer from Mr. Peter A. Jay, secretary to the United States Ambassador who
later became Ambassador to Venezuela that he was sorry that at that time he could do nothing for me but
would keep the matter under his advisement and give me a definite answer later.

Of course, I was sorry not to be transferred to the Yankee Army, but I thought I still had a chance. But
that chance never came.

On June first being in Rome, I went to the American Embassy and there spoke with Mr. Jay. I was told he
had thought of the matter but found it impossible being that I was no longer an American citizen having
vowed allegiance to the King of Italy. He was very kind to me and wondered how I ever decided to join
the Italian Army speaking English as well as I did. He said be would give me a final answer later and did
so in July by letter which was, of course, to the contrary.

Coming back to our doings in Ferentino shortly after Easter, our rookies having had enough of the first
easy drills of salute, march, by two, by four, right about, eyes right, etc., we started them on more
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strenuous exercises. We climbed high hills and had long marches. Some of the marches lasting from
dawn to dusk, our cooks following us and preparing our meals. We used to go to Alatri, a small town
about 12 kilometers from Ferentino, put up tents and rested a few hours in the afternoon.

Once on April thirteenth we went there and met the battalions of recruits who were stationed there at
Alatri. and also the battalions who came from Arpino. We were a whole regiment of recruits. It was a
happy reunion not only of the recruits who were separated and sent to different towns when at Frosinone,
but also for the non-commissioned officers who were glad to get together again. I saw Berticoni and
Marconis, who were at Arpino, and many others who were promoted with me who were at Alatri and
Arpino.

Once we went up a very high hill on top of which was the town of Fumone. The march was the hardest
the boys had gone through. We left an hour earlier in the morning and returned late at night, too late to
return for our regular two and a half hour leave, besides which they were all tired.

I could not see how anything could ever get to the town, being that the main road was so steep, but oxen I
supposed could go all over. The inhabitants were similar to those of Ferentino. Many times we would go
on top of Mount Luongo very near Ferentino and here we would drill the boys on bayonet charge and war
tactics. We would dig trenches, fill bags of earth just as on the Front. The boys likes that sort of work
much better than the ordinary drills. We went through most of the things I had gone through as a recruit
in Cervia and Brisighella in August and September 1915.

Before the end of April we started regular target practice. Here again the boys enjoyed them selves. The
target was on the road to Frosinone about half way to Frosinone, so that it was also used by the boys
there.

Some of the boys who were not over anxious to go to the Front were poor marksmen, thinking thereby to
be exempted to go to the front. Little did these boys know how little account marksmanship meant at the
Front, where you see nothing in front except barbed wire, concrete or earth trenches. Some of the boys
especially the Foggians were good marksmen. Of course, all shooting was done with the new model rifle.

We shot at different distances, 50 meter being the shortest and 300 meter the longest. Usually one
hundred or one hundred fifty meters were used. The target was sometimes a board cut in the shape of a
man and the heart being the bull’s eye, and some times it was a regular round circle with four circles. Six
shots per man were shot at one time. The bull’s eye was counted for four points and the other rings 3, 2
and 1. I liked very much to shoot at a target, though I was by no means an expert marksman. The distance
I preferred was 200 meters or about 600 feet. The best I could do in that distance was 20 points out of a
possible 24. But my average ran much lower, being that I got 18 out of a possible 24. I had men in my
platoon who never even hit the target in six shots at 100 meters. I, of course, had to teach them not only
how to hold the gun but how to use it. Many times seeing how clumsy they held the rifle, I took it from
them and shot with it myself - - - when our Captain was not looking.

On April twenty-first the long expected commission of the Medical Corps, including a major, a captain,
and two lieutenants came to Ferentino to pick out the men who were fit for duty at the Front. Every one of
the boys were given a thorough examination by these doctors. Though most all of the boys thought they
had some ailment or other which they expected to get away doing trench duty, only two were actually
found incapable by the commission out of over 250 men of the company. One of which had a broken arm
and the other bad heart trouble.

Though we, the non-commissioned officers, had already been examined at Frosinone, the commission
also wanted re-examine us. Of course, they did not alter the decision arrived at Frosinone.
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Chapter 11 The Feast of St. Ambrose

On April twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and May first, there were three days of continuous holiday at Ferentino,
and such a holiday I never saw the like and will remember it as long as I live. As I said before, every city,
town end village in Italy has a Saint which is the protector of the inhabitants of the city, town or village.
In Frosinone it was San Severo, at Ferentino it was Sant’ Ambrogio (St. Ambrose). St. Ambrose was in a
jail in Ferentino before being martyred by the heathens. The remains of St. Ambrose are in Milan, where
the Saint is also the Patron Saint of that city. Only one bone (I don’t know which) was at Ferentino.

For this holiday farmers or shepherds came from the surrounding country to pay homage to St. Ambrose.
The city was full of banners of St. Ambrose on his horse.

The first day of the holiday not much was done, although none of the inhabitants worked all had their
Sunday clothes on. They prayed in churches.

We only had morning drill that day and were given the afternoon off for the holiday. Two privates and I
were placed on patrol duty to see that no soldier was mixed up in any squabble. We caught four of the
boys drunk and we brought them to prison for one night to sober up. The same prison which St. Ambrose
had been in the 12th or 13th century.

The following day, April thirtieth, was the main holiday. During the day St. Ambrose Church, the
Cathedral of Ferentino, was full of pilgrims. At night with all of the streets illuminated with lanterns,
torches and oil lamps, a long parade wound in and out of the streets of Ferentino. The principle attraction
of the parade was the taking out of a half life sized image in bronze of St. Ambrose on horseback from the
Cathedral and parade it down the streets. The parade was held at night. It took sixteen men to carry that
image. There were eight long poles, two in front, two in the rear, and two on either side. ach pole had two
men under it. These men had white gowns on them not much different from the Ku-Klux-Klan of the
United States. Others in the parade carried torches, ;large bed sheets, one man at each corner where the
inhabitants would throw money into. Others sang. The parade consisted of mostly men. There were also
four large bands from neighboring towns. The most exciting part was when the image of St. Ambrose
passed the spectators who were women and children. The women threw themselves on the ground and
cried and yelled to St. Ambrose to save their son, husband or brother who was at the Front, he should see
that the one prayed for to return home unharmed. All along the line I saw the most touching scenes I ever
witnessed. The parade had its climax at the Cathedral when St. Ambrose’ image was brought in.
The women all went in the church and when the image of St. Ambrose was put back into its place, they
all started to cry aloud and yell to St. Ambrose again of their men folk at the Front. Hundreds of women
all yelling at the tops of their voices at one time you could hear for blocks around. I was on the stairway
in front of the church and saw them. Some were kneeling and some were laying flat on their stomachs in
front of St. Ambrose’ image. On that day we were also given a holiday. We helped to celebrate. The
following day, May first, was the last day of the celebration - - - there was another parade, only without
St. Ambrose. Then there were also fireworks. During the three days all the churches, especially St.
Ambrose Cathedral, were always full to capacity. Women were donned in their vivid frocks, the holiday
clothes being even more vivid than those worn every day. Men also wore their Sunday best with shoes on
their feet instead of rags and a sole under their feet as worn every day unless they were barefooted. This
holiday for them even exceeds in importance Easter and Christmas.

Being shy a sergeant in our company, our captain sent my name in for promotion even though I was the
youngest corporal major both in years and in seniority of twenty-one who were at Ferentino. It takes a
long time to get action on a promotion from corporal Major to sergeant because in the Italian Army there
is a great difference in salary, the former getting nine cents while the latter gets thirty-seven cents. I
would have liked to have been promoted even for the money part of it only. Though I was proposed for
 95

sergeant on April twenty-sixth, I was not actually promoted until May twenty-first, and then under
entirely different circumstances than when I was proposed for it. More will be said further in the manner
in which I became Sergeant.

Our final days at Ferentino were close at hand. We had been there from March twenty-first to May
twentieth. The boys were pretty well drilled.

A new thing happened just before leaving. Eleven non-commissioned officers came to our company who
remained at Ferentino until the class of 1899 were called to arms. They came to drill that class just as we
drilled the 1898. They came from the Front, the 59th and 131st Infantry. There were two sergeants, six
corporal majors and three corporals. One of the corporal majors was DeBernardin, who was at the front
with me with Company 3 for twelve months. I was certainly glad to see him. He gave me news of the
boys. He told me they were still in Cernia and that no fighting was going on there. He and one of the
Venetians who came to our company after the disastrous November 10, 1913. His name being so much
like mine and then both of us at that time were corporals that many mistakes were made when at the Front
on who was meant to be of service as guard, etc.

The offensive in the Isonzo started on May sixteenth, and for once we were out of it. On May nineteenth
for the first time I sent a corporal to prison. He entered the cantonment so drunk that he could hardly
stand. I was on guard duty that day, and therefore, I was obliged to do so. He was the corporal in charge
of our kitchen who thought he was more privileged than the regular company corporals.

On the same day most of the Sardinians and all the corporals and corporal majors in Ferentino who were
capable for trench duty left for Frosinone to got ready to be sent to the Front.

A new company was formed on that day of about 260 men about 200 of which were Sards. The rest were
Foggians and Salernites.

I was called by the Major who knew I had been at the Front and from Sergeant Bandiera was told that I
helped him out in the office of Company 3 at the Front. He made me a proposition to promote me to
office sergeant of this new company which he said would soon leave for Rome. I told him of my
knowledge of the Italian language was not sufficient to handle it properly. I could not write long
statements that are required in correct Italian. I told him I could, however, take care of financial and, that
is take care of the books and pay the men. I could also take care of going after food and equipment
necessary for the company. He then told me he would get a very intelligent rookie of 1898 whom he
would promote to corporal to help me, and would make the necessary statements which I could not do.
Under those conditions, I agreed to go as office sergeant.

Chapter 12 Leavng Ferentino

The next day, May twentieth, in the morning we left Ferentino. Before leaving I said farewell to all of our
civilian friends, especially in the wine shop where the “gang’ now broken up had had many good times.
We were all sorry to leave Ferentino, but most of all, I was sorry to leave the boys who I had drilled.
They, too, were very sorry and some had tears in their eyes when they saw me with another company. I
was allowed to choose fifteen boys from my platoon to come with us. And, though we were supposed to
go to the Front immediately, while those who remained at Ferentino would probably not go for a while
yet, I had most of the platoon volunteer to come and had a hard time picking the fifteen allotted.

Our Captain of the new company was a Neapolitan named, Tango, who I could not get along with from
the first day.
 96

On a large vacant lot on our way to Frosinone, our Major who accompanied us made us vow our
allegiance to the King of Italy and the flag. This was done to all recruits before being sent to the front.
That was the first and only time I had done it, as when I left Forli for the Front, the boys had already
vowed before I joined them. The Major also made a speech to the boys on the conditions at the Front.
Being almost all Sards, they were very attentive and patriotic.

On our arrival at Frosinone, the Major took me immediately to the Colonel in Command of the Frosinone
Military District and told him he wanted me to be promoted immediately to officer sergeant of the
company under Captain Tango leaving for Rome. He told him I had been at the Front and had had some
experience and I had been wounded with the 131st Infantry. The Colonel was perfectly willing and under
the official bulletin of Headquarters on the next morning, I was promoted Sergeant to take effect the day
previous, the same day I had been presented to the Colonel.

Then my troubles started and every day became worse. The Major gave me a very intelligent boy, a Sard,
to help me out, but unfortunately after two days he took sick and left the company so I was alone working
day and night. I had to prepare the boys with all war zone equipment. There were out 101 different
articles and for over 280 men. After I got them from headquarters storeroom, I had to distribute them to
the platoons. Then the payroll and many many other things that were required when a Company leaves for
the Front. Then too, not only did I not have help, but I was also inexperienced for all of this work. On top
of that I had the Captain always at my heels. He was impatient, cross and vain. No one cared for him. I
slept only about two or three hours every night in order not to be behind on my work. The other officers
of the company sympathized with me and sometimes even helped me.

On the evening of May twenty-third after three days since we had arrived at Frosinone, we left for Rome.
All of the boys were entirely equipped for war.

At noon of the same day, I was working as usual at my office when a Lieutenant of our company, who
had helped me during the morning, came and told me to stop work and get some fresh air. I was not out of
the office since I had left Ferentino except on duty. He took me to the main square of the town to a coffee
shop outside where Captain Tango and the other three officers of our company were drinking a
Vermouth. I was told to sit down with them and Captain Tango and I made up. He said he did not realize
there was so much work until he had been told by the other officers. We stayed together talking over the
plans for when we could get to Rome and he bought me a drink. After this chat, I got everything ready for
our departure which came at 5:30 p.m.

We left on a military train and got to Portonaccio station of Rome after midnight. From there we hiked all
the way to Fort Pietralata, the hike must have been easily over twelve kilometers. On the military train we
used up eight complete cars. I was always with Captain Tango in a second class car.

Chapter 13 Fort Pietrelata

Arriving at Fort Pietralata, we slept on straw in a nicely kept barracks which I had to go after with some
men. Some fellow sergeants of that place came to assist me even though it was around 2:00a.m. They
showed me where to send for food and other necessary materials. As soon as I got there, I set up my
office in a small room partitioned off from the barracks. A fellow sergeant from another company had two
of his men bring me a cot to sleep on.

The next day the men were placed out in tents but I kept my office in the same barrack. And, the war
between the Captain and I broke out anew. He could not have give me a helper such as I was entitled to
and expected me to finish all of the work just the same. Besides in a Marching Battalion such as we were,
there is so much more to do in the office than a company which is always stationary.
 97

Sergeants and sergeant Majors in Fort Pietralata have their own mess similar to that of the officers. Of
course, not quite as elaborate.

For our two meals at the mess, we paid 20 cents per day. Our first meal came at noon here an office
sergeant of another company came after me and brought me to mess. Here I was introduced to the others,
about twenty men. We had very good meals which outside of our camp in a restaurant would easily have
cost four lire. We paid 10 cents and 10 cents for the evening meal. We would have soup, cutlets or steak,
wine and fruit - - -all for 10 cents. One of the few things I liked at Fort Pietralata was the mess. We also
had two cooks. After our meal, we chatted for a while of our experiences. They soon found out I had the
toughest kind of bird to deal with and they sympathized with me.

We were now three companies here being prepared for the Front. Company 1 was our company under
Captain Tango made up of boys of the 59th Infantry. Company 2 was made of recruits of 1898 from the
81st Infantry. Company 3 was also 1898 recruits but from the 82nd Infantry. The 81st and 82nd Infantry
were home regiments, that is they were stationed at Rome. The command of the 81st being right at Fort
Pietrelata. Both of the companies of the 59th and 82nd Infantry were in tents while the 81st, the home
company, was in a barrack.

Fort Pietralata is not only the home of the 81st Infantry but also an important fortress protecting Rome. It
is about four kilometers from Porta Pia where the Italians under King Victor Emanuel entered Rome on
the twentieth of September, 1870, to never be removed.

The barracks where the soldiers are quartered are very well built of hollow tile with stucco covering.

There were also cannons which made up part of the Fort, and one would go off every noon at 12:00 sharp.

On May 25th the final explosion between Captain Tango and I came after one of our quarrels. I told him I
would not do one more stroke in the office and that I wanted to be transferred to another company. I also
told him he could punish me in any way he saw fit. But I knew him well enough that no company
commander can punish a sergeant without the approval of the commander of the battalion - - - up to a
sergeant, a captain or any officer can punish directly themselves. I also knew our Major of the new
battalion knew my trouble.

On that night for the first time, I left the office and went to Rome. On my return the Captain asked for
some papers which I had not gotten ready. He threatened to not only put me in prison but have me
degraded to Corporal Major again. This was something he couldn’t possibly do. I still would not do any
work other than take care of a platoon as other sergeants did. I then told him I wanted to speak to the
Major because I wanted to change companies.

The next morning he found a new sergeant to take my place in the office. Of course, I helped out the new
man. I, in the meantime, was transferred to first platoon and placed in charge of that. Before our quarrel
had reached such a parting state, I would have willingly accepted one of his platoons, but now when he
could see me worse than dust, I demanded to be transferred to another company. I went to the Major to
see that I was changed.

The change came two days later. I was transferred to Company 3 under Captain Damiani and took charge
of the fourth platoon. In return Captain Tango got a regular office sergeant from Company 3. As the man
that was put in my place also would not do for him, I was leased for a few days to my old company to
show and familiarize the new sergeant with his new duties.
 98

I was very sorry to leave the boys of the 39th infantry especially the fifteen who came from my old
Ferentino platoon. But I was glad I was leaving Captain Tango. My new company had very fine officers
and also sergeants and other non-commissioned officers. The boys were all from Abruzzi, mostly from
the provinces of Teramo, Sulmona and Acquila. They were very good, well behaved boys. They did not
have the courage of the Sards, however.

We had drills while waiting for orders to go to the Front. A couple of times I got midnight permits from
my Captain to stay in Rome until midnight.

I felt like I was on a vacation in comparison to the work I had to do when in Company 1. I went to Rome
to bum around with my pals of Company 1. Even with the privates who used to be with me at Ferentino.
Some of these boys had never seen a city and we enjoyed showing them around.

At dawn on June fifth we put down our tents and made preparations at Fort Pietralata where we had been
twelve days. Of course, those of my company had been in Rome ever since the boys came to the Army or
around the twelfth of March.

Chapter 14 Leaving for the Front

As we were going to the Front by the Adriatic line, that is Rome to Ancona then Ancona to Rimini then
past Ravenna to Ferrara and to Mestre, I asked our Captain if I could go to Forli and say good-bye to my
relatives. I told him I would join the battalion at its destination as we did not know there we were going.
He said it was impossible in view of the fact that I was to take charge of two carloads of boys, about 75 of
them. Besides brief leaves are never given when going to the Front. He said, however, that he would see
what be could do once we got to our destination. Of course, that was only a promise which I knew would
never be kept as, in fact, I did not get back to Forli until December 1918. After the breaking of camp, we
started slowly from Fort Pietralata to Portonaccio depot. As military trains are not allowed at the Central
Station of Rome all of them go to Portonaccio about 8 kilometers from Central Station, but it is within the
city limits of Rome. The same holds good for trains going to Florence. Military trains do not stop at the
main depot there either, but go instead to the Campo di Marte station about six or seven kilometers away.
This is to prevent confusion and keep the main stations as clear as possible from soldiers, especially
military trains which are never in a hurry and stop several hours at the large cities. The idea seemed a
very good one to me.

We were given enough food to 1ast us the trip. At Portonaccio, our battalion, now called the 81st regiment
Marching Battalion, composed of three companies, were put on a long train. There were mostly freight
cars of the usual (8 horses 40 men), variety. There were two second class cars for soldiers, but I was
given the regular freight cars for my platoon. I also had about twenty men of the third platoon to look
after. Many friends of the boys of the 81st and 82nd Infantry who had drilled at Rome, came to the station
to see us off. It was about 10:00 a.m. before we finally pulled out of Portonaccio station. The entire train
contained only our battalion. The boys were singing military songs as we started to move out of the depot.

As stated, we passed Orte doing to Falconara and then to Rimini. At Rimini we branched off to Ravenna.
Here I had half a mind to leave the bunch being 28 kilometers from Forli.

The boys said they would take care of my belongings and as far as punishment, they could not punish me
any more than sending me to the Front and that was where we were heading for. If I had been a private I
would have done it, but with seventy-five men in my charge, I was afraid my punishment would be
doubly severe so reluctantly I gave up the idea. We got to Ravenna at 4:00 a.m. in the morning. Then we
proceeded on past Ferrara and Mestre. The train was taking its time. It took twenty-four hours from
Ravenna to Mestre where it could have easily been done in seven tours. At noon, we reached
 99

Montebelluna having passed Treviso. It seemed if they were undecided to proceed to Cornuda about 8
kilometers farther up. At Cornuda we all got off, and after a short rest, we proceeded to the village of
Levada, I could not see the reason for having us walk the distance from Cornuda when we could just as
well gone on the train we were on. I suppose they must have had some reasons for it but just the same
after such a long ride all cramped up on those freight oars, the boys didn’t feel like going on a march with
their pack on their back.

Our company made its quarters at Levada while the other two companies went to another village about 3
kilometers away called Covolo. The command of the battalion was also at Covolo.

As when I was in Ferentino, the entire company could not fit in one cantonment, part of it was placed
elsewhere. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd platoons were placed together while mine, the 4th platoon, was placed in
a vacant house about a half mile away, but only three of my squads could fit in this vacant house so the
other squad with a Corporal major we stayed in a hay loft very near where we were.

This suited us very much being so far away from the company headquarters no one came to annoy us, and
we could do anything we wanted without being disturbed.

Levada is a very small village with less than 500 inhabitants. They are Venetians on the order of those
we met at Santa Maria La Longa, only we were much farther south. Farming and dairy products are the
chief industries. There was much milk reasonably cheap which I drank one liter (a quart) every day. One
of the women used to bring it to me.

Captain Tango after two days at Covolo had his office sergeant leave him, making the third one in twenty
days since the organization of his company at Frosinone, May twentieth.

The last man he had was a practical office sergeant and his leaving made me think I might not have been
as bad as he thought I was and that in reality it was his fault as he got along with no one.

Chapter 15 Scarlet Fever Quarantine at Levada

On the second day after our arrival at Levada (June ninth) one of the boys in my platoon in the main
quarters got scarlet fever. I immediately reported same to our captain and our battalion Medical
Lieutenant came to see him.

Then in an ox cart drawn by two oxen he was taken to the hospital at Montebelluna. It seemed strange to
carry a sick man in such a contrivance. Our quarters were then disinfected thoroughly. But just the same,
we were told that none of us should leave the cantonment until further orders.

The next day orders came from the Colonel of the Medical Corp at Treviso that we remain in our
cantonments until he with a commission came to release us. There were forty-two men in my three
squads who were quarantined including the three corporals and myself. We were imprisoned in our own
cantonment for ten days. We had nothing to do, our meals were brought to our door by men of other
platoons and I distributed the food. Then our captain always kept a man at our disposition to run errands
for us, such as getting matches, tobacco,, and he would bring me milk and also extra food for the boys
who could afford it. We also had no drilling to do while other boys had to go out twice a day to Covolo
to drill with the remainder of the battalion. Of course, my other squad which was in the hayloft also had to
go drilling as they were not hit by the quarantine order. The thing we did miss was the two and half hours
leave in the evening while all of the boys went out for a little recreation we had to remain indoors.
 100

So that none of us would sneak out, we tad a sentry at our cantonment door placed by our Captain doing
twenty-four hour service every day.

We did not know how to pass the time away. Of course, we slept an awful lot, then we also played cards –
but not for money, only for a glass of wine which we had a man buy for us. I had three corporals. We got
along splendidly. One was a Roman, another a Neapolitan and the other from Abruzzi. During the last
days of our confinement, I had the boys go through the indoor drills, exercises, etc. to pass the time away.

On June 16, the Medical Commission consisting of a colonel, major, captain, lieutenant and a second
lieutenant came unexpectedly to our cantonment to see us. Luckily the place was clean. They looked
around, then examined all of us. After their examination, I asked if we were permitted to go out, but they
said no, not until a few more days. It was a good thing for our company that we were not permitted to go
out then.

On the same day an order came to our battalion that one of the companies was to leave immediately for
the Front at Col di Lana, in the Trentino Front. Our company was sorted out to go, but afterwards seeing
that our platoon was still in quarantine, the entire company could not leave so Company 1, Captain
Tango’s company had to go up there in our stead. That was the last I heard of Captain Tango. I was very
sorry to have the boys leave without being able to say goodbye to them, especially those whom I drilled
with at Ferentino. But then if I had been able to say good-bye to them, I would have had to go in their
stead and then it would have been them who would have had to say good-bye to me.

Three days 1ater a company of 240 veterans came from Col di Luna in place of those who had gone up
there.

During the war it was found a poor practice to send a regiment or a company of recruits to the trenches or
on an attack without some veterans among them to stabilize them. That is not only to encourage them
when against an adversary but also to show then how to conduct themselves and how to protect
themselves when it was necessary to take chances.

Our company 1 of recruits which had gone to the Front was distributed equally among the other
companies up in the trenches.

The company of veterans which came from the Front along with the officers were divided equally in three
parts. While the recruits of the two companies of recruits, one in Levada and the company at Covolo,
were divided equally in three parts, then the three companies were reorganized with each having one-third
of veterans and two thirds recruits. In this way our battalion was again composed of three companies. The
Company which took the place of the one which had left for the trenches was called Company 1 while the
other companies kept their former numbers.

The new company 1 had not enough sergeants while my company 3 had two too many. So after having a
fair sorting as none of us desired to leave Company 3, a sergeant named Romiti and I drew the unlucky
numbers and had to go to the new Company. I was very much displeased to leave Captain Damiani to go
to the new company whose officers we already had an idea were not good to their men.

The commander of the company was a First Lieutenant, a Sicilian from Catania, who had his brother, a
Second Lieutenant, commander of the 1st platoon. Both were very stuck up and thought the only way to
treat a subordinate was by harsh methods. This was one of the very few instances where I saw the
officers practice such methods because Italian Officers whether at the Front or in Italy were generally
very kind to their men.
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These officers had come from the Front, Col di Lana trenches, and therefore, thought themselves doubly
important. The sergeants, and non-commissioned officers were also stuck up because they came from the
trenches, not thinking that if the recruits whom we had drilled had never been to the Front, we sergeants
and other non-commissioned officers had probably been and seen more fighting then they had. For
certainly the Isonzo Front was many more times more active than the Col di Lana Front in Trentino.

Chapter 16 A New Platoon and the Geronazzo Family

Being, five sergeants now in the company, including the two of us who were transferred from Company 3
and there being only four platoons, one of us had to be without a platoon and I being the junior sergeant,
this is the last promoted, was the one without a platoon. I was assigned to the 4th platoon and took charge
of the 13th squad. I was not at all displeased because it relieved me of the responsibility of the platoon.

The leader of the 4th platoon was an old sergeant 12 years my senior, who could barely read or write and I
had to do his work as to making out lists, etc, needed for the platoon. All the old men, especially the
sergeants, stuck together and hardly paid any attention to us. Ramiti and I, of course, were left in the cold.
Ramiti was four years my senior. He was sergeant for seven years, being really the senior sergeant of the
company. He was in charge of the second platoon, although he should have been in charge of the first. He
had never been to the Front, always finding some place to hide himself in Rome.

That was the first and only time that I had seen so little comradeship among the men of one company.

Our platoon was quartered in a granary in Covolo. In the courtyard of the secretary of a large estate
belonging to a Count, in the vicinity of Covolo. The secretary, named Geronazzo, an elderly man, who
lived in very nice house nearby with his wife and daughter. He had a son, a first lieutenant in the machine
gun Corp at the Front. Many a night I spent with this family playing checkers and a friendly game of
cards with no stakes whatsoever.

Being from America, it seemed I interested them, and therefore, took a liking to me. This family was the
most well-to-do in Covolo which was not much larger than Levada, about 800 inhabitants. Their
daughter, Thea, was the only young lady in town to wear a hat. She was engaged to a Captain who was at
the Front also.

As I have already said, I did not get along very well with the boys so I spent my time with this family.

Covolo is on the banks of the Piave River, many miles from the Front. No one at the time we were there
ever had the least idea that just exactly five months later that exact location would be the scene of some of
the worst fighting. That Covolo would be occupied by the enemy and that it would become one mess of
ruins.

The Piave was a very wide river, but during our stay it was also very shallow - - - so much so in fact that
in some portions we could ford it. The boys washed their clothes in the river and we took many a bath
also in this memorial river.

Between Levada and Covolo we put in a very long stay. We arrived at Levada on June seventh and didn’t
leave Covolo until September first. We had no idea when we left home we would stay so long without
being sent to the trenches.

All this time, of course, we were not idle. We had many heavy drills and target practice.
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For target practice we went past the village of Maser and the round trip consumed over 30 kilometers.
We left always early in the morning and returned at night in time for our supper. We all liked our target
practice better than any other work. We made a trench on the side of a high hill and on a hill directly
opposite the target was placed. . . usually in the shape of a man. The distance was 600 meters a distance
too great for much accuracy. That distance could be practically useless in fighting around the lower
Isonzo Front as the enemy was seldom more than 100 meters away, Of course, fighting in the Trentino
Front the conditions might be different.

Covolo not having military police we had to do that duty ourselves. Two squads each composed of a
sergeant, a corporal and a private did patrol duty for Covolo and one such squad was in Levada. Several
times during our stay I was on patrol duty. Of course, our duty was only to see that the soldiers were
orderly, but we could also arrest e civilian in case he became a nuisance to the public. We were in service
around town from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Shortly after I was transferred to Company 1, I was so disgusted at the way we were neglected by the
boys who thought they were somebody because they came from the trenches that I asked to be transferred
again to Company 3, but this was met with a refusal so later on I put in an application to be sent as an
interpreter between the Italian and the British on the Isonzo Front. But, I never got an answer to the
application.

During the month of July, we heard much about the American Expeditionary Forces. The American and
British steamers were landing hundreds of thousands of United States boys monthly in France and that the
dreaded submarines were not effective against these transports. With the help of the U.S.A., we felt sure
the war would end sooner, also at the same tome Russia was doing a “come back” stunt, that is they were
advancing. This was their last place of energy until their final break when the revolution set in and they
stopped fighting the enemy altogether and started instead to fight among themselves.

Greece, though always German in sympathy, was sort of compelled to Join the Allies. That year saw also
the final failure of the Dardanelles Expedition.

During July I got a chance to take charge of a platoon. The sergeant of the 1st platoon was ill and I took
his place. I led his platoon for one week.

During July and August we heard rumors that we were to go with the newly organized Fourth Army
which operated in Albania. I would have liked immensely to have gone there to see that section of the
country and the kind of people that inhabited there. But luck was not with me.

Chapter 17 – A New Experience at Montello

On July twelfth I had a new experience. I was chosen to go with twenty-two men, nineteen privates and
three corporals, to Montello about 10 kilometers from Covolo. The nice thing about it was that we did
our own cooking. We got raw meat and macaroni, rice, cheese, tomato sauce, etc. to last us for a week.
The meat and bread I sent a man to get fresh at Montebebelluna every day, being only 6 kilometers from
Montebelluna. We brought with us all cooking utensils we needed. Besides we had coffee and sugar, the
coffee we had whole but ground it at a farmer’s place nearby.

One of the guards of the 49th Marching Battalion came to our headquarters to show us our way, we had a
cart to load all of our belongings on and food and then left. As there were no officers to hurry us on, I let
the men take their time. We rested every little while. Then we got to the edge of the plateau where the
men were stationed, we first carried up what we had with us and then as the cart could not go up the steep
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hill we had to carry everything that was in the cart to where we were going to camp by band. As soon as
we got to our destination we put up our tents. We made six of them. At 6:00 p.m. sharp, I with six men
and one corporal relieved the six men and one corporal of the 49th Marching Battalion. We had only two
sentries at the ammunition storage which was in two large caves. One man mounted in each cave, the
other four men were for relieving these two so that there would be two hours service and four hours rest.
the corporal was to look after the men and relieve them at the right time. The other men and corporals
were to relieve them at the end of twenty-four hours. I had three shifts of six men and one corporal each,
and each shift was on duty twenty-four hours and rested forty-eight hours. The shift on duty, as I said
before did actual sentry service two hours and rested four hours.

I also had an extra man to go to Covolo or Montebelluna or run errands to the nearest towns of Crocetta
or Ciano.

As for my duty, I was to inspect the sentries at least once nightly (which I never did) and look after the
men. My main self imposed duty was that of cook. I had the fun of my life along with the boys who were
not of service, trying to cook.

As it was late when all the sentries were set, the sergeant of the 49th Battalion decided not to leave for his
headquarters at Montebelluna until morning. So, the next morning early they left and we were alone in the
place.

The position we were in which was now very peaceful over 100 kilometers from the Front was five
months later to be one of the fiercest battle grounds of the entire war, especially during the Austrian
offensive of June, 1918. This position became another Mt. St. Michele, in fact it did look very much Like
Mt. St. Michele only not as high. General Diaz’ daily bulletins mentioned the Montello every day during
that offensive. It was from there that the Austrians were repulsed in that offensive and sent beyond the
Piave with great loss of lives which so disheartened them that it led to the great Italian victory four
months later at Vittorio Veneto on the anniversary of the disaster of Caporetto. So we were camping that
week on ground which five months later made history for the world.

As I said before, our most fun was preparing our meals. When we finished dinner we started preparing
for supper. As there was enough work to keep all the men busy. I sent three men and one corporal every
day to Montebelluna for meat and bread. They would take a small steam train that went from
Montebelluna to Valdobbiadene passing Cavolo, Vider and other small places. The train was similar to
the one from Ravenna to Forli and goes just as fast. With a pass which I gave them, they could ride free
to Montebelluna and back with the merchandise. The others would help around camp, fetching water,
grinding coffee, chopping wood, peeling potatoes, etc. I tried to cook macaroni Just as I had seen done at
home, and though we would not get as much, it was certainly much better than that cooked by our cooks.
We put everything required in and didn’t cheat as our cooks sometimes did.

On days we had broth we used the meat after the broth was made and by adding some bread, we made
meat balls which were much better than the plain piece of boiled meat. We could make almost sixty by
putting all of our rations together. I would put in a little money out of my pocket to buy the few necessary
ingredients which were necessary but were not furnished.

I did not leave my place once my men went out frequently for Crochetta or Montebelluna. Every day I
would send a man to headquarters at Covolo for orders, mail, etc.

After six days of this easy life, we were relieved by Sergeant Pusceddu of the 3rd platoon and twenty-two
men. We were very sorry to be relieved and even told Pusceddu that I would gladly serve his period for
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him. But though he was willing, he was afraid of what our crazy company commander would say. I took
Sergeant Pusceddu’s place as commander of the 3rd platoon while he was at Montello.

Chapter 18 The Sergeant’s Mess

The day following my arrival back at the company, we started a sergeants’ mess which only the sergeants
of our company and one sergeant from battalion headquarters used. We were five sergeants and one
sergeant major. The sergeant major was the office sergeant of our company, also a Sicilian who though he
was the commander of the company and who was on very good terms with the lieutenant commander of
the company. We got one man to cook our meals and we had the best of everything because of the
sergeant major who was so particular about his food, so naturally we all got good meals. All we paid was
one lire, just as in Port Pietralata, but the meals were much better. This we started on July twentieth and
kept up until we left on September first.

The sergeants when in Italy pay 13 cents per day from their salary if they eat the food of the privates or
corporals, that is when they have no mess of their own. At the Front no salary is deducted for eating meals
of the company. The salary of a sergeant in was zones is 20 cents more than in Italy. So, even if we spent
20 cents for food, we still had enough for minor expenses.

The same day we started our mess was also the second anniversary since I left home. At the time I left I
had an idea I would be gone for two years. I thought at the most after eighteen months I would be back
home again. But the militarism of Germany with the way they were prepared for the war kept me not
only two years but two and a half years more.

During this period I went with another, a corporal major, to have a picture postals of myself taken, the
first in military uniform. I had a dozen made and distributed them around to relatives and friends.

On July twenty-first, almost our entire company was taken to go as sentries for twenty-four hours service
at a large ammunition storage barracks, not far from Montebelluna. For that service one officer, two
sergeants, thirteen corporals and corporal majors and one hundred men besides the twenty-three men who
were at Montello. I was not chosen but all but five men of my platoon went. Since there were very few of
us left in our cantonments, drills were dispensed with on that day.

Few lays later, the adjutant major or the lieutenant who assists the major of our battalion asked my chief if
I could go with six men to Montebelluna and get provisions for the battalion. We took the miniature train
and having all day to come back we first took in the sites of Montebelluna which is a town of about
10,000 inhabitants, but at this time the population was doubled on account of soldiers there. We took in a
movie and then went to a wine shop, for a drink. Then we went to the provision storage and got meat,
macaroni, etc., for the battalion. We loaded it on carts and took them to the small train and put it all in a
freight car. The provisions we got were for one day only. Usually the kitchen sergeant goes after the
provisions, but for some reason, he was not around so I was sent in his place.

Then Sergeant Pusceddu came back from Montello, he took charge of his platoon again while I was
placed in charge of mine as the sergeant of my platoon went to relieve Pusceddu.

Chapter 19 – The Silk Factory Fire Brigade

On the twenty-ninth of July while waiting for our supper at 5:00 p.m., our bugler went around town
sounding the alarm. Right at first we, of course, thought it was going to the Front, but as we were
preparing all of our belongings, the sergeant major from our office came to tell us to line up our platoon
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with only our bayonets. After lining up our men, we took them to a village across the Piave from Covolo
called Vidor, about 3 kilometers from Covolo. Across the Piave at that point was a large new concrete
bridge which I had never seen an equal to either in length nor in attractiveness. It was a pity that little over
four months later this bridge was wrecked by the Italians in their retreat. At Vidor there was a fire in a
small silk making establishment, and the entire population of the town were trying to put it out. One large
shed near the main factory was in full blaze when we got there, and we immediately got busy and helped
put out the fire, at lease so it would not spread to the main factory. The shed was full of based of straw
and other inflammable things. There was no hose to be found anywhere so our only method to put out the
fire was by buckets full of water. All the buckets that could be found, easily over one hundred of them
were used.

One long chain of men, civilians and soldiers mixed and passed the buckets from one to the other from a
stream about two blocks from the fire, to the fire.

At midnight after seven hours of fire fighting, we were still throwing buckets of water at the fire. We
had, however, saved the factory as it was by that time, under control. The women were bringing us wine
to drink, but what we needed was food as we had had none since 10:30 a.m. or for over twelve hours.
Shortly after midnight our company was relieved by Company 2. Despite our work, we had a good time.
We laughed and enjoyed ourselves with the civilians and the girls who would bring wine or hot coffee to
drink.

After we wore relieved by Company 2, we went to our cantonment where the boys got fine hot meals at
1:00 a.m., the meal which they should have had at 3:00 p.m. Myself and the other sergeants went to our
own mess. After mess two sergeants with mandolins and the sergeant major with a violin played many
popular and opera pieces until almost 3:00a.m. The next morning we, of course, had no drills. Company
3 went to the fire to relieve Company 2. The fire although subdued was still going on. The material in the
shed was still burning.

Chapter 20 On Becoming and Not Becoming an Officer

Then I returned to Frosinone after being wounded my relatives insisted that I become an officer in the
Army, and as I would go to the Front again anyway, I would have an easier time of it as an officer than as
a private or corporal. Besides I would earn more money and be more respected. They told me many with
less schooling than I became officers and that all I needed was a little schooling in the Italian language
and that I knew enough about military matters that even any officers did not know.

My reasons for not trying to become an officer were first I did not know enough Italian to probably carry
me through; secondly, I could never put on the airs many officers did; and lastly, I much preferred to
mingle with the common soldiers than with the officers.

Now as I said before, I did not like the environment of my company. So one day when an order came that
all those who had a certain amount of schooling were compelled to take first an oral examination and then
a written one if they passed the oral one, I pushed myself forward to become an officer,

In our battalion, fifteen men including four sergeants and the rest corporals were placed for the oral
examination.

The oral examination was given to all of us, each one separately, by our major. If passed, we would go to
Modeno for our written examination. Of the fifteen who took the oral examination, only two corporals
and I passed.
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I took the oral examination on July thirtieth, Most of the questions asked pertained to Italian history
which I had read up on while on the steamer to Italy. The rest of the questions pertaining to geography,
very few military questions, were asked as a sergeant was to know more about taking care of a platoon
than any “rookie officer.” Although I had passed the exams, I did not know about it until five days later
in a peculiar way.

All of the sergeants of the company had a habit of sneaking out again after the roll call in the evening at
8:45 p.m. instead of going to sleep with the rest of the soldiers. We would sneak out and go to some
private family and pass the evening with them returning to the cantonment as late as midnight at times. I,
of course, spent my evenings with the Geronazzo family, while others went to other families.

So that no one would be out of the cantonment after the roll call at 8:45 p.m., the sergeant of the day was
compelled to go throughout the cantonments of the company to see if all were in their straw sacks
sleeping, end of course, in the morning he was to report any news to the lieutenant.

As there were five sergeants, once every five days each one of them would be sergeant of the day, and as
we were the only ones who went out again after first roll call, none of us naturally gave each other as
missing to the commander of the company.

One night four days after my oral examination for officer, I went as usual to Geronazzo’s and at
about11:00 p.m. after a few games of checkers and a chat, Mrs. Geronazzo, her daughter and I left the
house to go out for some fresh air and they accompanied me a short distance toward my cantonment. On
the main street every four or five hundred feet there was an arch light similar to those used to illuminate
the streets in America. While the three of us passed under one of these lights, we met two officers of
Company 3 coming from the other direction. They did not stop us. In fact, I saluted them and they
returned the salute. The next day while the officers of our battalion were eating dinner at their mess, the
major commander of our battalion also ate there. The officers of Company 3 who had seen me the night
before started joking with the officers of my company in front of the Major. Their conversation I was told
ran like this: The officers of Company 3 who had seen me started thus: “You certainly give your sergeants
plenty of liberty.” “Why?” said my commander. “Well, last night at around midnight we saw one of your
sergeants with a young lady and her mother.” They said that the Major by this time was listening intently
to the conversation and my commander with his face flushed with anger demanded to know from them
which of his sergeants they saw. “Why Sergeant Bernardini”, they said. My commander and his brother
never even finished their meal. They were so angry at having their company shown up in front of the
Major.

As soon as he got to the office of the company he put in an S.O.S. call for the four sergeants to see him
immediately at the office. I had an idea that it was on my account that we were wanted, so I asked the
sergeant of the day on the way to the office if he had given our commander the report of the missing of
the previous night on the 10:30 roll call. He said he had not. I immediately put my name on a piece of
paper as missing at 10:30p.m. The conversation when we got to the office with our commander ran like
this: “Who was sergeant of the day last night”, said our commander. The sergeant who was stepped
forward and said he was. “1 shall propose ten days prison for you as this morning I did not see any list of
missing from last night’s roll call. Where is it? Why was it not given to me?

“1 am very sorry, said the sergeant, I still have it in my pocket.” Then while the sergeant was hunting for
the scrap of paper in his pocket, the commander turned to us - - - the other three sergeants and said. “One
of you good-for-nothings was not present at roll call.” He never imagined we would leave after the roll
call. He thought we never showed up at the roll call. We all said we were present at the roll call each of us
called the roll of our respective platoon. Looking at me, but talking to all of us, he said, “One of you are
lying.” “Well, said I, “If you mean the roll when we are supposed to be asleep at 10:30 p.m., I was
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missing then. But I was present at the 8:45p.m. roll call. In the meantime the sergeant of the day got his
slip of paper out with my name as missing. He first bawled out the sergeant of the day for not giving him
the slip in the morning as was prescribed then he dismissed all but me.

After a thorough bawling out, I was proposed five days prison with pay and to take part in the drills,
being placed in prison at 5:30 p.m. to drill time in the morning. This punishment I thought was very 1ight,
but the Major as is always the case when a sergeant is punished, had to approve the slip of paper on my
punishment.

When he caw me, he gave me a scowl. I gave him the slip and be said, “You are the Sergeant
Bernardini!” “Yes Sir”, was my reply. “You are the man who wanted to become an officer ?” “‘Well Sir,
today I would have had good news for you as you and two others were chosen to take the written
examination, but as it is (he tore the paper where it said I had passed the examination and put it into the
wastebasket) here are the consequences.”

Not sending me to take the exam for officer, I thought was enough punishment for me, but he took the
paper made out by my commander and instead of five days, he made it seven days and a much stiffer
punishment - - - without pay and deprived of drills. I was to get only two hours a day of airing.

I protested that the punishment was much too heavy being my first punishment. He gave me a preaching
that I instead of setting a good example was really worst than the privates. He said as to the stiffness of
the punishment, the first time was the time to punish the heaviest as to be a reminder that one will never
fall into the same mistake again.

As it was I was given the heaviest punishment of my military career. That being the first and only
punishment I received in four and one-half years of Army life, unless one calls the small punishment I got
at Cervia for not having my rifle clean also a punishment.

I was placed in a nice room above our office with no sentry to watch me. I had a cot to sleep on which I
did not have at the cantonment. The military manual prescribed a cot for a sergeant to sleep on when in
prison, so, of course, one had to be found.

Being over our office where we had the sergeants’ mess, I had meals handy as our cook brought them to
me.

Although I lost my pay, the war zone indemnity of 20 cents a day was still paid me as under the military
law it could not be taken away, but as I paid 20 cents for my meals, I had nothing left from my salary.

From August fourth to August eleventh, I was cooped up in my room. All I did was read, write and sleep
the entire twenty-four hours of the day. Two hours the office sergeant major went out for an airing in the
court yard.

Miss Thea Geronazzo and her mother knowing I was imprisoned sent me baskets of fruit from their estate
which I enjoyed very much.

There was also a lot of jealousy among the officers because I was acquainted with the Geronazzo family,
the most well-to-do family in Cervolo. Mr. Geronazzo would not speak to our officers and would not
have them around the house. While no such objections were placed on me. In fact, Mrs. Geronazzo
would let me accompany her daughter to church every Sunday and then after mass was over I would take
her home again. The church was in the main square where the battalion headquarters were also located.
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The battalion headquarters where all the officers were waiting for mess and they would give me a funny
look when they saw me pass with Miss Geronazzo.

Chapter 21 Changing Battalions and Visiting the works of Antonio Canova

The day after I got out of prison we were told that we no longer belonged to the 81st Marching Battalion
but were transferred to the 32nd Marching Battalion. We had to change the numbers on our caps and also
our brigade colors on our collars. The reason for the change I never found out. Less than fifteen days later
we changed again to the 82nd Marching Battalion. Of course, 90 per cent of the things done in the Army
can ever be explained.

One day speaking with Mr. Geronazzo, I found out about Antonio Canova, the greatest sculptor of the
18th century was born in Possagno only about 12 kilometers from Covolo. I had heard much about this
sculptor in books and also from my Father. Mr. Geronazzo told me that at Possagno was a model of all
his works, not in marble, the model was in plaster cast. These works were in a museum named after him
of which he was the architect. For over a month I had tried to get a twelve hour permit to go there. It was
not until Sunday, August nineteenth, that it was given to me. Mr. Geronazzo got me a horse and buggy
from one of his farmers and a young farm lad showed me the way although I could have easily found it
myself, as all that was necessary to do was to follow the main road

We left at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. We had a nice ride. The rig was good, also the horse. I drove all the
way myself.

Possagno is a small village. Canova’s works are the whole show of the little town. There is a very
beautiful church which Canova designed, and also the Canova Memorial which attracts artists from the
whole world. In this Memorial, as I said before, is every piece of work done by Canova either in marble
or in plaster cast. I bought many cards of all of Canova’s works, most of which I sent to my Father. I
enjoyed the works of art very much, also the buildings of which Canova was the architect. The boy and I
left for home at 4:00 p.m. and got back to Covolo in time for supper. The trip including the tip and rental
for horse and buggy cost me 10 lire.

Chapter 22 –The Eleventh Isonzo Offensive

An incident showing how mean the commander of our company was, was proven when be ordered all
sergeants and the rest of the non-commissioned officers to prison for three days because in a review by a
Colonel on August twenty-second our company according to his way of seeing it did not show up well. I
was on patrol duty on that day so I was not hit by his order, and for three days I was the only sergeant
who was allowed to go out in the evening.

On the same day as we heard about the great success on the Isonzo Front. Over 13,000 prisoners were
taken in forty-eight hours and the offensive was still in full blast. By the end of the month, over 31,000
prisoners were taken. Territory over 8 kilometers in depth was acquired on the Saulsizza Plateau on the
upper Isonzo west of Gorizia. Mount Santo, the highest peak in the Isonzo region, was conquered.

Maestro Mascagni, the famous Opera Director, had a seventy-five piece band playing national hymns on
its summit only a few hours after it was captured with shell shots going on all sides of them.

This offensive was the eleventh Isonzo offensive since the start of the war and the last one. General
Capello of the Second Army was credited for its success as was also General Capello discredited for the
invasion of the enemy at Caporetto.
 109

About this time, I drew a topographical map of Covolo and Lavoda showing the principle buildings and
also all the appointments of our battalion. This was the first and only time I had a chance to make a
drawing during my four and one-half years stay in the Army. Our Major who had previously punished me
was very much pleased with it.

During our last days in Covolo two families from Venice came to pass a few weeks with some of their
relatives near our cantonments. I became friends with them and passed many hours with them as their
courtyard was also ours and did not have to leave our cantonment to speak to them. They would tell us
about the enemy airplane raids in Venice and how the most important buildings were protected with sand
bags. There were two young ladies who belonged to these two families; Two sisters, Bice and Lina
Rumor, who enjoyed conversing with us and vice versa.

During the retreat of Caporetto, almost the entire Venetian Front was abandoned by the civilians and
became refugees throughout Italy. The Rumor family went to Forli that was where the government sent
them. Venice during that time, November 1917 to December 1919, was almost abandoned by its
population on account of its proximity to the front.

Forli housed hundreds of Venetian families which the government took care of. Elisa was chosen to take
care of them, that is administered to them and saw that they were properly fed and clothed. The Rumor
family knowing I came from Forli asked my fiancée of a certain Sergeant Bernardini who was living in
that town, and since the awful Caporetto retreat, they feared that something might have happened to me.
They wanted to know from her where my family lived in Forli. One can imagine how Elisa felt. For if
anyone had a right to worry for my safety, she surely was the one.

Our last march or hike was when we went to a top of a mountain past Valdobbiadene about 15 kilometers
away. We made an all day march of it and had a very good time. We had out noon meal there. We
stopped at Valdobbiadene for an hour. The town was very nice. There were large, famous churches. The
town was partly on the hillside. The approach to it makes a very pretty picture.

Chapter 23 Preparing for the Front Once Again

On August thirtieth our nice vacation at Covolo came to an end and we were told to prepare for the front.
The order included all of the men except the regular officers. The regular officers after accompanying us
to our destinations were to return to Covolo and await the recruits of the class of 1899.

Early in the morning of August thirty-first, we lined up in the main square at Covolo with all of our
belongings. We bade all of our friends goodbye. We had been almost three months in this region. All of
us had made friends among the civilians. I went to say farewell to the Geronazzo family and the Rumor
family. Many of these people said goodbye to us with tears in their eyes. At about noon, we left Covolo,
passed Levada where Company 3 was lined up, and continued on to Cornuda where we were to take the
train.

At Cornuda the train was not ready so we were told to set up tents. That night we slept in the camp, but
we were not allowed out of our camps.

The next morning our friends at Covolo and Levada hearing we were camped at Cornuda came to see us.
Thea and her mother were there with a basket of fruit for me. Others also got baskets of fruit from their
friends.
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The sergeant in charge of my platoon, a favorite with our commander, on the last day got sick and
somehow or other was left behind at Covolo, leaving me in charge of the platoon. The office sergeant
major for some unknown reason also remained at Covolo. The order for leaving stated explicitly that all
men except regular officers must leave. I didn’t care so much for the partiality but some of the others did.

It was after 3:00p.m. of the next September first before our tra1n was ready and broke up camp. Saying
the last goodbye to our friends who had remained at Cornuda to see us off, we boarded the regular eight
hour, forty men variety cars and left for Treviso. As the train started, the boys commenced singing to keep
from crying while our friends were actually shedding tears.

The train was similar to the one that took us from Rome to Cornuda almost three months previously.

At Treviso we stopped and awaited nightfall and then proceeded through Portogruaro and Cervignano to
Aquileia.

Shortly after leaving Cervignano on our way to Aquileia an enemy in the darkness of the night dropped
two bombs less than five hundred meters from our train - - - these were surely aimed at us. This was the
first time I had actually seen bombs from planes land near us. The train naturally stopped almost an hour
before proceeding for Aquileia.

It was 3:00 a.m. on my twenty-third birthday (September second) when we reached Aquileia. We were
tired out from the trip and laid on the ground in a field without tents until dawn.

During the day our Covolo officers who had accompanied us said goodbye and left again for Covolo.
While we were transferred from the 32nd Marching Battalion to the 82nd Marching Battalion.

Company 1 (my company) which was composed of 190 men when at Covolo added fifty more men and it
became a legitimate company of 240 men and was called Company 19.

Our new Captain awoke in the morning, but many did not have to be awakened as the bombs from enemy
planes landing very close to the lot where we were sleeping kept many awake, especially the 1898 rookies
and even the older men who had always been in the Trentino Front and seldom heard the noises of
cannons or bombs.

In the same lot where we were sleeping the Captain ordered us to set up out tents. We covered the tents
up with corn stalks, grass, etc., just as we had done at Chiopris about two years before. After we were all
fixed up our Captain called us together and made a speech where he told us of the conditions we would
meet. He said to keep prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. He said the Hermada Front offensive was
now in full swing and that we might be called to go there even that very day. It was certainly making
enough noise. A great bombardment was going on in that direction. During the afternoon a total of six
bombs from planes hit our camp but we were lucky and had no casualties.

Between these bombs the terrific battles which we could hear going on from Gorizia to Hermada and the
speech of our Captain, the boys got their first impression of the Isonzo Front. I, alone in my company, had
been in that sector before.

We were in this ancient city of Aquilea for four days but always prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

Aquileia was founded by the Romans in the year of _____ and up to the time of ___________was a very
large city, larger than Venice. It was ____________ who drove the people away from Aquilea in the year
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of ________. The inhabitants leaving Aquilea went to Venice and actually founded that city. The history
of Aquilea is very interesting,

There was not much to Aquilea when I last saw it on September 5, 1917. There were scarcely 1,000
civilians, though before the war its population was over 8,000. There was a museum there. Most of the
precious objects were gone. The most imposing building as is usual in these small towns was the
Cathedral. It was large and it seemed large enough for the entire population of Aquilea. The bell tower
was even more imposing than the Cathedral being the tallest piece of masonry on that sector of the Front.
There was an observation station on top. I went on top of the tower to see the surrounding country. From
there I could see the city of Trieste, so near and yet so far.

Aquilea though fairly close to the Front was not damaged much by cannons or bombs.

At night Mount Hermada looked like a mountain fire, searcb lights, rockets, cannon shots, all helped to
illuminate one of the fiercest battlegrounds of the Carso. We stood shivering thinking how many of those
poor boys ended their lives every minute that battle lasted.

On September fifth after dark, we were told to break up camp and would leave --- certainly we thought
for Mount Hermada. We were given additional food and ammunition to carry with us.

We marched all night with our packs on our backs, and if it had not been for the kindness of an officer
who allowed me to place my pack in a cart, I surely would not have made it. My feet were sore and
sweated very much. We re-crossed the Isonzo my first time in ten months.

We went to the ruins of what used to be Staranzano, a distance of over 18 kilometers from Aquilea. As
we were nearing Staranzano and consequently Mount Hermada, we heard clearer and clearer the fighting
which was then going on there. Mount Hermada was directly in front of us, 323 meters high or about
1,000 feet.

Our march to Staranzano took the entire night; it was just before dawn that we got there all tired out, even
though our officers gave us ten minutes rest every thirty minutes. The boys had never gone such a long
distance with their pack.

There was nothing left at Staranzano. No walls were over three feet tall. We were only 3 kilometers away
from San Polo where I had been during June 1915. We were also about 15 kilometers from Mount
Hermada, which we thought would be our next stop.

At Starenzano we met the 89th Infantry and were told we would be transferred to that Regiment.

The 89th Infantry together with the 30th Infantry comprised what was entitled the Salerno Brigade, which
had won immortal fame a week before and again on September fourth two days before we got to
Staranzano by being mentioned in Cadorna’s daily bulletin for bravery on Mount Hermada.

Only on August thirtieth did this brigade get to Mount Hermada and the following day it was cited for
bravery by Cadorna and again on September fourth. They returned to Staranzano from Hermada the day
before we got there on September fifth with less than half the number which they had gone up with seven
days before.

In the evening the 1000 men who had come from Aquilea were distributed to all the companies of both
regiments about sixty men were in a company. I was sent to the 89th infantry, 4th battalion, 13th company,
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1st platoon. All the boys of our company 1 of Covolo were sent to the 3rd battalion while only three
sergeants of that company were sent to the 4th battalion and all three to Company 13. I was placed in
charge of the 1st platoon. This angered Romiti and Pusceddu who were old sergeants and were not placed
in charge of a platoon, Romiti being in charge of a squad in the 4th platoon and Pusceddu a squad in the
2nd platoon. There were seven sergeants in the company that was two for every platoon except the first of
which I was in charge. I found the men very much different than those who had come from Col di Lana
when at Covolo. These veterans though they had conducted themselves with bravery a few days before
had the right if anyone ever had to talk about their adventures and to be “stuck up” with me and the
recruits who became part of their company, were in fact entirely the opposite. They were kind to the new
recruits who were mostly young boys of 1898 who had never been to the Front before and to me. They
did everything to make my new surroundings comfortable. They used to go after my meals and bring
them to me in the tent. The comradeship in that company at all times was something I had never seen
before. The older sergeants, that is those who had been through the fight, were also good comrades except
for the two who had come with me and were jealous because I was in charge of a platoon, being the
youngest sergeant both in years and in seniority. The boys, that is the veterans, were mostly from Pavia or
Milan.

We struck it lucky to join the 89th Infantry in every way. We were told we would not go to the trenches
any more and that the brigade had earned a merited rest for its bravery at Mount Hermada, and we would
naturally go with them now being a part of them. This, of course, made the recruits feel much better for
the actual fighting line was 15 kilometers away. They could see and hear especially at night enough to get
a rough idea of what it was like up there.

The camp looks more like a little vi1lage with hundreds of huts instead of tents made of cornstalks and
branches to keep hidden from enemy observation balloons and enemy scout planes.

On the second day following our arrival I was made sergeant of the day to look after distribution of food,
to keep camp clean, get roll calls from different platoons and report to the inspection officer of the
regiment after 9:00 p.m. to tell him no one was missing etc. It kept me on the go all twenty-four hours I
was in service.

On the afternoon of September ninth, we broke up camp. The boys were glad to do it as it meant going
back to the rear. That night with all our belongings we started towards the Isonzo. We got as far as Pieris
where we stopped and rested in a vacant lot for the remainder of the night.. At about noon of the next
day, we proceeded and after a long and weary march we re-crossed the Isonzo and stopped at San
Valentino. We put up our tents and fixed up for a few days stay. Just before supper we were notified that
our company was on guard duty around camp for the entire regiment. It took most of the men from our
company for sentry duty around camp, six corporals to change sentries, one corporal major, one sergeant
for inspection and one officer, all from our company. I was chosen for inspection sergeant. An inspection
sergeant for the regiment is quite a job in itself, but with me it was a job and a half as I had never none it
before. Not only was I to look after all the sentries see that they were doing their duty, were clean both in
person, uniform and shoes, but had to look after the entire camp and see that no refuse was on the ground,
and if some particular company had their surroundings untidy, I was to call the sergeant of the day of that
particular company’s attention to it and have his men clean up the refuse. In case of refusal, or lack of
attention, an inspection sergeant could impose a prison punishment to said sergeant of the day even if the
sergeant of the day was senior sergeant and the inspection sergeant junior.

The sergeant also was to see that the entrance and the immediate vicinity of the guard house and entrance
to the camp was kept clean by the guards not in service.
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I came very near going to prison when our colonel going through the camp found some rubbish behind
some tents. Had it not been for the officer of company who was also in guard and inspection service who
interfered on my behalf, I would have been given ten days without a doubt.

Chapter 24 San Valentino Camp

Five days we were at San Valentino Camp. During these days we had very good times. There was an
open air theatre which charged no admission and at which some of the best Italian actors donated their
services.

The theatre together with a large orchestra furnished by the Military Police band was excellent. Most of
the performances were comedies, but on one occasion we had an opera – The Cavalleria Rusticana. We
enjoyed the show very much though there were by no means enough seats for all at San Valentino there
were over 12,000 soldiers of all different corps. Many being artillery men who had batteries not far away
and this also included over 5,000 men which comprised our brigade.

Most of the men made it a holiday when at San Valentino. They were given two weeks back salary while
they were in trenches on which many got drunk. It must be remembered that the Lombards and the
Venetians alone among the Italians are frequently drunk.

During out stay at San Valentino I got acquainted with some English soldiers in a British Red Cross
Station. I certainly was pleased to have met somebody with whom I could speak English. They were
very good to me, gave me many papers and magazines from England to read.

My off hours would find me always in their quarters. I met their Captain in charge of the Red Cross Unit.
He also was very kind to me and asked me many questions and I in turn asked if he knew of any way I
could be transferred as an English interpreter as none of these men carrying Italian wounded from the
trenches to different camp hospitals knew any of the Italian language.

The Unit, I think was comprised of about ten ambulances with the necessary chauffeurs and mechanics.
The Unit I was told was subscribed and maintained by British friends of Italy.

The men, among them the sergeant, came over to me at our camp a few times. I took them around the
camp and explained to them everything they wanted to know. We went to the wine shops together and
had drinks, though none of us got drunk.

San Valentino was a very nice little town, unchanged by enemy shell or bombs. The civilians are very
few, though before the was there must have been over 3,000 people. The buildings were very well built
architecturally. The church and cathedral were very pretty. There were many canteens for the 12,000
men who were stationed in town.

Early in the morning of September sixteenth an order came to break up camp which we did. We then
waited all day for orders to leave which we did not get. Towards evening we were ordered to put up our
tents again. In the meantime, my British friends came to say goodbye to me and brought me papers and
magazines to take along to read; but as we did not leave that day, I went out with them again in the
evening.

At 10:00 a.m. next morning, we broke up camp again. The sergeant and three other British friends came
to say goodbye to me. At 2:00 p.m. with the sun burning over our heads, we left San Valentino for
Cervignano with all of our packs on our backs. It was a very tiresome march in the hot sun. The distance
 114

from San Valentine to Cervignano is 9 kilometers. At Cervignano we rested while our officers went for
supper. After they came back, we were given our supper. After a couple of hours rest, a long train came
and our battalion. the fourth, was put on. Our company being the first of the battalion and my platoon
being the first of the company, I was able to pick out a nice second class coach for my men much to the
disappointment of the other sergeants who could only get “8 horses 40 men” variety cars for their men.
There was never a happier crowd than my boys were so we were sitting in the second class coach waiting
for it to take us somewhere away from the Isonzo for a long rest.

The first and third battalion followed us each in a train of its own. The second batt1ion of the 69th
Infantry was in Tripoli as was in fact one battalion of each of the permanent regiments from Regiment 1
to 94. These regiments on account of having one battalion in Tripoli were made up of four battalions
instead of the usual three battalions which makes up a regiment.

It was after 9:00 p.m. when we left Cervignano and we did not know even then where we were bound for.
We passed Portogruaro, Treviso as on our way to Aquileia. We passed Montebelluna, Levada and
proceeded north to Feltre where we got there at 7:00 a.m. After getting out of the train we rested in a
vacant lot while we got a meal. Feltre is a large town of about 25,000 people.

At 2:00 p.m. we shouldered all of our belongings and hiked to a nice town of Fonzaso. Here our company
was placed in a vacant building where we all fitted fine. We got fresh straw and mattress with our tent
sheet.

We were told that these quarters were not permanent and that before long we would leave for some
unknown destination. The Front or trenches are over 30 kilometers over the mountains. We dreaded to
think of having to go into the trenches up the mountain with our pack.

When we got to Fonzaso my pack consisted of the following articles: three shirts, two pair of drawers,
one mountain cap, pair of woolen gloves, three pairs of heavy woolen socks, four pair of cotton socks, an
extra coat and trousers, a heavy winter sweater, eight ties, four packages of ammunition, eight cans of
preserved meat. Rolled over my knapsack I had one blanket, one tent sheet with two poles, and my very
heavy cape. In my food sack I had two pounds of biscuit bread, one loaf of bread of over one pound,
books and magazines given me by the British soldiers, one mess mug with spoon and fork, one drinking
cup, a wooden water canteen, belted to outside of food bag. Besides all of this I had a small pick for
digging trenches, five more
packages of ammunition around our belt with our bayonet, one steel helmet, gas mask and last but not
least our rifle. Under such a load, I think even a mule could not go very far. I could never weigh the
whole works, but I think it was well aver 65 pounds. Carrying this in summer with the hot sun on us, as
we did from San Valentino to Cervignano and again from Feltre to Fonzaso, is enough to almost kill a
man.

Fonzaso was certainly a nice little town of about 4,000 inhabitants with very few soldiers outside of the
89th infantry. It was surrounded by high mountains on all sides. Mount Pavi, one directly north of us was
7300 feet high with snow on its peak.

After two days of idleness at Fonzaso we started drills as is usual when our regiments are “resting.”

Our drill hours were by no means as severe as those we had at Ferentino. The schedule during our stay at
Fonzaso was as follows:
5:00 a.m. - Arise
5:15 a.m. - Coffee
5:30 a.m. - Left headquarters for drills
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10:00 a.m. - Return from drills

10:30 a.m. – Mess-dinner
11:00 to 12:00 - Clean up quarters
12:00 to 2:00 p.m. - Rest
2:00 to 4:30 p.m. - Indoor drills or exercises
5:00 p.m. – Mess- supper
5:30 to 8:30 p.m. – may leave cantonment
8:45 p.m. - Roll Call
9:00 p.m. - Silence in cantonment, all in bed

In the morning of September twenty-ninth we, the entire regiment, left for a high mountain on the south
of us, over 3000 feet high, we only took our food sack, our rifle and cape. We made sure that the food
sack was empty or nearly so. It took us exactly four hours to reach the top. The road was not the very
best many were mere paths.

On top of the mountain we found our cooks all ready with dinner to be distributed.

They had left during the night with their pack mules laden with cooking utensils and raw macaroni and
food. Our cooks had prepared one of the best meals I ever had with a company. We had macaroni with
grated cheese, a good portion, also a pint of wine and piece of cheese. We were hungry as foxes and it
was after 12:00 noon when we reached the summit.

After our meal we laid down in the grass and under the trees for a rest of four hours. We rested in this
manner before starting for home again.

After our dinner our cooks left for borne again in order to have supper ready for us when we came back.
On our way back to our cantonments, our battalion led the march, our company and my platoon led the
entire regiment. I was right behind the colonel of our regiment, and the major of our battalion and captain
of our company.

At the foot of the mountain, our regimental band of sixty pieces played military marches and patriotic
pieces, and thus we marched by fours into Fonzaso With my platoon leading the march.

From the town square each company went to its cantonments as the entire regiment was passed in review
by our colonel.

Chapter 25 The Arditi – recruited from the “Death Company”

The day after our climb an order came that each company of the regiment was to furnish one sergeant,
one corporal major, two corporals and sixteen privates to form what was then called the “Death
Company” to be used for assaults. These were also called “Arditi” which, as I said before, several years
later were called “Fascisti” under Mussolini.

As none of the seven sergeants in our company volunteered to go into the Arditi, one was sorted out and
the Sicilian sergeant of the 4th platoon drew the lot.

Having been scout corporal, I was now made scout sergeant of our company and in all our war
maneuvering I led the scouts when needed.
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In this we had very good times, as we would go scouting amongst fruit trees and as a result ate pears,
apples and grapes to our heart’s content. We also drilled shooting with both hand and rifle grenades. The
small pear shape hand grenades were our favorite. I had used them sometimes at the Selz Front in August
1916. The rifle grenades were not as good only half of them would explode,

The cantonment of our company was right above the mess of the commander of our brigade and also of
our regiment. We, therefore always saw the general and the colonel come for their meals. That meant that
our cantonment above all others had to be kept clean, the sentry in front of our door always had to be
extra clean. We did not like it at all because we could not even make all of the noise we wanted for fear of
disturbing their “Excellencies’ “ dinner.

On October fourth valor medals and. promotions were given to those who had been very brave during the
seven days the regiment was at Hermada. One of the sergeants was promoted to Sergeant Major and four
others got medals either of silver or bronze. The new sergeant major though he was entitled to take charge
of the 1st platoon (mine), he preferred to remain in charge of the 3rd where he had always been and be
with the men he knew well.

Our Fonzaso quarters were to be temporary but we stayed there much longer than we thought. We got to
Fonzaso on September nineteenth and did not leave until October twelfth.

On October eighth we made another hike to a mountain similar to the one made before, making an all day
march of it as before. On our way back five privates disobeyed an order I gave them and their punishment
was that they could not leave the cantonment in the evening for five days. This was one of the few times I
ever punished anyone; their disobeying me also angered our captain, so I had to punish them in some way
and I made it as lenient as possible.

Chapter 26 The Winter Rest

At that time it was rumored that on account of its valorous deeds at Mount Hermada, our division
composed of the Catanzaro Brigade, the 141st and 142nd Infantry and our Brigade (Salerno Brigade) 89th
and 90th Infantry, we were to go to a city in the interior of Italy, possibly either Padova or Verona. We
would have preferred Verona because of its proximity to the Trentino Front. Our rest was to last the entire
winter.

On October tenth, we prepared to leave for some city in the interior. Our knapsacks were taken from us.
From this we knew wherever we intended to go, we would “hoof it”, We were told we would go to a city
sixty kilometers away and we were to make the march in two days. We would take along with us only our
food sack, our cape, blankets and tent sheet with poles. All that day we made preparations for our journey.
The next day, the eleventh, was rainy so the march was postponed until the twelfth.

Early, at 4:00 a.m., we left Fonzano for Feltre.

To make matters worse, I was also sergeant of the day. From Feltre we went south to Saren where we had
dinner. I was in charge of the distribution of the food for the company. If being sergeant of the day is hard
work at a stationary cantonment, it is very much more difficult work when on a long march. After an hour
and a half rest we proceeded on to Quero, At Quero my twenty-four hours service was over and I had a
chance to take a bite of food which I did not have during the day. Our next stop was Paderobba where we
stopped for the night. Here the boys were given their supper while five of us sergeants had a very fine
meal prepared by a private family. Paderobba is but 4 kilometers from Levada or Covolo. I would have
 117

liked very much to go to see my friends especially the Geronazzo family. I could not go because I was on
duty for that day.

Romiti had more luck than I had. He was given permission to meet the company at Pederobba the
following day before we left town. Before reaching Quero be went ahead and got to Covolo before dark.
There he found all of our old officers and some of the sergeants who had been left there. They were not
doing anything as the recruits of 1899 who they were to wait for had not come. They were loafing during
the month and a. half since we left them.

During the night we slept in barns of the inhabitants of Pederobba. We were all very tired and a nice straw
bed among the cows seemed like the best spring bed in the best hotel.

The next morning being thoroughly rested, we left Pederobba at 8:00 a.m. We went the same road I had
taken when I went to Poseagno on the horse and buggy. Just before reaching Possagno, we turned up
another road and after going 15 kilometers from Pederobba we stopped for a long rest and had our dinner.
We had just a cup of coffee when we left Pederobba, though I managed also to get a quart of milk from
one of the farmers.

After a rest of about one and a half hours, we proceeded further. We did not go very far only 5 more
kilometers when we reached a small village called Fonte, where we were told we would stay for some
time, probably all winter. Fonte consisted of but one general store where all kinds of merchandise and
groceries were sold, besides it was also a wine shop. I could not imagine how this small store could take
care of one thousand men which were in our battalion and the former trade as well. Above the store was
the officers’ mess. Besides the store there was one church and the rest of the buildings were scattered
throughout the surrounding country. We were placed in a vacant granary, homes, barns, etc. Our company
was placed in the schoolhouse not far from the church. The only drawback to this was that we had the
regimental and battalion headquarters downstairs from us.

All week we prepared our place for a long stay. My platoon was fixed up nicely. I had a cot to sleep on.

On October fifteenth my captain sent my name in for a promotion to sergeant major. He had liked the way
I was taking care of my platoon all alone. As the other platoons not only had two sergeants but also an
officer at the head, For seniority I was supposed to be the last of the sergeants of our company to be
promoted. Our commander of the battalions sent my name Into division headquarters right away for the
promotion, but because of what happened the following week, I never got an answer. The commander of
our battalion was Captain Mischi of Cesena or rather Forli as soon as he found out I was also from Forli,
be became very friendly with me.

During our stay here, we got acquainted with farm families near our cantonment where we went and
prepared special meals for ourselves. We had no drills during our what proved to be very short stay
instead of all winter as we were supposed to stay. We had a few indoor drills and exercises.

About this time we heard rumors that the Germans and Austrians having gotten rid of Russia because of
its internal revolution were planning on an extensive offensive campaign against Italy with the German
General Von Buelow as Commander-in-Chief of the entire enemy forces. The papers wore writing of
large concentration of enemy forces near Tolmino where it was thought and where actually the great
defeat was started.

On Sunday, October twenty-first, I was sergeant of the day. The boys went to mass with the entire
battalion while I and a few men cleaned up our cantonments. When they returned from mass, I had dinner
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distributed to all of them and shortly after Captain Nushi called me into his office saying that from
Novara he had a call for a map designer and that he had given my name and to be ready to leave in a day
or so for Novara. When that time came for promotion as sergeant major, it would reach me in Novara.
Everything was so peaceful that day that if anyone had told us that only four days later we would be
fighting the Germans and five days later we would all be prisoners, we perhaps would have told him he
was crazy and needed a medical examination.

Chapter 27 The trek to Montebelluna and Montemaggiore

That evening I was relieved from duty, went out to the usual place for supper with five others at 9:00,
made my roll call and everything was okay. The fun began at 10:00 p.m. I was not yet sleeping. I was
reading a magazine given me by the British friends with candlelight, although all lights were to have been
out, At that time we were surprised with the alarm signal by the bugler going throughout the town. Of
course, the first thing we did was to prepare our belongings and we knew well enough we were bound for
the Front. But where we did not know. About midnight we were all in the street ready to leave for
Montebelluna, it was raining as is usual when we could do without it. The march from Fonte to
Montebelluna with all of our equipment on our backs was one of the worse I had ever gone through. The
distance of 25 kilometers from Fonte to Montebelluna was by far the longest we had ever gone with our
knapsack on our back. The rain and, of course, the muddy roads so we could not even sit down during our
few rest periods made it even worse.

We did not get to Montebelluna until morning. We passed Cornuda on our way. During the march we
found out that we were going somewhere as reserved for regiments in trenches because of the expected
offensive by the enemy.

Our entire brigade was at Montebelluna ready to leave. Our regiment left first. It was put in three long
trains. Our battalion was on the last train on regular “8 horses 40 men” cars, We left Montebelluna at
noon and after passing Treviso, Sacile, etc., we got to Udine at 4:00 p.m. There was no excitement at all
in Udine and the six days before it was taken by the enemy, No one ever expected the heavy blow which
came there. At Udine we were placed in large vacant lots, were given canned meat for supper with bread.
We built tents, but at 8:00 p.m. we were ordered to break camp again and then waited for further orders.
In the meantime, we built large fires as it was cold and moist. In this way we warmed and dried ourselves,
I thought it strange that we had the officers approval to build the fire in Udine so near the Front.

At about midnight hundreds of auto trucks came to take us away. We were loaded twenty per truck with
all of our baggage. We were taken to Savogna about 15 kilometers from Cividale and about 40 kilometers
from Udine. At Savogna we got off and started bonfires to keep us warm. Some tried to sleep in the wet
ground while others chatted around the bonfires of what the future had in store for us. As we were told we
were not going in trenches, none of us feared anything bad. We were just going to some rear line to make
sure the “Tedeschi” would not break through and as we knew where end when they would start their
attempted invasion, we felt sure they could easily be stopped by our artillery.

All day long we made lot of suppositions, but never with any fear that Germany would gain any foothold
in Italy. At the worse we thought it might be like the Trentino Offensive where we lost ground and
prisoners, but then the enemy was promptly repulsed.

During the day we were given a nice warm meal by our cooks. At noon we were told to prepare to go to a
resistance trench up on the summit of Montemaggiore. We left all of our luggage behind, carrying only
our food bag, ammunition, reserve food, our capes, tent sheet, poles and our blankets. At 3:00 p.m. we
started on what proved to be a very long march. Montemaggiore is over 3500 feet high and to go to its
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summit we went a long roundabout way, The top of the mountain is like a plateau. It was 11:00 p.m.
before we came to a halt for a long rest. We had passed Linco on the Austrian side of the old boundary.

The top of Montemaggiore was the old boundary between Italy and Austria. We, at this point, were over
20 kilometers from the trenches and about 30 kilometers from Tolmino where the enemy broke through.

As soon as the battalion was taking a rest, I with my platoon was placed as guard for our battalion. I was
so tired that I could hardly stand and was chosen for service for the next twenty-four hours. My boys
grumbled but there was nothing else to do but do as we were told.

Before we started our service, Captain Mischi made a speech to the boys where he told us that at 2:00
a.m. (just three hours from the hour he was speaking) the combined Austro-German forces would start a
bombardment against our front trenches and that we would not fear of any success on their part for we
were fully prepared against any attacks . . . our cannons would silence theirs and their move would surely
fail.

As for us, he said we were so far from the actual fighting line that he could not see how we could be
affected. We were what he called the sixteenth line of resistance. That meant that the enemy before
getting to us would meet fifteen lines of our men. We, therefore, were far removed from the zone of
action. He also said that as soon as it was plainly seen that their offensive was a failure we would go back
to Fonte to plan the winter as we had intended to. He said we probably would go back in a week or two.

After his speech most of the boys laid down in the wet ground to rest while I with my platoon kept guard.
I put sentries where needed.

In the meantime, we watched for that fatal hour. It certainly was fatal for the Italian cause.

At exactly 1:00 a.m. of October twenty-fourth, the enemy opened terrific fire at our front lines. We could
see where the shots landed - - - they used lights.

From the very first we were surprised by the inactivity of our artillery and as the hours passed we
wondered more and more why our artillery would not return their fire. They on the other hand had kept up
a steady fire all of the time so that we were wondering what was happening in the trenches below us and
at Monte Nero right opposite us across the Isonzo. Most of the fighting was at Monte Nero and Tolmino.
Monte Nero was then in the hands of the Italians, having been taken from the enemy with heavy sacrifices
by our men.

At 4:00 a.m. we moved from the position we had occupied during the night and went further northwest at
the peak of the mountains, From our position, we could see the Isonzo River winding in and out among
the mountains, Directly below us was the town of Idersko and the town of Caporetto. The last mentioned
wan the town which gave the name to the disastrous retreat.

All day long the enemy bombarded our front trenches. Since our artillery never made a noise, it seemed as
if everything was dead on our side.

Rumors were then spread out that just before this offensive move of the enemy all of our batteries had
been relocated to new positions while all of the ammunition was still in its old location. Whether this was
true or not, I could not say, nor was there any way of ascertaining. But it was evident that the infantry
without the aid of the artillery lost its courage.
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During the day we saw fires in the villages near the front trenches. At the time we could see no reason for
these fires, but we later found out that our boys had started those fires and were destroying their stores
before they fell in the hands of the enemy.

At 9:00 a.m., of October twenty-fourth the enemy had already broken through our lines at Tolmino,
though, of course, we were not told about it. By 2:00 p.m. they already had advanced 18 kilometers up the
Isonzo to Caporetto and thereby took Monte Nero and the several divisions of Italians up there from
behind.

Though we did not know that, we had a fear that things were going very badly. Not only was our artillery
doing nothing, but their artillery had stopped shooting at close range but were now aiming their shots to
the rear of our trenches and to towns and villages which speckled the valley below us. Though we, of
course, being so far up could see no sign of life below except the smoke and hear the cannon, we hoped
that things were not as bad as we felt they were. To make it more miserable it rained the entire day. We
put up our tents among the rocks to shelter us as much as possible.

During the night of October twenty-fourth and October twenty-fifth, the enemy let up on its bombardment
just enough to enable them to bring their artillery to a more advanced position. By that time we heard a
few scattered shots from our artillery, very few and at long intervals. This brought a little cheer to our
men. Maybe we thought they would start now to repulse the enemy if they had made any headway. We
noticed, however, that their shots landed in the Isonzo valley where we thought our men were. We were
puzzled and all night we kept up our guard.

Early in the morning we changed positions again. The main part of the battalion was near the road on the
Italian side of the mountains. Our company was at the crest of the mountain as main guard overlooking
both the Isonzo Valley at the north and the road where the main part of the battalion was on the south. My
platoon being the first was always chosen first for new duties. It was now chosen for advance guard while
our company was main guard.

My men were placed about 100 meters down the north slope overlooking the Isonzo River. Our outposts
were about 50 or 60 feet apart with three men in each outpost. We were hidden behind large boulders
awaiting the enemy which, of course, we did not expect for a long time, if at all, but which surprised us
about four or five hours later.

Before leaving Udine, my platoon not having an officer was given one. He was a very young lad of the
class of 1899 just eighteen years of age. He was a cadet just out of the military school of Modena and
though considered a second lieutenant really would not become one until he had three months service at
the Front. This mere boy was meek and anytime I went to him for orders he would say that I should do as
I had always done and that he knew a veteran sergeant could handle a platoon of men much better than a
“rookie” officer. He was a very good young man and knew so even though I only knew him three days.

It was about 10:00 a.m. of October twenty-fifth while we were distributing the dinner of broth and a piece
of boiled meat with a loaf of bread. I was filling up the mess mug of my men who were doing duty at the
advance posts, when all of a sudden I heard the cry of “ALL ARMS” (At Arms) by my men who were at
the outposts. I immediately picked up my rifle and went to one of the outposts to see what the matter was.
In the meantime, all of the men of the company went after their arms and our captain followed me to the
outposts.

When I got there, I saw at the most five men walking about 100 feet apart coming up the mountain in a
slow pace. They were taking their time and making no efforts to hide themselves.
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These men wore helmets, and as we had never seen Austrians with helmets, we thought at first they might
be Italians. But as they came closer we noticed that their helmets were large. They carried canes and their
baggage on their back. When they were 100 meters below us, we came to the conclusion that they were
not our men and that they must surely be Germans whom we had never seen.

We opened fire on them and they immediately threw themselves on the ground behind large stones, We
kept firing our fool heads off, though we could not see them. In this way we wasted most of our
ammunition, I tried hard to keep my men from keeping up a continual fire but the other platoons and their
officers kept up the useless firing that some of my men did likewise.

The Germans had a rifle which fired like a machine gun, each German carried one such rifle.

As my platoon were retreating from their advance positions to where the rest of the company was located,
they fired at us and one of my men was killed and another, my corporal major, was severely injured. They
were firing from behind large stones and could not be seen while they could see us going up to the top of
the mountain where we wanted to join our company.

Their presence a few meters below surprised us very much as in a little over twenty-four hours they had
advanced the incredible distance of over twenty kilometers on a Front which was considered impassable.
They had also broken through what we had later been told was sixteen lines of trenches.

Having fired all of our ammunition foolishly, we were now without it and no more was to be had. I still
had four packages which I distributed among some of the boys of my platoon with orders not to use them
except when they saw the enemy come out of their hiding places.

The lack of ammunition for us was also very puzzling. Never in the time I was at the Front previously had
there even been a time when we lacked ammunition, Why this time? The mules were coming regularly to
bring us the food, so it was also possible to bring ammunition if any could be had!

When the enemy which was at the most only five or six men on the front occupied by my company heard
no more firing, they naturally came out of their hiding places and proceeded to come toward us, They
were five or six and we were over two hundred and forty, but they had ammunition with machine gun
rifles while with us our rifles were useless having no ammunition.

While our captain was at the battalion headquarters getting orders from Captain Mischi, a foolish officer
of our company left temporarily in charge of the company ordered us to retreat to where the main force of
the battalion was camped on the road about 150 meters below the summit of Montemaggiore on the south
slope.

When Captain Mischi saw us coming down in disorder, he ordered the entire battalion to help in regaining
our old positions. We made a dash for them but the Germans were already entrenched in our positions
behind large stones and with plenty of ammunition for their machine gun rifles, As we went up, we were
regular targets for them. We were only able to get 75 meters from our old position.

Under our leader, Captain Mischi, who was at the head of the battalion, we gained 75 meters under the
terrific fire of the machine gun rifles. But as soon as Captain Mischi was wounded and taken away, we
went no further but neither did we retreat. It was now about one thousand men with little or no
ammunition against five or six Germans equipped with their machine gun rifles and plenty of
ammunition. They also had five positions on top of Montemaggiore while we were 75 meters below them
on the south slope. They could see every move we made.
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In our effort to regain our positions, we lost one officer, one sergeant, one corporal major, one corporal
and five privates. They were killed. The officer killed was the one who ordered the retreat. The sergeant
was Romiti, with whom I had been since arriving at Rome from Frosinone. I was very, very sorry to hear
of his death. That was the first time he had ever been at the Front and in the first skirmish, was killed.

Six privates and one corporal major was wounded, two of the privates and the corporal major belonged to
my platoon. One of my privates was also killed.

During the rest of the day, we remained in our new positions making them a little safer for us with stones
and bags which we filled with earth. A few rounds of ammunition also passed around but very little - - -
about six shots per man.

In the Italian rifle six shots are put in at one time. In these positions we remained stationary not daring to
advance without ammunition and all out in the open while the Germans naturally did not dare to attack us
unless reinforced by more men

All night we remained quiet with an occasional shot being fired by them and by us to show that none of
us were sleeping. Of course, we kept our eyes open all night lest they would attack us by surprise.

Then our cooks brought our meal, the last one we got with bread, they also brought us our mail, the first
mail since leaving Fonte and the last mail until we returned to Italy in November 1918. I had a great deal
of mail that night, few letters from Forli, letters from home, etc. I was very glad to get these letters as it
enlivened my broken down spirit of the doings of the previous day.

In the morning we were ordered to write home if we so wished as we had been prohibited to write since
leaving Fonte.

Chapter 28 Prisoners of War

During the early morning we had something new to deal with. The enemy artillery had now been brought
up to positions where it could fire on us. Fortunately, however, their shots were either to the left or to the
right of our company, though some did come dangerously close to us. We heard none of our artillery in
action for over sixteen hours. While I was collecting the post cards which the boys had written to their
families to give to our cooks to mail when they came with our dinner, I was surprised to see our men on
the right and left of us retreat in confusion up the road in the opposite direction from the way we had
come. It was then about 10:00 a.m. in the morning of October twenty-sixth. As we looked down the road,
we saw large columns of German soldiers coming towards us by the same way we had come three days
before.

We now had Germans in front of us and lots of them in back of us. There was only one thing we could do
unless we all wanted to die and that was to throw down our arms and become prisoners of war. Many of
our men had already dropped their arms and it was futile to resist. Some of the boys so that they would
not be fired on had placed a white handkerchief on sticks and started to wave them to the Germans.

I had an awful sensation at that moment. I had never given any thought of being war prisoner as I always
thought I would rather be dead than prisoner in the bands of the enemy. Even when thinking that, I had no
idea how really sad and humiliating it was to be a war prisoner. From October twenty-sixth, 1917, until
November 6, 1918, when I was released from Sigmundsherberg Prison Camp, I found out it was much
worse than my worst thoughts.
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The young lad who was the officer of my platoon was crying while many of the boys arid myself were
sad to think of what the future had in store for us. Though some of the boys were glad to become
prisoners because they said they were through with war, the majority was not. Those who were glad said
that the reports of harsh treatment to prisoners by the enemy was made up by our officers so as not to
become prisoners.

I saw very little of what General Cadorna - - - two days later accused the Italian soldiers of - - - desertion
from the ranks to become prisoners of war. It seemed to me that the blame was entirely with the superior
officers, General Cadorna included, However, I would place most of the blame for that disaster on
General Capello who was in charge of the Second Army which included the Tolmino sector where the
Germans broke through.

With plenty of warning about the approaching offensive of the enemy everything could have been ready
to resist it. Though the infantry was probably ready, the artillery was negligible. We heard about ten shots
of small caliber from our guns throughout the three days at the Tolmino Front. Why didn’t the artillery
support the men out in the front trenches? Why were we left without ammunition? These questions were
asked by all of us when we were made prisoners. It was not by any means the fault of the infantry that our
army had to retreat to the Piave.

There was an Army Corp or two divisions of the Infantry at Montemaggiore, and I doubt if any of the
soldiers were able to retreat from the advancing enemy. Our boys who were wounded the day before were
made prisoners at Udine on October twenty-eighth in the
hospitals.

A detachment of German troops came for us and accompanied us to the road. Here we were counted for
the first time and put in ranks by four. Then we were told to go on towards Linco where we had passed
through three days before under entirely different conditions expecting then to leave for our rest again
very shortly.

We were sent to Tolmino, about 25 kilometers away, as our first stop. We passed Linco then proceeded
down the mountain to Iderako. Here we were counted again and then we crossed the Isonzo River and
walked to Tolmino on a road along the north banks of the Isonzo River. We were not escorted by the
enemy but we met many of them. We met whole divisions of them invading our soil.

On the way down to Iderako we were all robbed by these barbarians and were manhandled by them right
from the start. I was robbed by one of those villains. He took my watch and a gold ring, my pocket book
with my money not being yet satisfied he took the two loafs of bread I had in my food bag. I protested
and tried to make him understand to leave me at least one of them as we did not know when and where
we would get our next meal, while he was always sure of his meals. He answered by giving me the butt
end of his rifle on my back. I realized then and there we were nothing else but mere slaves in the hands of
the most cruel soldiers in the world not barring the Turks.

No Italian ever dared to treat a prisoner in a like manner, and I dare say neither did the French nor the
English.

Thousands of us prisoners were going down the road along the Isonzo River meeting German regiments
going in the opposite direction. They were naturally happy and sang their own war songs. They would
also laugh at us and ask how many kilometers to Venice or to Milan, They said in three days they would
be eating dinner in Rome, though we were helpless, they soon realized their dreams would not come true,
The closest they could get to Venice was to see it with a strong glass from the mouth of the Piave River.
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I was with Corporal Finara, a young Sardinian, who was to become an officer with me when at Covolo.
The both of us went together. All day long we walked and as we came nearer to Tolmino, the more we
saw of the damage by the German artillery before their infantry started their spurt. Near the trenches at
Tolmino we saw many Italians killed during the onslaught of October twenty-fourth.

During our march, we not only met German infantry but cavalry and artillery as well. We were made to
help pull heavy pieces of artillery when their horses were stuck.

Near Tolmino hundreds of us were made to help get a large piece out of the mud and all of us were
compelled to help including the officers. A colonel of an Italian regiment, an old man who protested
about doing that work in the mud, was beaten so badly by a German private that his face bled and with the
point of a bayonet was forced to take hold of a spoke of a wheel right in the water and mud and had to
pull until we all got on the dry road. During the day I had seen many villainous deeds by those who called
themselves cultured, but that was the worst I had seen up to that time. Tolmino was quite a large town,
though entirely in ruins. During the night we slept among the ruins and of course were given nothing to
eat.

The next morning with empty stomachs we started on our hike again. There were thousands of us each
going along his own way leisurely with a few very old German guards at long intervals walking, also
leisurely, not paying much attention to us.

We were going toward Lubiana or Laibach. We were told so but how far it was we did not know. We
were promised food and we were also to take a train for Germany at the first railway station we came to.
We were following the railway line that lead from Gorizia to Klagenfurt to Vienna. The first station was
passed and nothing was done. Then, several other stations came, still no food. Neither did we go on the
train. All day long we walked on and on until we came to a place near Podberdo. It was near midnight and
we had gone over 45 kilometers since leaving Tolmino and Ferrara, and we were so tired that we found a
small shed and crawled in as we could go no further, We had not had food for nearly forty-eight hours
and in the meantime we had walked 70 kilometers, The latter part of the day it rained so besides being
tired and hungry we were also soaked to the skin.

Ferrara and I laid down to rest on the ground of the shanty. We were at least protected from the rain. The
others proceeded on, though not very far for in the morning we found them less than 1/2 kilometer away.
While we found shelter, they were made to stay out all night in the rain. When Ferrara and I came out of
our shed famished, we saw the boys go in line for food. There were over 10,000 of them lined in fours. As
we passed in front of our German guards, we were given a hat full of hard biscuits each and one can of
meat for every twenty men. The hard biscuits were good, but it was very bard to divide a can of meat in
twenty parts. One man got hardly two spoonfuls. This food after over forty-eight hours just tickled ones
appetite. Of course, it was much better than nothing.

It poured hard all day while we walked on and on. We passed the town of Selzack.

In all the places we passed, the natives gave us terrible stares. When we passed cities or towns, the people
came by the hundreds to look at us. We passed all Slav regions. That region after the war became part of
Yugoslavia. These people were not the least bit friendly with us. Of course, one shouldn’t suppose them
to be so although we fought for their independence an well as that of the Italians of Trieste and Trent.

All day and almost all night we walked in the rain. We went over 51 kilometers that day. We thought that
after such a long march being all wet, tired and hungry that at our destination we would have at least
shelter. But that was not the case. We were placed in very large prairies entirely surrounded by barbed
wire fences with thousands of other prisoners, and, there !!! - - - in that field of mud and water we
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remained. We passed the remainder of the night and all the next day (October twenty-ninth) in that
manner. During the day the sun came out for awhile and the mud and water were absorbed and dried up.

In that large field there were easily 40,000 prisoners all as tired and hungry as I was. Outside of the
barbed wire fence were guards 100 feet apart.

During the entire day we got no food whatsoever. For five days we remained in that field without shelter.
It was seventy-two hours from the time we got the hat full of biscuits on the road that we got food again.
It was a bowl of hot mush, nothing but liquid which I doubt if even a swine would eat. We being so
hungry ate it as if it was the best sort of macaroni. Every day we were promised that we would be sent to
Germany.

Each day we were told to form company’s of one hundred men and submit the names to the guards and
we would then be loaded on a train for Germany. The men were so anxious to go some place and settle
down that they would stay for hours at a time in ranks with hopes to leave. We would start early morning
forming of companies and in the night the ranks would be broken as we would have to remain where we
were, The next morning the same thing would be repeated. In the meantime, the men would have to stay
in ranks all day. This little stunt was repeated every day for four days.

The second day at the camp I organized Company 67. The following day, October thirty-first, Company
67 having been broken up because ranks were broken in the evening I organized Company 208. These
companies were of 100 men each.

During the same day I lost track of Ferrara among the huge crowd. It was also the day we got the hot
mush after seventy-two hours without food. During all of this time, it was raining continuously - - - a cold
rain. I could not see how it was that many were not exhausted from cold, rain and hunger, more than there
were.

Chapter 29 Divide and Conquer

On November first an incident happened that further proved the barbarism of this cultured enemy of ours.
The whole camp was divided in two equal parts, about 20,000 in each bunch.

Each mass were on opposite sides of the field with a machine gun in the center on a small tower. One
mass was promised to leave for Germany immediately as had been done previously. The other mass was
promised food and to leave the next day for Germany.

All of us were hungry and all of us also wanted to be settled so there was a little confusion on which
group they wanted to be placed. The Germans got so impatient that to have the prisoners get in line once
and for all they opened fire on them with the machine guns inflicting enormous losses among the mass of
defenseless prisoners. Over two hundred were killed and many hundreds were wounded.

This cowered the prisoners like beaten dogs, either one place or the other was all right, while German and
Austrian soldiers hurried the dead and wounded off the field. If their object was to scare us, a few shots
up in the air would have sufficed rather than the disgraceful act which they committed.

Though the men probably did not fall in ranks as soon as they might have, it must be remembered that we
were all tired, laying or standing in a field of mud and water, raining continuously and, last but not least,
starving.
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The same evening before dark as I was in the group which wanted to leave for Germany with a new
company I had organized, 98, we saw for the first time that we were going to be put on the train.

There were three long trains, One being a passenger coach and the other two freight cars. We were
squeezed in, fifty per freight car, ten more than capacity. The Bersaglieri were lucky and were given the
passenger coaches.

As we got on the cars, we were surprised by their gentleness by giving us food which we did not expect as
only those remaining we thought would get food. We got handfuls of hard biscuits each and five cans of
meat for one hundred men.

While waiting for the train to leave, we emptied out a whole cabbage patch near the train. We ate cabbage
like rabbits. We all had several heads each, it was strange that our guards did not object although they did
not object when they saw us take them. Probably they realized we were pretty hungry and were repenting
their act on the same day.

At night the door was locked and I fell asleep for the first time since October twenty-seventh, or five days
before when I slept in the shanty on our way back to Laibach (Ljubljiana). I did not wake up until almost
noon the next day, and when the doors were opened we found ourselves in a large town. We thought we
had traveled very far. Strange as it may seem, we were only 2 kilometers from where we started off and
we were told to get off and accompanied by a guard were taken back to the same field again. I could
never ascertain why this was done. Once on a train I was sure that after all of our suffering we would
finally go somewhere. Again we were mistaken. Being again at our starting point, we had no hopes of
ever leaving the place. I started a new Company 101 and was told we would leave again the same day by
train.

The large field we were in was near Laibach, about 5 kilometers away. We could see its large buildings
from our camp. We were fortunate to leave camp that same day. We left for a large wooded tract about 5
kilometers away instead of going on the train as we were told. That day we got nothing to eat, nor did we
get to any place to shelter ourselves. We were still out in the open. One good thing about the place we
went was that there was plenty of wood to build fires to warm and dry ourselves. We slept around
campfires. In the morning being hungry, we went around to look for something to eat. We went to the
neighboring farms and stole cabbages, carrots, beets, etc. Our guards did not object and the farmers could
not see us.

During the day we also got a little food from our “masters.” Two spoonfuls of canned meat and a handful
of hard biscuits. I was now in charge of company 68, but the following day, the company was broken up
again as the Germans now wanted companies made up of different trades. In the evening the carpenters,
bricklayers, bakers and mechanics went away. I remained with the farmers. We were given food the same
as the day before, again for the first time since being prisoners. We were given food on two successive
days. In fact every day from then on we got a little.

It was not until November fifth, or after eleven days as prisoners, did we get any place to shelter
ourselves. We were now about 3000 men or about 30 companies of 100 men each. And, we were housed
in barns, attics and sheds of civilians not far from the woods we had been in for two days before.

The 100 men of my company, the 28th, were placed in a barn with hay to sleep on. That night I got my
first full night’s sleep since leaving Fonte, October twenty-first.
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The same day our ration was increased for food. We got one loaf of black bread for five men, two
tablespoons of canned meat, two tablespoonfuls of marmalade, a pinch of coffee (made from roasted
barley), a pinch of salt and a spoonful of cognac. The varieties were many but not much substance. Of
course, we were very much pleased with our shelter and also the increase in rations.

As head of Company 28, my duty was only to distribute food to the men and make out lists with names
and addresses for our captors. Sometimes they would give me an extra ration of food for doing that work.
The job of distributing the rations was not very pleasant in view of the fact that there was so little to
distribute and the men were hungry.

For three days we used the barn for our cantonment and in the meantime, we cleaned ourselves. Many had
not washed their faces since leaving base almost two weeks previously. None of us had shaved during that
time. Our uniforms were filthy with mud, our under clothes were full of ‘cooties’. Here we shaved, that is
one of the boys who had a razor shaved us. I had one in my company. We washed our underclothes and
handkerchiefs, scraped the mud off our coats and cape. In this way we felt better, but we could not have
done it before.

Chapter 30 Slavs versus Italians

The Slavs, where we were, were not friendly with us in the least, but then neither were they friendly with
the German guards we had. For that reason the German guards never objected when we went out to steal
cabbage, etc., from their farms.

Some of the boys who had not been robbed when they were taken prisoner had changed the Italian money
for Austrian money with our guards; in this way they were able to purchase a few necessities. I did not
have money so I was out of luck. But several times I sold my ration of bread for one Korona and bought
with it one kilo of potatoes from the farmers. One particular place when I went there was a young woman
refugee from Gorizia who when the Italians took the town in August 1916 she with any others left it and
went as refugees into the interior of Austria.

Among the Slavs and Germans who could not speak Italian, it was nice to hear someone speak our
language. Though she spoke pure Italian, at every breath she insulted the Italian nation and its soldiers,
She laughed at our plight and said it served us right, She said also she was overjoyed to know that her
Gorizia had been taken away from the hands of the Italians and that shortly she was going back home.
She claimed to have no Slav blood in her veins but was Italian as long as she could trace her ancestors.
Her husband had been killed in the Russian Front. So disgusting were her utterances, I could not bear to
hear them. She also tried to stop the Slav farmer from selling us potatoes, though it was none of her
business. We were now suffering because we were trying to free such people.

After three days of comfort, we left our cantonment for a place out in the open again though our food was
given to us as usual. Our companies were reorganized the millionth time. They were now made up of 500
men each, and I was given charge of the 16th squad of Company 5. Each squad had twenty men. As it
was raining, I told my men to go around to see if they could find a shed or some place to shelter
themselves while I went after their food. Luckily they found a place in an old torn shack where we slept
for the night.

Chapter 31 Adventures While Walking to Germany

During the next day six companies of 500 men each were formed and about fifty guards to take care of us
commanded by a captain. We were told that starting the following day, November ninth we would leave
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for Germany, but that we would have to walk 24 kilometers to get to the railway station. This story was
so old that none of us believed it. It was just to jolly us along.

In the meantime, we spent the second day in the shack. I was grateful of being sheltered as it was pouring
hard all day. The only annoyance was the usual roll call where all the men had to be placed in ranks in the
rain.

On November ninth we left on what proved to be a long march. Early in the morning an Italian bugler just
sounded the getting into ranks, then the German bugler did likewise, only the “German” way for the
guards.

We started our long hike on empty stomachs at 9:00 a.m. We were told that the first stop would be 26
kilometers away. The guards had their portable kitchens with them and cooked their meals as we
marched. We were hungry so many times we broke ranks to steal cabbage on the farms along the road.

We had not gone many kilometers before we recognized that the road we were on was the same as that we
had gone through as we came from Italy to Laibach. It rained almost the entire day. In fact from the time I
was taken prisoner, I don’t think we had more than two days without rain.

All day we went on without food. At dark we halted in a large lot near the town of Selzach. Fortunately, I
found shelter in a hayloft. It was not until midnight that we were given food. I was aroused from my sleep
to get food for the squad. We were given the usual rations with marmalade as an addition.

On November tenth, the second anniversary, we were told that we were to go to Tolmino. We were very
disappointed because we had no chance to write home. This we could not do until we were definitely
settled at some permanent quarters. Our anxiety was because our families would not know if we were
dead or alive. Few days previous we were told to give our names which we were told was for the Red
Cross which would transmit them to the Italian Red Cross and they in turn would notify our families that
we were prisoners. I did not have much faith in that and neither had anybody else, as we could not trust
our guards to tell us the truth.

We could not see the purpose of taking us back to Italy. Certainly we thought for no good reason,
probably to make trenches at the Front. The march was made in rain and snow storms. We were wet and
cold. We passed Podbrdo and when near Grahovo all cold, tired, hungry, and wet, we thought that at least
we would be placed in some place for shelter until the morning; that was not to be. We were placed in a
densely wooded tract out in the open for the night, and as usual without food. I was tired and along with
two others we went out to see if we could find some shelter somewhere as it was still raining. We went
about 1/2 kilometer away and came to a farmhouse. One of the two boys spoke a little Slav, so we
knocked at the door and a Slav woman came out. We asked if we could sleep in her barn. She at first
stubbornly refused, but after much pleading and seeing the condition we were in, she consented to leave
us in her barn. She took us there with a lantern and warned us that under no circumstance were we to
allow any more in. She closed the barn door while the three of us glad for the shelter given went to the
hayloft to rest. Hungry as we were, we preferred to remain in the cozy loft than go out for food which
probably came during the night.

Then the three of us took off our shoes and drenched uniforms and hung them on a rafter to dry while we
slept in the bay in our underwear. We were just dozing off to sleep when we heard a confusion outside.
Then all of a sudden a mob of our boys broke the door and entered the barn to shelter themselves from the
rain and snow. Not being content with having broken in they started a fire on the floor of the barn to dry
their clothes, We now knew there would be trouble, The boys were many and we thought of nothing but
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to hide in the hay. A few minutes later the owner came, and when she saw what was going on, she let out
a yell and ran away again.

She went to inform our guards of what had happened because a few minutes later four or five of them
entered the barn carrying their heavy walking sticks, They swung left and right, but they did not hurt the
boys much as most of them had run away because all were clothed. Then they searched the loft with their
lanterns and found us all undressed. They started to beat us over the backs on the legs shoulders, etc., with
their big canes, We tried to make them understand that we had the permission of the owner and to let us
take our clothes, but those dumb barbarians would not understand and chased us out of the barn by
beating us in our underclothes. We were not allowed to get our uniforms and shoes. So besides being
beaten, we had to wait for dawn undressed in the rain and snow. One of the men during the night tried to
go after our clothes, but our guards were sheltering themselves there and chased us away, We had to
remain out until morning. In the morning all wet, cold and shivering we went to get our uniforms which
were nearly dry.

It was a miracle we did not catch a serious disease from that exposure. One of my squad who was
sheltering himself the best be could under a tree gave me his heavy cape to put over my back.

I doubt whether any German prisoner in France, England or Russia was ever treated as we were that
night. Our backs were black and blue from the beatings received.

Chapter 32 Tolmino to Caporetto to Udine – Eating Horses

The following day, November eleventh, just a year before General Armistice Day, we made the last part
of our hike towards Tolmino - - - 18 kilometers - - -the previous day we had gone 32 kilometers, Being
Sunday as we passed the small villages and towns, everyone was home dressed in their best attire of
various bright colors.

As we neared Tolmino, we could see we were nearing the Front, the buildings were all damaged from
artillery. It was about 4:00 p.m. when we reached Tolmino and re-crossed the Isonzo River. When we
arrived at Tolmino we were allowed to go around anywhere among the ruins for shelter. That night being
tired as usual we looked for a place to sleep. I found a place in a bathtub of a former villa. I was well
protected from the rain. I got some straw and placed it on the bottom of the tub. During the day we were
given the usual food, only our loaf of bread was divided into four parts instead of five as previously. Here
we rested the entire day preparing for a march to Cividale and former Italian soil.

Around Tolmino there were many horses and mules killed during the bombardment of October twenty-
fourth.

The boys being hungry went out to look for food and found these dead horses and out large slices of flesh,
two of the boys in my squad came back with a whole leg of a horse. The flesh was surely not the best as
the horses had laid out in bad weather for twenty days. Of course, they boiled it, but many could not wait
until it was cooked and ate it half raw. The whole squad, I included, had a feast over that leg of horse,
though we later felt the effects with stomach trouble.

The whole night of the twelfth and thirteenth the boys cooked their horse flesh in Tolmino. It was a shame
to see how they ate the half rotten stuff. All of it smelled horrible and when boiling it smelled worse.

The next morning we left for Caporetto. Before leaving, we were given our usual rations. The march to
Caporetto was not long being only 16 kilometers and for once we had nice sunshine. We passed through
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regions devastated by the German offensive. At Caporetto we were placed in shacks formerly used by our
men when resting behind the lines of trenches.

From Laibach to Tolmino we were allowed to break ranks or go as we wished. Some men lagged behind
even for kilometers while from Tolmino to Udine our final destination we were kept under close guard.
Even our shacks where we were now were guarded throughout the night for fear we would run away.

After an all night rest, we proceeded and walked 18 more kilometers to Brischis. Brischis was the first
regular Italian town. Passing the Italian boundary, we found the roads one hundred per cent better kept
than the Austrian roads, which we had just gone through. The Italian roads have always been the best in
the world.

We met several Italian civilians who had not fled to Italy when the Germans invaded Italy. The German
guards kept a closer watch on us than ever before so that we kept in our place. At Brischis we were placed
in large shacks with barbed wire fence around the field. From the civilians, I bought a hat full of apples
for one Austrian corona.

It was very strange to return to our Country as war prisoners. It was a case where one must hide his pride
as it was surely shameful to return in this manner.

Our countrymen, mostly women, looked at us with pity. From their tales, they were suffering as much as
we from invasion, but nevertheless they threw us corn and potatoes. It made us feel a little better to see
someone kind to us as we were always treated both by our guards and the Slavs in the regions we had
gone through as though we were lepers.

The following morning we were told to pack up again and left for Cividale. In the barracks where we had
been placed, we rested better than out in the open as we had done throughout our entire long hike, The
hike was only 11 kilometers, but always in the rain and as usual on empty stomachs. We were told in
order not to feel disheartened, we would go no further than Cividale. All the way to Cividale we could see
signs of resistance offered my men toward the invading enemy. Rifles, machine guns, helmets, signs of
light bombardment on roads and even in buildings. The enemy captured Cividale the day after I was made
prisoner.

We were not taken right into Cividale, but we were placed in a large tent just outside of the town. Used by
our army as a field hospital, here we had cots to sleep on for the first time since leaving Fonte.

That day we got nothing to eat until dark and then very little, no bread. Luckily some women and small
children came from Cividale and brought us potatoes, apples, etc.

As usual we were kept under close watch. Our camp was surrounded with barbed wire and German
sentries were always on duty. Any attempt to escape would immediately bring fire from their rifles with
intent to kill.

The morning of November sixteenth, only twenty-four hours after getting to Cividale, we were told that
we had one more lap to complete of our journey and to get ready to leave immediately for Udine, 16
kilometers away. We were very tired and, of course, they being our masters, we could not resist
regardless of the fact that we were told Cividale would be our last stop. Besides being tired, hungry, etc., I
was also ill having had a high fever and the chills all night long.
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As usual, we left Cividale without getting food of any sort, A this had happened almost every day since
leaving Laibach, it seemed that our masters figured we would have less of a load on us if we started our
hikes on an empty stomach. They, of course, always had their meal before leaving.

Between Cividale and Udine we met many more country folks, many small children who looked at us
with wistful looks. We looked like a bunch of beggars, ragged, weary, hungry, dirty and many of us sick.
Surely they probably were thinking these were not the same men who less than a month before passed
their towns all clean, well groomed, high spirited, and healthy and who were going to see that the enemy
would not get a chance to devastate their homes and farms - - - but such was not the case. Through some
misfortune we were beaten and now to make matters worse, we were taken to our countrymen in the
condition we were. Udine was surely enough the last lap of our journey. In our journey of seven days, we
covered 137 kilometers or about 75 miles. The hike though long was not impossible for a healthy
individual with sufficient nourishment. We had had very little food. We were tired before we started. Our
shoes were worn out. We had rain or snow almost every day. We were out in the open with no shelter
twenty-four hours per day always in the rain and always our “masters” with heavy canes or the butt end of
their rifles would beat us up in case we made a slip or could go no further.

The farmers we met on our way told us of the barbarous acts of the Germans during their invasion under
the nose of our guards who luckily could not understand a word. They told us that they took all of their
cattle and hogs also their wheat and corn, leaving them only enough corn to barely feed themselves with
“polenta” or corn meal mush.

Late in the afternoon, we arrived at Udine and were placed in sheds formerly used by our boys when
waiting for trains to go on furlough to their homes.

It seemed that our Teutonic enemy derived great pleasure in making us feel miserable. First we were
taken back to our homeland as prisoners. Then we were quartered in a shed formerly used by us when
actually going home. Many of the boys formerly spent happy hours in these very sheds anticipating the
welcome upon getting home by their families and children after having spent a year or more in the
trenches. We felt very bad for we knew most of our families did not know whether we were dead or alive.

What a change in the city of Udine! At my last sight of it on October twenty-second, or less than a month
from the day I got to it when a prisoner, it was a town of 60,000 inhabitants and the same number of
soldiers, It was a very lively town, being headquarters of General Cadorna.

There were sore movements of soldiers, civilian, foreign and domestic newspaper men of any town in
Italy including Rome.

It was now deserted - - - the streets barren, all shops closed, coffee shops closed — all one could see
were very few German and Austrian soldiers walking the deserted streets, occasionally one would meet a
civilian, the majority of which were women. I doubt that in November when I saw Udine it had 5,000
human beings including civilians who remained and the soldiers of the invading army instead of the
120,000 of the month before.

The only part of the male population remaining were the priests. There were also many Italian military
doctors which were ordered not to desert the Italian sick and wounded which were in hospitals throughout
Udine and towns as far south as the Piave River. They were, of course, made war prisoners upon the
arrival of the Germans.
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Shortly after our arrival at Udine, we were taken out of the shacks and were placed in regular
headquarters of the 53rd Alpine battalion, that is where they were kept even before the war.

We had among the prisoners some who spent their early training in the same armory. Now they were
prisoners in their own homes. It must have been strange for them. Just as strange as if the Germans had
invaded all of Italy and took me to Forli in the armory where I had my first drills.

Chapter 33 Working for the Germans

After getting to our new headquarters we were put to work. The work consisted of emptying all stores and
shops left by the natives who hastened and retreated with the Army when the invaders were at the doors
of the city.

Of course, the first thing that was taken were articles that could be used for the Army. Then clothing
shops, jewelry shops and every other shop of any nature was stripped of all the wares in the store. Even
few shops where the owners had remained were cleaned up by the invaders.

Our job was to help them. We loaded all the goods into auto trucks, most of them Italian and from there
were taken to railroad stations and reloaded on trains and sent to Germany.

Though Udine was occupied by both the Germans and Austrians, it seemed strange that not one article in
Udine went to Austria as war booty. It was said there was enough previsions in food and clothing for
military use to keep an army of one million men fully equipped for one year in the warehouse of the town.
All of this went to Germany.

It could be easily seen that the Germans and Austrians did not get along very well together. The German
soldiers had less respect for the Austrians than they had for an Italian prisoner and that was very little.

The Austrian on the other hand tried very much to gain friendship from the Italian prisoner under the
German control and often told us to desert our captors and go to them. If it had not been for the reason
that though we knew we would get little or nothing to eat from them, we surely would have deserted the
Germans for the more friendly Austrians.

The Austrians were peeved because they were not in on the booty in the invaded towns and villages. They
needed the provisions much more so than the Germans, besides they fought over two years on that Front
losing many, many men.

While the Germans with hardly a loss took everything they could lay their hands on, the Germans argued
that “to the victors belong the spoils”. They said that the Austrians were no good because in two years all
they did was to lose ground while they in fifteen days invaded and captured two of the most important
provinces in Italy, besides getting back the ground lost by the Austrians.

In February of the following year when the Germans abandoned the Italian Front and the Austrians again
gained the control of the Italian Front, the prophecy of the German guards - - - that shortly the Italians
would beat the Austrians and send them back to their old border - - - came true in October of that year.

The Austrians did patrol duty in Udine while the Germans stripped the town of its valuables. The only
reason we remained with the barbarian Tautens was that we were being better fed every day. We were
given regular Italian food from provisions left by our men. But all this food now given us after so much
privation was not good for us. We all naturally ate it like hogs and all of us got sick by overeating which
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was worse than getting sick by undernourishment. We all had stomach trouble, myself especially. I could
not go to work for several days on that account.

Not only had we enough to eat but we had bunks and slept comfortably in our new quarters. Our work
hours were short being about six hours per day and then we did much loafing, only when some Teutonic
officer with “Kultur” came and made us move did we do any actual work. We loaded one truck in the
morning and one in the afternoon and a squad of twenty men were required to do that work.

We would hide things we cared for ourselves which we could sell to the guards in our pockets and bread
bag. We used to give many articles of value to the civilians as we went to and from our cantonments.
Some of them were sorry for our condition and pitied us while some especially women called us vile
names and said we were responsible for their plight and that if we had done our duty the Germans would
not have invaded Italy and Udine.

To bear them talk to us in that manner was very displeasing to us. Some bore their insults without losing
their temper, but others especially the Southerners who had always fought valiantly returned their insults
by telling them that they were the very ones who were profiteering at the expense of the poor soldiers
who when he needed anything had to buy it at the exorbitant prices charged by these natives. Besides
these natives were always pro-German in feeling as most of the men went to Germany to work before the
war even though they were Italians they used to tell us how good the Germans really were.

Now that they were getting their taste of the German ways, they were taking it out on us because they said
we let them in.

They had, however, very good reasons to complain for these two invaded provinces became another
Belgium.

Girls, wives and mothers were violated in every town. We heard many, many stories which seemed
almost unbelievable by the women who were attacked or their mothers. It seemed that though our captors
had rigid discipline in the army when fighting or among their own people, this discipline was entirely
abandoned when resting in an invaded town. Wine shops and private houses were raided and they readily
became drunk. Once they were drunk they became monsters; the worst type of Huns. In that condition,
usually at night but also in the day time, they would go to some house where they knew were
human beings and with threats of killing everyone in the house with their revolvers they made the poor
women open the doors, often killing or mutilating the children if they persisted in yelling. They violated
the women by force. Usually these drunken, yellow Huns went in pairs.

Hundreds of such cases were happening daily, not only in Udine but throughout the Venetian provinces
invaded by these beasts. I doubt very much whether the much dreaded Turks could have been any worse.
Strange as it may seen the Austrians were as humble as the Germans were arrogant, and as far as I could
find out none of these crimes were committed by them.

Udine was divided into two zones, namely, the Northern and Southern zone. The former under German
military rule while the latter under Austrian rule.

Being able one day to have a chat with an aged civilian from the southern part of the town, I was told that
all the civilians in that section lived in peace with no fear of the dastardly deeds done by or on the
northern section by the Germans.
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After all of the shops were cleaned up and everything therein sent to Germany, then all the private homes
were looted. Not only did they take all the food, wine and valuables, but all of the furniture, kitchen
utensils, linens, etc., leaving the houses completely barren.

Even windows of the houses were taken out and shipped to Germany. Not only were the houses of those
who fled to Italy made bare but also in most cases even those of the few remaining families. Their
furniture, beds, most of their food was taken away from them.

Many of these civilians who remained had been told by their male relatives who worked eight months per
year in Germany what wonderful people the Germans were and naturally when they invaded Italy
expected them to be so. They did not flee to Italy because they were afraid of losing their homes and
property. How much they were disappointed, only one who has talked to the people can know. The fact is
they would have been one hundred per cent better off if they too had fled, as the Venetian refugees were
treated royally throughout Italy especially so in southern Italy. There were almost two million throughout
the Italian Peninsula.

For one month I worked in Udine, emptying stores, homes, warehouses, etc.

Chapter 34 News from the Front

In the meantime, we beard very little of what was happening at the Front. On the French Front we heard
that the Yanks were landing in great numbers regardless of the submarines.

On our own Front, we were informed that the Italians with few British and French divisions had
succeeded in keeping the Germans from crossing the Piave. This was good news to most of us, in fact
about 99 out of 100 - - - the other one was sorry because the Germane were stopped because it delayed
peace and would have to be a prisoner so much longer. Luckily that type was a very small minority.

The Germans themselves now admitted heavy losses at the Front and found out that not all Italians could
be trapped like we had been trapped. Their dream of Venice, Milan, Rome, etc., was temporarily off.

It must be said that it was the class of 1899 at that time consisting of boys 18 years of age who actually
saved Italy at the Piave. We also learned that Diaz was now Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Army in
place of Cadorna. Though I was sorry to see Cadorna lose command, I was very much displeased with his
daily bulletin of October twenty-eighth after Udine was taken by the enemy where he placed the blame of
the Caporetta disaster on the poor Infantry instead of taking the blame himself along with his staff of no-
account generals.

He was also too severe with the poor soldiers. Diaz, I was told, was more lenient and, therefore, better
liked among the soldiers.

At first when I heard of General Diaz, I thought that some foreign general had taken charge of the Italian
Army as Diaz is not an Italian name. Later some of the boys told me that Diaz was general having had an
army Corp in Trentino and was Neapolitan by birth.

Chapter 35 Prisoners’ Rules

In the armory we were about 1200 men - - - that was twelve companies of 100 men each. In each
company an Italian sergeant major was in charge, and the company was sub-divided into squads of four or
platoons of 215 men in each under a sergeant.
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The sergeant majors were not compelled to work, but the sergeants were even though they were head of
squads, so naturally, I also had to go to work, but I did not mind it as we got food end other things while
we were out which we did not get by staying in the armory. Though I and other sergeants had to work, the
men of our squads either at work or at the cantonment were to obey our orders.

At first when we had squads and companies organized, some of our men rebelled at our orders and would
not do as we told them, saying that we were now all prisoners and naturally rank meant nothing any more.
At first we did not know what to do as we could not do as we were told because of the insubordination of
some of our men, We were powerless to make them obey our orders which in turn had been given us by
the Germans. The sergeants and sergeant majors took the matter up directly with the officer in charge of
our battalion and an order was issued from that command that any act of insubordination against any
Italian in charge of a company or a squad would be punished worse than the same act of insubordination
against our guards. This order was kept very strict and after a few cases where our men wanted to try to
see if the Germans meant business and found heavy penalties were given, the sergeant majors and
sergeants were restored to the place they held in the hearts of their men when in the Army.

By the Germans we were called ‘Unter Offizier”, and as they respected their “Unter Offizeir” very highly,
they saw to it that we received the same respect from our men.
As the Germans could speak no Italian, each company had also an interpreter, this man usually a Venetian
who had worked in Germany before the war was the real bead of the company even though in moat cases
he was a mere private. The fact that he could speak both German and Italian and talk fluently with our
guards made him indispensable.

These interpreters were allowed as much freedom as the guards. In fact even more for they had no work
hours. The sergeant majors at the head of the companies were mere figure beads as the interpreter got
everything his own way with regard to the company. The Germans protected him more than the head of
the company. The interpreter took orders only from the Germans but none from the Sergeant major or
sergeants.

Sorry to say that many, many had deals. Many of theses interpreters were more German than the Germans
themselves, They all got new suits from the warehouses with a sleeve band lettered “Interpreter” in
German. Even the German guard, that is the privates, respected and were afraid of them because they
could go back to their superiors and report them.

The injustice of these Venetian interpreters against their fellow Italian prisoners was greater than anyone
could imagine.

These men became chummy with German officers and on account of their knowledge of both languages
were often taken with them when raiding a private home for their pleasure. As far as I could find out, no
interpreter was forcibly taken to any of the raids, but many went to have a good time for themselves also,
and in the meantime, ruin their own country folk and neighbors.

When we told these interpreters in an angry way that they would repent their actions, they would laugh
and say that the Allies were as good as gone and that after a disastrous peace Italy would have enough to
worry without bothering about their actions. But such was not the case, for when we got back to Italy
after the Armistice, these men were for the most part reported to the military authorities and thousands of
them were given from fifteen to twenty-five yearn in prison for their one year of fun.

A company of one hundred Germans of the Landstrum were our guards with a German Lieutenant in
charge of the whole works. There were also German sergeants and corporals in the company. Our guards
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were for the most part old men about forty or forty-five years of age. Many had sons also in the army.
They were mostly from Bavaria.

Though we were beaten up frequently by them when we did not do as we were told, on the whole I had
seen much worse German guards than those we had at Udine. Most of our beatings came through
misunderstanding, as they would tell us to do a certain thing in German and naturally none of us
understood end paid no attention to what he said until we got the butt end of the rifle against our back or a
shove or even severe beatings by them.

As long as Italian food remained in the warehouses, we were fed on that, but as soon as it was shipped to
Germany, we wore again placed on German rations which towards my last days at Udine consisted of
coffee in the morning, broth from horse flesh, and a few German noodles in it. On rare occasions, at noon,
in the evening broth again or coffee with one-fourth loaf of black bread. This was far from being
sufficient but the natives gave us “polenta” as we passed them to and from work in exchange for articles
found where we worked.

Towards the middle of December we had almost emptied out every warehouse, shop, and home in Udine
and everything had been shipped to Germany.

On one occasion in an attic of a home we were cleaning up, I found over 25,000 cancelled postage stamps
from all over the world, but for the most part Italian of issues of 1890 and previous to that time. Some
were rather old in envelopes. I took these stamps, filled my bread sack with them and during the time I
spent in the hospitals and camps during my prison year, I spent much of my time fixing these postage
stamps.

On December ninth for the first time, we were given permission to write home. Of course, we were told
that the letter must be short with only a few words of salutation and saying we were prisoners and were
treated “royally.” That was the first time in almost two months since we had written home. I doubted very
much whether the Germans actually intended to send our letters, Mine was never received. I think we
were told we could write only because we expressed the desire strongly to our interpreters and they in
turn submitted it to the Lieutenant in charge of us.

I wrote to Forli and to Chicago, respectively.

Chapter 36 Farmers Leave for Germany

On the night of December fourteenth, an order came to the commander of the companies that all the
farmers would leave the next morning for Germany. The remaining trades at least for a while longer
would remain in Udine.

Our work at Udine was almost finished, some were afraid that when that was done they would be sent to
dig trenches in the rear of the German lines at the Piave.

So when farmers were asked for a great many more than were actually farmers answered. My friends of
my squad all signed up as farmers and induced me to do likewise as food was getting scarce and real
winter was setting in, although at Udine it is not nearly as cold as it is further South.

A group of over 1000 had given their names as farmers and in the morning of the fifteenth we were lined
up in front of our armory with all of our equipment, that is with food we had saved up which we got from
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the natives from time to time. I also had about eight or ten books which I had found and which I intended
to read later on.

We expected to leave by train for Germany from Udine so we were all surprised when we were about to
leave to be told that we had to walk to Cividale for the train.

We knew immediately that we were not going to Germany and that it was a ruse to separate us as had
happened when at Laibach. We were naturally all very much discontented by the way our guards kept
fooling us. We wondered if they were going to make us walk the entire way to Laibach again.

The way they insisted that we were going made us feel worse toward them. We knew perfectly well that
to go to Germany we could not go by the way of Cividale as from Cividale one would have to return to
Udine to go to Germany.

It was now too late to withdraw from the party who were leaving, though many tried to do so, I, too, was
sorry for giving my name as a farmer.

It was a sad bunch of prisoners who left Udine on that day for Cividale. Our guards kept close watch over
us for fear we would run away, but some did run away especially those with light packs. With my heavy
pack of books, stamps, food, etc., I could not very well. run away even though I would have liked to do
so. Before leaving, we were given our daily rations.

Our trip of 16 kilometers was made in an ugly mood, none of us knew what the future would bring us
after a rather nice month’s stay at Udine. We knew that Cividale was not our destination.

That night as per usual when marching we were put in a large vacant lot at Cividale surrounded by heavy
barbed wire fencing and the guards kept close guard all night long. We built fires and made polenta with
the cornmeal given us by the natives at Udine. We talked all night until our wood gave out and slept
around our fire.

The next morning we were given cornmeal, noodles and raw meat, a bit of salt and some tea (dried
leaves).

At Udine I had given my name in as a private in order that I would not be separated from my friends and
to be relieved of the responsibilities of taking charge of a squad which not only was tedious but also one
was not thanked in the least by our captors. It was not until the following day, at Udine one of the guards
had known me, when I was recognized as a sergeant end was immediately given a squad of twenty-five
men to take care of. Not only was I angry for ever leaving Udine, but now also to be placed in charge of
these men.

We were made into ten companies of 100 men each, each company of four squads. Since the food we
were given was very little, I had an idea that instead of dividing equally our 26 rations we would get more
out of it if we all put it together and cooked it in one lump. This made a hit with my men and I proceeded
to cook the meat and then make polenta with the cornmeal given us. We made our mush and boiled our
meat in pails which the boys left in their retreat. In this way we got twenty-five healthy portions while the
other boys of the other squads complained that their portions were not as large as ours.

The most disgusting thing was getting in line for the roll call which happened three and four times a day
while marching to Cambresco.
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We would be lined up for hours in the cold while the Germans would be taking it easy by some warm
fireplace nearby. Many a time after being in line for hours the German “Unter Offizier” would send word
out by one of his men to break ranks and to meet again in an hour or so.

We were now in camping grounds formerly used for Austrian prisoners before being sent to the interior of
Italy, previous to the Caporetto disaster, They were enclosed by a barbed wire fence.

During our stay at Cividale, we were kept under close surveillance. We had guards every ten yards around
our camp.

Two days we remained at Cividale and then with heavy hearts we went again towards the mountains in
the Natisone River Valley. We made a short stop at Azzida and then followed up the tributary of the
Natisone called Erbezzo. We passed up the small villages of S. Leonardo and Stregna and then left the
river course and went up a high mountain range. We were all very cold. There was much snow and ice. It
was a very tedious march and also a long one. When at the summit of the range which was 806 meters
high, we also found the old Austro-Italian boundary. There were old cement ports which had been torn
down by our men on May 24, 1915. Right below us was a small stream - - - the Judrio - - - which at that
point could easily be walked over.

Chapter 37 Arriving at the Judrio

We were told that we were soon at the end of our journey and that we would stop at some shacks at the
edge of the stream.

From a point about two kilometers south of us, all the way to Chiopris, a distance of about 45 miles, the
Judrio formed the old boundary between Italy and Austria.

We were placed in barracks in the Judrio valley where the stream ran past our door. These barracks
formerly were used as first aid camps when our boys were fighting in this vicinity before Caporetto.
There was still medicine and first aid packets all over the place. On the roof was a large Red Cross. Two
companies were placed here. Others went into barracks near by,

It was on December 17, 1917, when we arrived at this cold place. We were told that we would remain
here for many days. In fact I did not leave that miserable place until February fifth, or for more than one
and a half months. These days spent at Cambresco were about the most miserable I ever spent in my life.

1918
Chapter 1 In a Miserable Place

I have suffered cold, hunger, ill health, bad treatment by our captors. As a sample of my spirit in those
days, I quote the following from my diary written on January 26, 1918:

“Dad’s 49th birthday - - - poor Dad will I ever see him again? Soon I hope to. This prisoner’s
life is not at all agreeable. Am disheartened and beginning to think I’ll never see home again.
Today is nice and sunny; usual food; three months ago I was made prisoner. Washed clothing.”

In this valley we were near no civilians, the nearest village was Cambresco about 3 kilometers away in
the mountains.
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We were then told what we came for. We were to clear out all artillery pieces in the surrounding country
left by our men when they retreated, also all ammunition, rifles, etc., left in the hasty retreat. This work
was very heard, especially for me who was daily getting weaker by lack of proper nourishment. We had
to dig in the snow to find all the rusty and useless equipment.

Our first work was to get together all of the artillery pieces which were hidden in ravines, in the mountain
sides, etc. We brought all of these pieces on the roadway with hard tussles. As many as 200 men pulled
heavy ropes at one time to get the pieces on the road. The pieces were mostly of 149 C.M. caliber, though
few larger ones of 210 C.M. were also found. Looking for and carrying shells, both loaded and empty was
also hard work. The loaded ones weighed 45 kilos or 100 pounds. Two men in our condition could not
carry one of these. We would pile all of these things neatly on the roadside and the German auto trucks
would come and carry them off.

The work we did is best described in my diary under the date of January 9, 1918:
“Arose at 5:45 a.m. Went to work with the men for the first time this year. The work consisted
of pulling heavy 149 caliber cannon and heavy carts from hidden places to the street; also picking up
ammunition, old clothes, etc. We worked at the battered village of Srednje, about 5 kilometers from
Cambresco. At 2:00 p.m. we returned, had our meal, being very hungry.’

My weather report for the day said ‘Snow’.

As for food, at first we ate fairly well, most of us having provisions from Udine. But as that was gone, we
had to depend entirely what the Germans gave us which was not much. In the morning we were given hot
water to drink and with that in our stomachs we did not eat any more until 3:00 p.m. after we came back
from eight hours of work. Except for what was called tea in the morning and bread in the afternoon, all
the rest of the food was raw which, of course, we had to cook ourselves. In the afternoon we were given
cornmeal, barley, or a little bit of noodles with horse flesh which was almost uneatable (inedible). It came
pickled and in large barrels.

Up to the middle of January, our principle food consisted of chestnuts which we found in great quantities
in the surrounding country. We boiled and we roasted them. In America roasted chestnuts are a luxury
while here they kept us from starving. Every night before retiring we filled up on chestnuts.

That we ate most anything we could lay our bands on was proven when on January eleventh I was
fortunate to get three kinds of meat besides fish. On that day besides having horse meat, as was always
the case, I also ate dog and cat meat.

The day previous one of the men in my squad, a Venetian, saw a large wolf bound near our shack and
asked our guard if he would kill it for us. The guard sent the poor beast a few rifle shots and killed him
instantly. This man went after him and skinned him. After a dog was skinned not one in a hundred could
tell whether it was a dog or a sheep. After the dog was skinned and thoroughly cleaned, it was tied to a
large rock and let lay in running water in the Judrio for twenty-four hours. This it was said takes all of the
bad odor out of the dead animal, though I never smelled anything wrong with it. The next day when the
men came back from work it was chopped up in pieces and we ate stew (mutton stew) with it. Of course,
all of the boys knew it was dog meat and several would not taste it. But if it had been passed around to
people not imagining it was dog meat, one out of one hundred would not refuse and would have eaten
same with the assumption that the meat was mutton. As the man who owned it was from my squad, I
naturally was in on all the ‘mutton stew meals’, which by the way lasted four days. On the same day
another man from my squad found a cat under our shack. This was also killed and stewed so we had
‘rabbit stew’ also. The cat was such more delicious than the horse or dog, though in a pinch as we were
in, both were good.
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The importance given to food was clearly shown daily in the way it was mentioned daily in the diary. For
instance, one day when I had more than usual it was mentioned under the day of January twelfth. The
diary reads:
“Had another nice piece of dog and also two or three pieces of cat, and thereby mixing dog and
cat again today. Ate chestnuts and polenta in abundance also.”

We saw very few civilians during this period. The few we did see were women, two of which would
come frequently to our place with milk for the sick. This milk was not free as the needy ones would pay
for it and pay plenty. These women were not Italian though they spoke very similar to those at our Front
in the Isonzo. Their sympathies were all for the Italians.

Not all of the men who came with us from Udine remained with us. In the month and a half I was there,
about ten per cent ran away or escaped and a similar number went back to Udine hospitals being too ill to
stand up. Three from my squad had run away and never returned to our camp.

Our treatment by our guards while here was much worse than we had when in Udine, while our work was
one hundred per cent harder. Every morning at 5:30 a.m. German guards would come to our shack with
clubs and straps and any one who was not up when they came was in for a severe beating. If by chance he
slipped when being placed in line on his return to the shack he was in for a severe beating and went
without food. In this way many physically unfit for work, especially the heavy work which was being
done up in those mountains, were bullied and beaten into submission or until they fell exhausted by the
wayside.

Though I was not excluded from working, I did not go more than ten times during my forty-five days’
stay, being somehow lucky enough to get away with it while others doing similar stunts would be beaten
probably my being a sergeant made them more lenient towards me.

During our stay here we were paid. I was paid 1/2 Corona per day or about 10 cents. All the men received
the same salary regardless of their rank in the Army. The difference we were told we would receive when
we returned to Italy.

At one time while the men were working one day carrying ammunition near Cambresco one shell
exploded severely wounding one man and slightly wounding four others. This accident made the men
more reluctant than ever to do that work.

Chapter 2 In Failing Health

My health during our stay here was getting worse and worse. I felt weaker every day. I could hardly walk
to Cambresco to the German doctor who visited us. At first he would order me several days rest, then as I
did get any better, in fact I felt not only weak but also feverish, on February fifth I was ordered to go to
the hospital. I was very glad to leave that desolate region. I was sorry to leave only a few of the boys of
my squad who had been very kind to me and helped me when I could not help myself.

The boys all envied me because I was going to Cividale or Udine. Their work at Cambresco was almost
finished and they were wondering where they would be sent next.

On the morning of February fifth, I was accompanied by a Wurttemberg guard to the road that led to
Cividale from Cambresco. Here we waited for a truck which brought ammunition, clothes, etc., to
Cividale and from there sent to Germany. Before leaving, I was given a ration of food.
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We got on the second of eighteen trucks full of material found in the neighboring country to be shipped to
Germany. We got on a truck full of old clothes and thereby kept pretty warm. The ride was over 20
kilometers and not long after we got on the truck the military chauffeurs came to a halt and had their noon
meals. Two of them passed their whole mess to my guard and I which we ate with much satisfaction.

This was the first time I had eaten regular German mess. It consisted of beans, potatoes and canned meat.
It was really very good. Later I got another mess pot full which I kept with me to eat at the hospital.

The guard who accompanied me was the best German I had seen in the enemy army. He was the only one
who really did not treat us captives as slaves. He was, as I said before, a Wurtenburger of forty-three
years of age and father of four children one of which he said was at the Front. He took care of me like a
nurse, gave me a blanket, brought me food and gave me every possible care.

I tried to talk to him and he to me, but we could not make much headway. Both of us were jolly as we
rode by the country which was once a happy land of Venetians but now was in ruins and a wasted tract of
land with little or no inhabitants.

At Cividale he took me to the headquarters of his company or regiment where he also took the mail to
bring back to his pals in Cambresco, then he took me to a hospital. On the way to the hospital a woman
gave me some “polenta” (cornmeal mush). I must have looked pretty bad. I do know that in one month
and a half I only shaved twice.

Chapter 3 The Hospital at Cividale and Udine

At the hospital, the name I do not remember, I bade my only enemy “friend” I had in one year of prison
life goodbye and I was taken roughly and given a thorough bath, then all my blankets and clothing were
disinfected. After all that was done I was given a long shirt and taken in a large room where only one half
of the beds were occupied. Here a rough German Corporal showed me my bed and there I remained for
only a short time. On the right of me in another bed was a Romanian war prisoner on the left a Sicilian,
across from me a Russian. A nice combination that made!

The Romanian and I had quite a conversation. A little mixture of Italian, Romanian, French, German and
English plus the deaf mute language; in this way we understood each other very well.

It was about 9:00 p.m. and I was about to go to sleep in the bed for the first time in. many months when
the German Corporal put on the lights again our room and told me and two others to prepare immediately
to leave the hospital. He gave us our clothes. The thing was rushed so much that it seemed the fate of the
war depended on our leaving the hospital.

While dressing we were informed that an ambulance was outside waiting for us to take us to Udine, so to
hurry. One of the boys and I were laid on stretchers while the others sat up Why a special ambulance to
carry the three of us to Udine, I could never find out? I had not been in the Cividale hospital more than
four hours.

It was after 10:30 when we got to Udine. When we got there we were placed in a large room with a
mattress on the floor. We were placed in the corridor of the Tomadine hospital here we stayed all night.

It was while laying here that a German officer came by, noticed me reading an English book and later in
the night sent for me to go to his room. It was after 11:00 p.m. when I went to his room. He treated me
very nicely, told me to sit down in English.
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Then he started a conversation in English. He spoke very good English as he said be had been many years
in London where he owned a large store. He, of course, asked how I happened to be in the Italian army
with the knowledge of the English language that I had. He knew immediately by my accent that I came
from America.

Naturally, I had to lie to him as I would not for the world have him know I voluntarily enlisted in the
Italian Army while in America. I told him I happened to be traveling in Italy when war broke out and that
I was forced into the Army.

He was very jolly and was glad so he said, to find one who could converse with him in the English
language. He told me time and again not to feel as a prisoner feels towards his captors, but to feel
perfectly at ease and to ask any questions I might want to. I, of course, took that statement with a “little
grain of salt”.

One thing he did not ask me was about military operations. Most of our talk was about the conduct of the
Germans during the war. He tried to show me how perfectly right the Germans were in the submarine
warfare and how they were doing it for their life preservation and how it was just as bad if not worse to
starve millions of German children as to sink every enemy vessel with soldiers and ammunition on board.
He called all the German atrocities in Belgium probably propaganda to defeat the German cause, He
asked me about America and their feeling towards the war when I was there, I told him that the sinking of
the Lusitania was a severe blow to the German cause in America. He told me that American troops were
now coming to help in the French Front, but that up to that time there were not enough to beat one
German division. He also said that he thought America could never send enough troops to amount to
much in France. He also talked about Italy betraying Germany when they were allied. His chief enemy so
far as he was concerned was France. He talked about how Russia and Romania had been beaten and
thought the same would happen to Italy, though be was surprised at the Italian resistance at the Piave. Our
conversation lasted until after 1:00 a.m., I did very little talking. It was he who explained everything to
me. After our talk I went back to my mattress on the floor and slept until morning.

Early the same morning I was awakened by an orderly who made me take a second bath in two days. My
clothes were also disinfected again and then I was put in a regular bed. In the afternoon after a light meal I
was again told to dress up and left the Tomadine hospital with an ambulance and was sent to the Duoddo
Hospital also in Udine. Why I should cause these Germane so much worry and trouble was beyond me,
for though I felt weak I knew I had no serious disease.

The next day I was firmly settled in the Duoddo hospital. An Italian Captain of the Medical Corps was the
chief doctor of the hospital but also under orders of the German officials.

He visited me thoroughly and ordered an injection of iron in my back daily. I thought I was going to make
a siege of it at the hospital, instead I was let out again after four days.

While at the hospital, I had good food though not in great quantities. We had one thin slice of bread with
coffee in the morning. At noon some thin soup and one more slice of bread and coffee. In the evening we
had two slices of bread with marmalade. Such was the food given during my first stay at the hospital and
also when I returned.

During my first stay I was placed in the third section, bed #180. I did not get up as the injections hurt my
back immensely and, therefore, remained in bed all of the time reading and fixing up postage stamps I had
found. We had two German women nurses whom we had a hard time understanding.
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The last day before leaving the doctor changed my diet, giving me white bread instead of black and also
more soup.

On the twelfth of February just five days after going to the hospital, I was let out because sixty wounded
German soldiers came from the Front. I was very sorry to leave because in spite of the pain I had to go
through every day when given the injection, I was getting to like the place in spite of the fact that during
the four whole days I was there two men died in bed, one being only two beds away from me. These
deaths were due principally from long suffering and weakness of the body.

Chapter 4 Back to the Alpine Camp

When I left the hospital, I was sent to the old Alpine Headquarters where I was stationed before I left for
Cambresco, I was given a place to sleep in a bunk and was immediately placed at the head of a squad and
given a. new prisoner number, being K.L.U. #1247.

The food given at camp was much worse than before. We left for Cambresco on December sixteenth. The
meal consisted of a bit of thin kraut boiled in water, then a bit of colored water called tea and some kraut
and one-fourth loaf of bread in the evening.

In five days that I was in the company I went to work only one day. On that day I went out to load show
cases and store fixtures as all the stores by that time were completely emptied of all except the walls.
While I was out of the hospital, I found that at Udine a two-page newspaper was published daily called
the “Bollettino” which gave the complete war bulletins of all the Fronts, principally the German, the
Austrian and the Italian bulletins. The Italian war bulletins were printed just as given out by General Diaz
without it being censored. Of course, they would always comment on the Italian bulletin saying that
different portions of it was not truthful. I did not see how such a newspaper could be placed on a paying
basis with so few Italians remaining at Udine and the surrounding country. Of course, they had it printed
under German supervision. It was through this newspaper I first read of the German-Russian peace at
Brest Litawawsk. I thought at first that it might be a step nearer peace.

This paper had very little news from the Front, most were long articles giving reasons why Germany was
at war and placing all the blame of the war on the Allies. Of this paper I had several copies, but lost them
during my stay at Sigmundsherberg.

Not feeling well again four days later after I left the hospital, I went to see the doctor and he again ordered
me to the hospital which I entered the following day. I returned to the Duoddo but this time had had #136,
Section #2.

The first day I had a bit of fever which added to my weakened condition which worried me because there
were deaths every day at the hospital caused by similar symptoms as mine.

The food was similar as that which I was given when I was there before with a little variation on certain
days. I had black bread at the start but was changed two days later to four wheat rol1s, coffee twice a day,
three soups per day, two thin soups and one dense with macaroni. I also was given one-half glass of wine.
If I had been always fed on such a menu from the day I was captured, I certainly would not at that time
have been in the hospital in such a weak condition that I could hardly stand up. The above mentioned
menu lasted only until they ran out of wheat bread which was only a few weeks.

At one time during the month of March, the doctor considered me a pretty sick fellow at least judging by
the care and medicines I was getting. Every twenty-four hours I was given three pills, three drops of
 144

medicine in water, tincture of iodine on my back and one iron injection on my chest. All of this was kept
up for over two weeks. Later my right knee which had been wounded in November, 1916, started to pain
and throw out some blood so that it also had to be bandaged. My food was always being increased.

During the time I spent at the hospital I wrote home and to Forli several times. The hospital authorities
gave me permission but not only did I never get an answer but no one received my letters.

As I said before, I spent most of my time while at the hospital reading or writing. I read not only the
“Bollettino” when I could get it, but also books which I had and that were passed around the hospital.
Among the books I read were Les Miserables by Victor Hugo in Italian, David Copperfield by Dickens,
Italian, also A Trip In Auto From Paris to Pekin by Barzini.

By reading the “Bollettino” we were kept well posted on the war operations especially on the Piave Front.
We used to read about the Great Romanian Retreat, also that Romania was trying to get a separate peace
treaty with Germany and Austria.

We also read of rebellions in Japan against the war, also riots in Ireland, that America was not sending
troops, only money and ammunition and food, which was sunk by German submarines. A report also
came that not only Japan had joined the Allies but the Argentine Republic was seriously thinking of doing
the same.

I also read with great interest of the German offensive of the end of March 1918. In five days the
Germans were reported to have made 90,000 prisoners, also recaptured all of the territory lost to the
Allies during the years of 1916 and 1917.

One or two weeks later the 90,000 prisoners had been reduced to only 50,000 and the battle was still
raging.

The paper made much noise of the fact that both Great Britain and Italy were starving because the food
coming from the United States was being sunk by the submarines. We heard of rebellions in Italy and that
General Diaz had given orders that all civilians who lived in the cities of Treviso, Padova, Verona and
Venice should be sent to the interior of Italy. I read much of the giant cannons which bombarded Paris.
They were, we were told, of Austrian make and operated by Austrian artillery officers and soldiers.

On the twenty-fourth of March we read of the Courneune Disaster in which thousands were killed and
wounded and thirty million bombs exploded so the paper said and that Paris was in a panic.

During the latter part of March, a Russian wounded on the left foot was given the bed next to mine. He
and I became great friends immediately. He taught me some Russian and by hook or crook we managed
to carry on conversations all day long.

Our conversations were a mixture of all languages then known plus the deaf mute and using the pencil to
draw objects which we could not understand. His name was Ivan Stoyan. He was twenty-eight years of
age with a nine year old son and widower, He had a large mustache, blond, with blue eyes. He had been
taken prisoner three years before by the Austrians at the Carpathian Mountains. He had just been
wounded while gathering ammunition left by the Italians in their retreat near the Piave. He was wounded
by an unexpected explosion of an old bomb. He was wounded in several places but his worst injury was
his left foot. He had been wounded two months before be came to the Duoddo hospital.
 145

He was a very jolly fellow and also a good eater. He would buy from five to eight additional slices of
bread besides that which was given him. During the month of March moat of all the Germans at the
Italian Front had left for the French Front and the Austrians were again given control of the Italian Front.

The Italian Army at that time must have been very well fixed to have the Germans return home with
giving it another fight. They certainly would have tried to take Venice which was much coveted by them
if the German command thought he had a slight chance to succeed. I was glad to see the Germans slowly
leaving the Italian Front for I knew the Italians were not afraid of the entire Austrian Army and the result
of the Italian victory of June and again in October of that year bore out my view point.

I knew from what I had seen and heard that the Austrian Army was demoralized and had lost its courage,
we also heard on March fourteenth that a division of Austrian troops had rebelled at the Piave Front and
that they were disarmed and accompanied to Udine by German guards armed with rifles and bayonets.

They being accompanied by German guards instead of those of their own country sought more discord
between the two nations, even by the loyal Austrian.

The German always taunted and ridiculed an Austrian soldier on the street. The Austrian on the other
hand was extremely jealous of the German and many times I was told by them that if it had not been for
German stubbornness the war would have been over several years earlier.

During the latter part of the month of March, I heard that the natives of Udine and the surrounding
country were on the verge of starvation. The Germans before leaving took the rest of their provisions and
now the Austrian military command was given orders to give only 150 grams of flour per day and 200
grains of meat per week per person, that in American weight is three pounds of flour every ten days and
four pounds of meat every ten weeks. Those rations were very small and certainly not enough to keep a
human being alive if he had that alone. Luckily many had hidden much food under floors, attics, etc.,
when the Germans came.

Chapter 5 The Germans Leave and the Austrians Take Over

On April seventh the Germans gave the control of our hospital to the Austrian command. Our German
orderly told us they were going back to the French Front. A few days previous to this day Austrian
officers came to inspect the hospital.

The following day all of the Germans were gone and we had two Austrian doctors, eight women nurses,
cooks, etc. - - - from the very first day we saw that we were not going to be handled with the same
precision as when in control of the Germans. There was disorder from the first day.

Our food was the first to suffer as immediately we were given a new diet arid instead of five meals per
day as the Germans were giving us, we were given only three meals. In the morning we were given
potatoes, broth; at noon a couple of spoonful of soup and one half loaf of bread (small bread). In the
evening coffee and a piece of cornmeal mush hardened.

In the meantime, there were several deaths pr week in the hospital due to weakness.

Early in April we heard of the continued battle raging in France and that the Turks beat the English in the
Palestine; that President Wilson and ex-presidents Taft and Roosevelt were making speeches throughout
the United States for the continuation of war. The Japs had captured Wladiwostok (German spelling of
Vladivostok) in Siberia.
 146

Two days after the Austrians got hold of the hospital, we were told that all of us would be shipped to the
interior of Austria. A list was made of all those who were to leave. My name was also included, but the
following day was scratched off from those who were to leave which pleased me, as none of us were very
anxious to leave Udine.

On April eleventh, four days after the Austrians had taken charge of the hospital, one hundred and ten left
the hospital and Udine for Krakow in the interior of Austria, Hungary, but now part of Poland. This was
more than half of the total number of patients in the hospital. Of ninety-three in our section only twenty-
eight remained. They were very sorry to leave Udine, especially as they did not know where they were
going to be sent. I was then transferred to another section, the first section of the hospital.

All of the changing and moving around caused quite a confusion in the hospital on that day. We were not
even given our meals and again I repeat that when the Germans left for the French Front they took with
them all of the precision, order and discipline.

Though there was much disorder, the Austrians treated us more humanely than the Germans did. We were
treated as equals not as inferiors and prisoners.

The day after the boys left the hospital for the interior, twenty more were let out of the hospital as entirely
healed and were sent to Austrian camps where prisoners were kept at Udine. With only a few of us left in
the hospital our food was much better.

In the meantime, I was not entirely well. In fact on April twelfth, the day after the gang of one hundred
and ten left the hospital, I had a very high fever. The nurses and doctors examined me and found me to
have bronchial catarrh. I could not get any medicine as the hospital was cleared of all medicine by the
Germans when they left less than a week before.

I thought that a striking example of German greediness. On to the German slogan that “to the victors
belong the spoils”. I thought in this case they were stretching their point too far. Depriving a hospital of
over two hundred patients of medicines, bandages, etc., and taking them away from their allied nation.

To a certain extent the Austrians were right in not being friendly and helping out the Germans.

About this time I became friendly with the Austrian cook of the hospital. He was a man of about forty
years of age and had been in America. He could speak fairly good English and he liked to speak English
and together we had long conversations. He said he lived in Boston and Providence for many years and
returned to Austria two years before the war. Through him I was able to get additional food. As I did not
care to leave Udine, I asked him if he could find a place for me in the kitchen. He said he would try to
help me. The next day he talked to the commanding officer in the hospital and he consented to have me
work in the kitchen with the cook.

I was glad I landed the job not only because I would not have to leave Udine, but because being in the
kitchen, I figured that there was no more a chance of dying of starvation as I had greatly feared if ever I
was let out of the hospital.

On April eighteenth, I began as a helper to the cook in the kitchen. I had hopes of it lasting for a long
time. My duties were to prepare bread and other food to be distributed to the patients. To be sure I had
sufficient food, in fact too much.
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My hours were long, I had to get up at 6:00 a.m. and worked right through until 8:00 p.m. - - - fourteen
hours a day, I felt from the first I could not endure the long hours, always on my feet. After I had helped
prepare the food for the patients, I had to help with washing the dishes, scrubbing the floors, washing
windows, etc. All of this work was much too hard for me, but I kept right at it thinking I might get used to
it. In the kitchen there were four Italians, the Austrian cook and an Austrian matron, a young lady
seemingly of aristocratic family, but not at all snobbish, in fact very good-natured. She could also speak
fairly good Italian.

It was strange to me how many Austrians spoke Italian, over 50 per cent of the officers I had come in
contact with from April until Armistice Day could speak Italian, while also many of the regular privates
spoke Italian. It was also strange to me that from the day I was taken prisoner until I was transferred to the
Austrian command on April seventh, I did not meet one officer or private who knew one word of Italian.

The hospital was getting more vacant every day as the patients were improving, They were sent to the
concentration camp of Udine. This brought out among us that the hospital was held in readiness for an
approaching Austrian offensive in the Piave, so we thought. Austrian wounded would be brought to this
hospital instead of sending them into Austria.

As helper to the cook, I was allowed more liberty than when in bed. I would go out alone to get the
“Bollettino” and found out from the natives of Udine something of their grievances.

I was told that now Udine was entirely under Austrian supervision and that it now had its own money and
its own postage stamps. Both the money and the postage stamps were written in Italian. The postage
stamps had pictures of Emperor Karl, The Italian money was used. We were also paid in this new paper
money. The few days I was a kitchen helper were what proved to be my last days at Udine.

I was very much interested in the welfare of the natives. They told me also that the new money was not
worth the paper which it was printed on, although its face value of one lira of this money was equal to one
Austrian Korona. Strange as it may seem, even when working under the Germans at Cambresco we were
paid in Austrian Korona, instead of German Marks. The natives would not accept the new money except
when forced by the Austrians.

The natives were now much worse off insofar as food was concerned as they were cleaned out by the
departing Germans, The rations given them by the Austrians were far from being sufficient.

The morale of the people on the whole was much better. There were little or no outrages going on as
when the Germans were stationed there. There was much prostitution going on. The lack of food made
that evil a great one. Many girls who were outraged by the Germans at the start of the occupation of
Udine by the enemy were now compelled on account of not being able to get food to continue to sell their
bodies to the Austrian officers and soldiers and in this way were saved from starvation.

I was very sorry to see this state of affairs in our temporary provinces. Although Udine before 1866 was
part of Austria Hungary, it was now a foregone conclusion that regardless of the out come of the war
when peace was declared, it would absolutely return to Italy with the rest of the territory lost to Germany.
I could not see the reason for this but I knew from even the most enthusiastic Austrian officers; it was not
the opinion that Italy’s old boundaries would be restored at the close of the war even if won by them.
They said that England and France would have to pay for the war.

During this time, the middle of April, there was much movement of soldiers in Udine. All of the Austrian
troops from the Romanian Front and most of those on the Romanian Front were sent to the Italian Front
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to replace the Germans who had left for the French Front. With all of the men, the officers boasted of
having in the Piave, I dreaded the outcome of an offensive in that region. That offensive was expected
daily, but did not come until two months later.

We also beard there were some internal troubles in Austria between themselves and Hungary. There was
a clash we were told that developed in Premier Count Czerin of that country leaving the government on
April nineteenth.

On April twentieth, my fifth day at the kitchen, I was working hard as usual thinking how long I would be
able to last without breaking down. I was called for in the morning by the nurse and taken to the doctor
who examined me. I was surprised because I did not ask for an examination and was a helper and was not
supposed to be sick. After a thorough examination, he placed me among those who were leaving for the
interior of Austria. I was very much surprised and complained that I was promised a steady place in the
kitchen of the hospital, but to no avail. I was told that I must be ready to leave by noon on a Red Cross
train. He told me in a nice way that I would be better off where I was going and that my health had not
been fully recovered and that I might get worse by working so hard in the kitchen. I knew it was a good
way to tell me that I must leave. While if the Germans had been there in place of them, there would be no
come back of any sort.

Chapter 6 Leaving Udine for Laibach

I was very sorry to have to leave as I did not know what was in store for me.

Anyway at about 2:00 pm. thirty-five of us left the hospital for the railway station in ambulances. We
were placed in a Red Cross coach of thirteen men per coach on stretchers similar to those when I was
taken from Cervignano to Ravenna when I was wounded in November 1916. Four hours later, we left
Udine after much confusion. This was the last time I saw Udine and I was very sorry to leave it. We did
not know where our destination was. It had been rumored that we were to go to Hungary. We went by the
way of Gorizia. The railway line which was torn up and under which we sheltered ourselves from the first
shell shots I had heard in October and November 1915 was now fully repaired and trains were running
from Trieste to Udine by the way of Gorizia as before the war. By train we passed our old familiar places
of Manzano, San Giovanni di Manzano where in the dreary nights of September 29, 1915, I first saw the
war zone, then on to Carmons which I also knew. Here the train stopped for quite a bit. In the meantime,
it was time to go to sleep and all the lights were put out. The next stop was Gorizia which I could not see
though I would have liked to very much. Upon leaving Gorizia we passed through the Isonzo valley and
the St. Michele region where I gained my first impression of the war.

While at Cormons a trainload of Austrians was also a topped there on their way to the Piave. They were
from the Romanian Front so they told us. On our Red Cross train were two hundred Austrians, forty
Italians, and a few Russians, sick and wounded, all going to a hospital again.

During the night I found out by an Austrian wounded in the stretcher next to mine that we were going to
Laibach. The first stop after the shades and after we were given coffee was Adelsberg. Here Red Cross
nurses came on our trains and gave cigarettes and more hot coffee. It was nice to see that we all were
treated alike by them, that is both prisoners and regulars in the army. Many of them could speak Italian
fluently.

Before noon we arrived at Laibach. Before getting off of the train, we were taken out of our stretchers and
brought in a large Red Cross shack from where we awaited the ambulances. Here again the nurses gave us
more food, another slice of bread and coffee.
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I was again agreeably surprised at our treatment by the Austrian girl nurses and also men stretcher
bearers. We were treated as nice if not better than if we had arrived in Italy in similar conditions.

When the Ambulances came we were loaded up in them, two per auto, and taken to a very large hospital
in Laibach; on our way I wanted to sit up to see part of the town we were passing and the male nurse in
the auto helped me sit up and gave me a place by the window. At the hospital we were first given a bath
and then placed in bed. Later in the evening we were given a roll for supper.

From the little I saw of Laibach from the window of the ambulance and from our hospital window,
Laibach was a large city full of large buildings. The architecture of which was mostly Italian was very
nice. The Cathedral I thought was also very pretty.

During the gloomy first days of November 1917, I spent in open camps very near this city but was never
really in the town.

In my room of the hospital there were twenty-three of us of which twelve were Italian and eleven
Austrian. The food, treatment, etc., were the same for all.

The day following my arrival at the hospital an Italian doctor with an Italian medical officer’s uniform
examined me, After him an Austrian doctor did the same. After that examination I could not find out what
they were going to do with me. It seemed strange to me to see the Italian doctor examine the Austrian sick
also. I thought that they would not be permitted to do that.

On that day our food was somewhat more than on the previous day. It consisted of coffee at 8:00 a.m.,
two rolls and marmalade at 10:00 a.m., broth with a nice piece of meat and sour kraut at noon, tea at 4:00
p.m. and kraut again in the evening.

Kraut as a main food commenced at this hospital for me and lasted until Armistice Day. Now just to
mention the word sounds disagreeable to me.

In all I remained at this hospital only four full days. On the second full day I was again examined by an
Austrian doctor and put on the list to leave for the interior of the country. On that day I got from a nurse a
paper from Trieste printed in Italian, as all the Trieste papers were printed. I was very glad to read a real
Austrian paper written in Italian. The name of the paper was Leo del Littorale. It was a very nice paper,
very broadminded and full of war bulletins of not only the Austrian and German armies but also of every
one of the allied armies in their entirety without being censored by the government. It gave Diaz, Foch,
Haig, and Pershing official bulletins complete of the day the paper was issued which was April twenty-
first. On April twenty-third I was much surprised of the freedom of the press which was not so in Italy
and other allied nations. There was also news from the Turkish Front and Romanian Front.

The most important articles were that United States soldiers in their first engagements had lost many men
and also ground on the French Front and that on April twentieth the “Yankees” were still losing. Another
article of interest was that the first air mail service in America was established on that day between New
York City and Washington, D.C.

Another amazing thing in the paper was its freedom in discussing and letting the public know of the
internal condition of the country. It complained of the unequal distribution of grain from Hungary and
also of all the grain Germany took in the Romanian invasion without giving Austria which was not only
its ally but also had materially helped Germany with men in order to make the invasion a success. They
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aided the Germans with their trains to ship all of the soldiers there for and from Germany to Romania, a
distance of 1500 miles crossing the entire length of Austria and Hungary.

The paper complained that all of Hungary was eating white bread while in Trieste and in Bohemia (later
Czechoslovakia) the people were eating bread made from all substances except flour such as wood, saw
dust, sand, straw, powdered glass and plaster of Paris. I have paper clippings from that paper giving out to
its readers that their bread was made of the above mentioned substances.

During the short stay I was able to get a checker board from the nurse and played checkers with an
Austrian soldier whose bed was next to mine. We passed the time like this.

The food of the remaining days was about similar to that of the first days. I also got from the nurse a Red
Cross postal card which I sent to Forli. That I was told was the first card received from me which meant
that all of the previous times the Germans had told us to write they were just “stringing” us along as they
always did. My uncle who received it immediately notified my parents that I had been heard from, as up
to that time I was given up as dead.

On April twenty-fifth which was my last day in Laibach, I was given an old suit of clothes. The coat was
mine, but the pants and the hat belonged to an Austrian soldier. I was told that the following morning we
were leaving and that early in the morning to be prepared and dressed by 6:00 a.m.

Next morning early we dressed and after breakfast we were lined up. It was while getting my belongings
that I was for the first and only time mistreated by an Austrian soldier. It was a Croat corporal who while
going after my knapsack shoved me and made me fail on the floor. This brute could not speak Italian or
else I might have told him a few things. Croats and Slavonians have been and still are Italy’s worst
enemies. On our Front, they fought the hardest against us during the years of 1915 to 1918. It was to my
great surprise that Wilson in 1919 thought so much of our worst enemies in 1919 to give their claims
preference to the Italian claims. Regarding this I will write more later.

Anyway I felt pretty bad about my rough treatment in view of the fact that I always considered them
much more human than the Germans with whom we had considerable experience.

Before leaving the hospital we ate most of our food for the day, consisting of broth, meat, kraut, and
bread. We were taken to the railway station in Red Cross auto cars. At the station we were placed on Red
Cross autos again and waited over four hours before leaving.

At the station there were four train loads of soldiers on their way to the Italian Front. We heard of an
offensive against Italy which in reality did not take place until later in June. All of these men came from
the Russian Front which was now peaceful as the Russians were now fighting each other and therefore
abandoned the Fronts. Germany and Austria made peace terms with Russia which had it not been for the
more ignorant peasants which now had control of Russia I doubt whether it would have been accepted by
a stable government.

This helped both Germany and Austria very much. Germany could now give its entire attention to the
French Front. The great Austro-Hungarian empire of almost sixty million people certainly could take the
Italians in hand all alone without German help while the Turks and Bulgarians not to say anything of the
Greeks could hold their own against the Serbs and the British and French expedition at Salonike Romania
was now done for so there was little danger from that end of the Front.
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So things at that time looked very, very bad for the Allies. The Germans had already started their spring
campaigning on the French Front with a bang. It seemed as if nothing could stop them. The months of
April and May of 1818 were the best for the allies of the entire war. In the meantime, I could not help
matters any as my fighting days were over but having been through during the last six months what I had
been through my foremost wish was that I could be released to return to the Front again and would have
wanted to go to the French Front in order to meet those ‘Boches’ on more equal terms than when they
made me prisoner.

I was sorry that my wish could hardly come true for though it was not difficult to escape it was sure death
to try to cross the fighting line.

Chapter 7 Leaving Laibach

At about 3:00 p.m. we left Laibach and started northward on the road toward Vienna. We did not know
where we were bound for. All we knew we were on our way. I had a stretcher to sleep on as before. Just
before leaving we were given some boiled rice and flour by the Red Gross nurses.

I looked out of the window all afternoon as we went up the Sava River. We wound in and out among the
mountains all day. I could see that thrifty people lived in these regions as even the most inaccessible strip
of land up on the mountain side was cultivated in most cases with corn. When leaving Laibach I noticed
we were 631 kilometers away from Vienna.

Early the next morning I woke up to see the country. We were traveling through directly north and we
were told we were heading for Graz where we arrived at 6:00 a.m. I could not see much of the wonderful
city from my window, only large buildings. I would have very much liked to have seen that wonderful
city. Here Red Cross nurses came and gave us a cup of cocoa. They were the usual kind Austrian nurses I
had met at Udine and Laibach. On our coach there were fourteen of us, twelve Italians and two Russians.
One of the Russians during the day I discovered had my trousers, cap and shoes which I lad lost when I
was in the Laibach hospital. I gave him my old Austrian outfit and he gave me my own clothes back to
me which I was very glad to get. He exchanged with me very willingly.

We stayed over two hours in the Graz station. Here as in Laibach there was a great movement of troops.
A few trainloads were stopped here on their way to Italy. Every time I saw a trainload for the Italian
Front, I could not help but feel sorry for our boys on the Piave who now had such a force to contend with.

Half way between Laibach and Graz is the new Austrian and Yugoslav border, that is with the European
map we had crossed one international boundary while we were sleeping, though at the time I crossed it
only the boundary between Carmiola and Carenthia. From Graz to Bruck we kept always in sight of the
Mur(a)River which is the largest and is a tributary to the Drava River and it in turn flows into the Danube.

Four hours after leaving Graz we arrived in another large city, Bruck. Bruck like Graz is a great railway
center of Central Austria, although it is much smaller than Graz. At Bruck we were given one dinner. We
were at the railway station about an hour then we started again.

We were surprised for though we did not know where we were going we had an idea we were to go to
Vienna and then to Hungary. But instead of going northeast towards Vienna, we went northwest.

At the time the trip was made I had no map of Austria, nor was I very familiar with all of the important
cities of Austria without consulting a map so my only guide for direction of travel was the sun. We
crossed and re-orossed the Mur River several times even after leaving Bruck and followed the river
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course to Leoben which was quite a town and there proceeded to St. Michael. Here we also made a very
long stop. The country from Bruck to St. Michael was very beautiful; the mountains around us were very
pretty. We were in the upper part of Carinthia and saw a few of its famous landscapes which further
southeast near Innesbruck became so numerous and which are famous the world over. I passed through
famous regions on my return to Italy from Austria after the Armistice.

In the meantime, we wondered where we were going. It now appeared as if we were headed for Germany,
though from Laibach the trip would have been a round about affair if we had gone to Germany. We were
told, however, by the nurse who was in charge of our coach that our trip would last two more days but she
could not say where we were going. During the day the doctor examined us as if we were in the hospital.
Our meals were similar to those given at Laibach.

When we pulled in our stretchers, it was dark and we had left St. Michael early the next morning when we
arose we found ourselves stopped in another large city which I later was able to find out to be the city of
Ling. After a long wait here, we left and went northeast, crossed the Danube River which seemed to me
very, very wide though at the time I crossed it I did not know it was the Danube. The country we were
now going through was entirely different from that I had seen since leaving Udine.

Up to that time I had seen only mountainous country with small valleys but fertile as the industrious
farmers had planted grain up the mountainside as far as the snow line.

Now, we were going through level country not a mountain in sight, similar as the traveling in the
Mississippi valley. These plains were also very well cultivated with grain and fruit trees.

We knew that we were now heading for Bohemia as it was then known, but which is now known as
Czechoslovakia. At about noon, we passed the new Czechoslovakia borders and proceeded towards
Budweis, passing on there were such towns as Freistadt, Oberhard, Zartlesdorf, Kaplitz, Holkov and
Porici.

At 4:00 p.m. we arrived at Budweis. I was surprised at its very large railway station. I could also see very
large buildings again as at Graz I would have given anything to see that city. To see Bohemians in real
life at home, though at this time during so much suffering they were probably not the happy people they
have the tradition to be before the war.

I also would have liked to taste some of the beer which made these regions famous. Before the war,
Budweiser and Pilsen beer was sold exclusively throughout Italy.

From Budweis to Pilsen the land was used to a great extent for corn, though much of it seems to be just
grazing land. There were many large ponds and small inland lakes. The country did not seem as fertile
and full of life as near the Danube - - - for the most part everything seemed dead. At Pilsen another long
stop. At first we thought we were to get off but we were told to get ready to go to our stretcher for the
night.

An Austrian soldier at the station of Pilsen brought me a small stein of beer, though its quality had much
deteriorated from what was sold previous to the war, it nevertheless was Pilsen beer bought right in Pilsen
and I was glad to get it. I paid one Korona for it.
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Chapter 8 The Prison Camp near Plan

When we went back to bed, I thought we at least had another day of travel. Instead after about four hours,
at about midnight, we were awakened and all of us Italians made to get out of the train at a town called
Plan at the northeast part of Bohemia, only ten miles from the German boundary.

We remained in the station until daybreak and then slowly we started on foot for a long hike to a camp
about 4 kilometers away. It was not so very long a walk but being just out of the hospital and not having
walked very much for over two months it was a tiresome one.

There were only fifty-one of us prisoners including six Russians. The train which we were on which also
had Austrian sick and wounded proceeded toward Eger. When at the camp which consisted of about fifty
large wood shacks similar to the ones we were in at Cambresco, we were placed in one while the Russians
joined other Russians already in the camp.

The weather was very cold to be so late in spring, We were frozen most of the time and were without a
fire, We were given a bunk to sleep in and an old straw mattress and two blankets. We had no nice white
sheets as we had been accustomed to for a long while. We were told that in this place was a sort of
convalescence camp where we were to recuperate from our sickness and when well we were to go to a
regular prisoner camp. In this change our meals also suffered. We were now given much less food both in
quantity and quality. Our first day we were given coffee, with one-fourth loaf of bread in the morning.
Broth, meat and kraut all boiled together at noon and fish with a few mashed potatoes in the evening,

On our first day we were also given a bath and I was shaved. Comparing our nice hospital bed to our new
place was like comparing night with day, As I already said, the weather was very cold both outdoors and
indoors, we took advantage of the sun as much as possible but when it had set we went immediately to
our bunks. Naturally we had no light except those who could spend one Korona for a small candle. I
usually bought one and then a few of us would gather around it in the evening for a chat or to tell a few
stories. We were always all in bed before 7:00 p.m. though if we wanted to we could stay out of our
shacks until 9:00 p.m.

The place around us seemed desolate, There were over fifty shacks like ours all nicely white-washed
inside and outside.

There were about thirty of us Italians and in three other shacks there were about two hundred or more
Russians. These Russians were daily leaving camp to return to their homes. They were now very happy
because their country had concluded a peace treaty with the enemy. Many of the men had been prisoners
since 1914 or over three years.

Their features and bodies looked as if they had been in the worse European penitentiaries for twenty
years. They were also very miserly. They would sell us their daily ration of bread and thereby starve
themselves for a few pennies that they might get from their bread.

During the time we were together with them we got along very well. Never in the twenty-two days we
were here did we ever quarrel with them. Outside of their being miserly they were good friends though
we could not talk with them as we could not understand each other, A little Russian that I had learned
from my bedmate at Duoddo Hospital in Udine now came in very handy as I was the official interpreter
for the boys, though I had not over ten words of Russian in my whole vocabulary.
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Of course our most important topic of conversation was FOOD. It was daily getting less and our appetites
were daily increasing. When we got to Plan the Russians were selling their rations of one-fourth loaf of
bread which weighed fourteen ounces for two Korona. This price after a few days was increased to three
Koronas and it kept going up so that when I left twenty days after my arrival it had gone up to eight
Koronas per one-fourth loaf.

In the camp, it was always the poor hungry looking Russians who would rush to our shacks with their
portion of the bread to sell as soon as it was distributed to them. A we were paid five Koronas every ten
days or one-fourth Korona per day, it had come to that we could not get even one quarter loaf of bread for
ten days’ pay.

Our camp, as I have stated, was about 4 kilometers from the town of Plan, a true Bohemian town. We
were less than ten miles from the German boundary and although we were on a level plain on clear days
we could see factories smoking on the German side of the boundary. Some who had not been with the
Germans, as I had sometimes talked of escaping from our camp and trying to get to Germany, would
argue that certainly the Germans would not starve them as the Austrians were doing. I tried to convince
them that the treatment they would receive from the Germans would be one hundred per cent worse than
under the Austrian government and that the Germans were liberal with food in Udine because it was not
theirs, but when they were obliged to give up their own food, it was neither more nor better than we were
getting in Plan.

Our camp was about one kilometer square; it consisted of about fifteen old men for guards and four cooks
with a corporal.

Toward the end of my stay, the food was not only scarce but it seemed that the cooks were playing
favorites and were giving the Russians better food than us. I was sent by the few Italians to complain to
the Austrian Corporal and he without getting angry authorized me to remain in the kitchen while the food
was being prepared to see that our food was similar to the Russians. This kept the Italians peaceful, but on
the whole, the food was not more than before.

Only a three strand barbed wire fence enclosed our camp from the outside world which if one so wished
could easily be crawled under and one could have escaped into the night. The boys not being familiar
with the surrounding country were afraid of being caught again, so therefore, they did not dare run away.

An Austrian doctor would come every two or three days to examine us and those whom be thought fit to
go to regular prison camps he would send away in squads. Two such squads of Italians were sent away.
One squad of six men and another of ten men. It was not until the third squad that I was given the gate.
I spent most of the time reading books I had brought with me from Udine. I had an English History by
Ransome also Story Altiore Peto and Italian stories by De Amicis. Then we played checkers quite a bit
using small stones for checkers. I had gotten to be fairly good at the game; I also played checkers with the
Russians. They were keen players and played better than we Italians.

Not having anything to do naturally our minds always reverted to food. The days in May were warmer
than on our arrival and the boys would just lay down in the grass and sleep out in the sun all day long.

On May eighth the Austrian Corporal gave me the “Lavatore of Trieste” which he purchased in Plan for
me. Here I got the scare of my life. In large headlines it said that America was then preparing (May 1918)
to launch a great offensive against the Germans on the French Front late in the fall of 1919 or spring of
1920, in other words two years from that time. Of course, none of us had any idea that within six months
we would be free again. Such a thing if told us at that time would have been too good to be true, We all
 155

expected that the war would last for several years yet on account of Russia making peace separately, but I
also thought that it was an awful long time to May 1920 for America to make its first move.

The paper also stated that the Entente would very shortly try an offensive in Palestine, Mispotania Salonki
and the Italian Front all at one time.

This I doubted for I knew that the Austrians were the ones who intended to strike first at the Italians on
the Piave as they had been preparing for such a move since January.

On May second a Commission of Polish officers came to see us and gave us a package of caramels for 10
cents, about sixty of them. This was the first piece of candy I had tasted since being a prisoner.

The Polish officers I was told really came from Russia Poland but the Austrian Government promised
them that at the end of the war it would unite the Poles from Russia, Germany and Austria and help form
an independent government of their own such as they now have. With these promises, the Austrians
managed to keep the Poles in their ranks and did not desert as did the Bohemians.

On May thirteenth our Austrian Corporal was very happy, and when we asked the reason, he said that he
expected the war to be over very soon because the Austrian Government was then trying to make a
separate peace treat with the Entente, and that case would let Germany fight her own battles. This made
us all feel fine and again we had visions of going home soon. But after the first two days, nothing else
was heard of it and therefore we knew it was another false alarm. Still another false alarm was on the day
before when we were told that the Piave offensive had commenced and that the first day over 5000 Italian
prisoners were taken. This was not true as the offensive against the Italians did not commence until the
middle of June.

At Plan we very seldom saw civilians except from a distance while they were working in the fields. But at
times women with their quaint costumes and white aprons came to bring food, milk, etc., to our guards.
Of course, we did not understand a word they said as they spoke Bohemian.

As already mentioned, the twenty-two days I spent here we did nothing but loaf, play checkers or read
books or talk about food.

Chapter 9 The Scales of Hunger

My health was now greatly improved, but my appetite also was greater than ever. My five Koronas which
I received every ten days I spent on bread which I bought from the Russians. I would also trade my
coffee, kraut and meat for bread with some of the boys.

The greatest event of the day was always the distribution of our bread. We were given a loaf in four or
five men, according to the amount which the Austrian kitchen could afford; as I was the highest rank of
the Italians in Plan, I was given all of the supply of bread to distribute among the men. The fun was
watching the boys cut the bread. It was cut very carefully so that one piece would not be larger than the
other. Then we had a clumsy sort of weighing apparatus which some of the boys made during their leisure
moments. It consisted of small piece of wood about 6” long, 1/4” wide and 1/8” thick in the center of
which was a small nail and with another small piece of wood for a handle. A small string was tied to each
end of the first piece with a small wood peg at the end of the string to which our bread was fastened,
These scales were similarly made as those carried by the “Statue of Justice” in the case of which Justice is
blind. The only difference was that those were the Scales of Justice while ours were the Scales of Hunger.
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One of those scales which I used at Plan and at Buetenlee I always kept as a souvenir of the days when
hunger was supreme.

On May tenth the doctor examined me for the last time and after the examination I was placed on the list
of those cured and to leave on the next batch which left Plan for Mauthausan or Heinreksgrun, where the
boys were being sent.

It just happened that the same morning of the examination, six of the boys left for the Mauthausen and I
was too late to go along with them, so I did not leave until nine days later, Though our food here was
fairly sufficient, I had heard that at the regular camps it was much less and therefore I was glad to remain
at Plan a while longer.

On the last two days I was put in charge of the distribution of food of not only the forty Italians but also
the one hundred fifty Russians which were still at Plan. On those two days I ate to my heart’s content and
I stood in pretty good with the Austrian Corporal. I was now sorry I had to leave as I was sure that I
would not die of hunger if I had been able to maintain the position I held the last two days at Plan.

Chapter 10 Leaving Plan for Mauthausen or Heinrichsgrun

On the eighteenth of May, I with seventeen other boys was told to prepare to leave the next morning.
Before leaving I traded my trousers which were in good condition with a Russian. His were also in very
good condition besides be gave me eight Koronas. I also sold my cape for nine Koronas. I was told that
once at the camp I would be given every article which I needed and with the money I bought bread to take
with me.

On Sunday, May nineteenth, about two hundred prisoners came to Plan from hospitals just as we had
come. This was the first arrival since the time we came. Over ninety per cent were Italians and the few
remaining were Russian and Romanian. On the same train on which they came, we went away. We did
not know whether we were going to Mauthansen or to Heinrickegrun. But as soon as we were placed on
the train, we knew that we were not going to Mauthausen for we went north instead of south.

The first stop was Mariansbad which along with Karlsbad which we also passed later on was a famous
health resort before the war and now since the war had again resumed its importance as a health resort.
Eger which is on the old boundary between Austria and Germany and now is the boundary between
Germany and Czechoslovakia. Here we were let out of the train. Eighteen of us were permitted to stay in
the large station and wait a regular passenger train for the northeast. For over an hour we waited for the
train. We saw for the first time the civilians going to and fro. These people were far removed from any
Front and the was they were cheerful to each other seemed that it was their least worry. They were
drinking in the beer garden of the station. Most of the conversation was carried on in German.

They gave us the meanest look, as if we were dogs. To make matters worse some of the boys went around
begging for food. This was very disgusting for a few of us who had still some self-respect left. The few
who went out to beg were kicked and scorned by some and pitied by others.

There was much traffic in the station. Every bill or poster was written in two languages - - - German and
Bohemian. Even the city had two names, Cheb being Bohemian for the town.

Every station from Budweis I noticed had two names, the German and Bohemian.
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There were also custom officers in the station and I saw for the first time since leaving Udine, German
soldiers and officers about. This was the last time I saw them. After over an hour of waiting in a corner of
the station our two guards told us our train had come and so we went in an Austrian passenger train in
third class for the first time. We passed Falkenaust, Karlsbad, at the last we stopped for over an hour it
seemed. From the glimpse I got of the town from the train window, Karlsbad seemed an immense city
with high and fine buildings, many of which were of Italian Renaissance styled architecture.

We got off at the small village of Heinrichsgrun just a few miles past Karlsbad. We saw a few peasants
similar to those at Plan at the station and then by foot we proceeded to the regular concentration camp
which was about three kilometers away.

The camp at Heinrichsgrun was very much like that of Plan and to those I later was in at Brietensee and
Sigmundsherberg. This camp before the retreat at Caporetto was strictly a Russian camp with a few
Serbs; now all of the Russians were gone. There were about four hundred Serbs and about 3000 Italians.

In the evening when I arrived we were given a mug of kraut and this food was given us two times per day.
The eighteen arrivals in the camp were placed in a separate shack for observation and slept on the floor
with a little straw and on dirty old blankets with other sick who were also under observation. The next
morning the doctor came and gave us the once over and of the seventy-five in the shack, he sent all but
twenty-five to the regular shacks. I remained with the twenty-five as head squad.

About eighty per cent of the Italian prisoners here were sergeants, sergeant majors and marshalls, which is
just under second lieutenant. These men because of their rank were not compelled to work so they
remained idle and loafed all day. They did not have the food worry I had for by now most were already
receiving food, bread, clothing, and so forth from Italy while I had no chance because I was always being
shifted from one place to the other. Besides being six months with Germans who had never let it be
known I was prisoner.

The third day I arrived I seat my Uncle Bazzini a telegram that I needed food and that my health was
good. This I was told he never received. This telegram I was told was to go to Italy by the way of
Switzerland who took care of all ailments of all prisoners.

Heinrichsgrun is about twenty to twenty-five miles from Germany near Saxony while Plan was near
Bavaria. The surrounding country is very similar to what I saw in Plan, rolling country with not much
grain, only corn being raised and the rest was left for hay and oats. When I arrived at Heinrickegrun I had
an idea that I would remain there indefinitely, and therefore, I wrote to all of my relatives to send me food
and clothing at that address and was sorry when three days after I sent the telegram to be told I was going
to be sent elsewhere.

The camp of Heinrichsgrun is capable of about 20,000 men and there were that many Russians, so I was
told. The shacks were kept in very good order by the Italians under Austrian supervision. Here our guard
consisted of about fifty men with respective commissioned officers and two regular officers. They had an
infirmary and a small hospital. There was also a theatre where some nice play, whether drama, opera or
comedy would be shown at a very low cost, five to ten cents per seat. I was there when a funny comedy
was being staged. Most of the men, in fact all with a few exceptions, were much better off than I because
they always had food from r elatives from home to rely upon. Some got as many as three packages per
week.

The food here was very miserable for those like myself where we were our only means to live.
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We had hot water in the morning, in the afternoon we were given boiled kraut with rotten smelling fish
and one-third sour pickle or instead of fish pickled horse flesh which came in barrels and which smelled
worse than limburger cheese. Sometimes we had a vegetarian meal which consisted of a mixture of beets,
carrots, cabbage and very few potatoes all of these vegetables were neither cleaned nor peeled, so when it
was given to us the broth which we were to drink was like mud. Of bread we were given one-sixth loaf
instead of one-fourth as in Plan. Here the ones who did not need it because they had it from home sold it
to the more unfortunate ones like me for four Koronas per ration of one-sixth. This I thought was the most
miserly act I ever had seen by my countrymen. It took me eight days to earn enough to buy one ration of
bread, but this I do not think was typical of Italians as I saw Russians and Serbs and certainly others doing
the same thing.

Chapter 11 Leaving Heinrichsgrun for Breitensee

When on May twenty-fifth only six days after my arrival I was told I was to leave Heinrickegrun I put up
a big kick. There were almost 2000 non-commissioned officers there and I could not see why I should be
chosen as the goat to be sent away. It was true I did not care much for the camp but thought that with time
I would be able to get more familiar with the boys. Of the two hundred chosen to leave, I was the only
non-commissioned officer. When I asked the reason for it so being, I was curtly told that someone had to
go as head of the gang and I was chosen as the one, being the newest arrival. I tried to tell them that the
non-commissioned officers were only obliged to work only if they so wished. But as usual in the army
whether you are right or wrong, where you are the underdog you are always wrong especially being a
prisoner. So, regardless of what I wanted or what my rights were I was to do as I was told.

I did not see the sense of them giving me a new number as prisoner of that camp the day previous to my
notification. It was HI-50445.

The following day on notification we prepared to leave with many of the boys who had been at
Heinrichsgrun many months and were now receiving packages from home. They were afraid that they
would never receive any more because of being sent elsewhere.

In the meantime, we tried to find out from our guards about where we would be sent. Some said Istria,
some Tyrol and some Galicia. I was hoping since I had to go I would be sent to Istria near Trieste or Polo
among the Italian-speaking people, but we were all wrong as we happened to be sent near Vienna.

At about 5:00 p.m. of May twenty-seventh, we (two hundred of us) with two guards left Heinrichsgrun
camp for the station; at about 6:00 we left the station for Eger. We were now not so comfortable as when
we left from Laibach to Plan nor from Eger to Heinrichsgrun. We now traveled on regular freight cars at
the rate of thirty-five per car. We naturally slept on the floors with no straw nor blankets. The nights even
though it was almost June were terribly cold. When we arose next morning, we were in Pilsen.

By evening we were in Budweis. Though I had passed this region before I was glad to see it again,
especially so that we were nearing home so it seemed. Though we did not know yet where we were going,
we were sure it was not Galicia.

From Budweis we took a new route, instead of going to Linz as before we went southeast towards
Vienna. So when we went to sleep again which I did not do we were going towards Vienna.

On the train during the two days we were almost forgotten when it came to food - the food given to us
was hardly of any consequence. The most important part of the meal was a small slice of bread with some
liver sausage.
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Our train consisted of six freight cars of prisoners and about a dozen or so other cars of freight.

When we arose again the second morning, we were coasting the banks of the large Danube River.

At about noon we arrived at a suburb of Vienna. We could see the city in the distance. I could never find
out just exactly where we were, but it was not until five hours later that we left for another small suburb
called Breitensee bei Wien or Breitensee near Vienna.

On our arrival at Breintensee which is 18 kilometers from Vienna, we were sent to the camp similar to
Plan and Heinrickegrun only smaller. It was after 7:00 p.m. when we got to camp. We had traveled over
fifty hours and we were dead tired and hungry. I met many buddies who acted much different than at
Heinrichsgrun. Here I was given a meal by them and also by the camp cooks.

Chapter 12 Life in Breitensee

From May twenty-eighth until July third when I left Breintensee for a hospital in Vienna, I spent some
very bad days in the camp. My health which had improved while at the hospitals of Udine and Laibach
was now getting bad again because of the lack of nourishment.

One who has not tried what hunger is can never imagine the feeling not only physically but also morally
of those who unfortunately find themselves in such conditions.

Though my spirits were pretty low there were many who wore worse. I ate green grass from our camp
lawn with appetite but could not eat the bad smelling fish which were given us. Some ate not only the fish
but also went around looking for the heads of the fish which others would throw away. These boys were
living skeletons in appearance and it was only a question of a few days that they would be among the
thousand starved now in cemeteries. They would go around from shack to shack begging for food from
the more lucky ones. Though I later saw more misery at Sigmundsherberg than what was in Brietensee I
saw the first of it at Brietensee.

Most of my time, especially when hungry, I spent reading books in Italian from a small library there at
camp.

The camp consisted of about 2000 men. About twenty-five to thirty shacks very well kept with lawn and
morning glories strung along the aides.

We were under an Austrian Colonel who was rather good-hearted. The boys except non-commissioned
officers went to work every morning in separate squads on a train. They would go to Simmering and other
suburbs of Vienna and fix railroad tracks such as similar gangs of Italians were now employed by the
railways of America to repair and replace where needed. These boys would leave in squads of about fifty
or sixty with an Austrian guard and return late in the evening for supper.

They did not, however, work very hard. Their guards were good and they loafed most of the time. By
going out many had chances to get food from civilians, I went out only once in over a month to see what
was being done.

Here I met several boys I shall never forget and who along with Boccini whom I later met at
Sigmundsherberg I owe much that I am alive and able to write this diary of mine. One young man was a
corporal major from Cessna in the Province of Forli named Antonio Tassinero. Time and again he gave
me food and most every day his bread ration. He was a prisoner for over twenty-six months when I met
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him. Twenty-four months he spent at this camp. Naturally he received packages regularly and would
never fail to help me when he could. He was a librarian of the few books in the library. As he had read the
books he had over and over again, I gave him some of mine which I had brought from Udine.

Another was Ravaiola, an elderly man, of about thirty-six years of age also from the Province of Forli
from Meldola.

One of the boys which I passed much of my time with was a young Italian Corporal Major whose home
was in Paris, though he was almost as badly off as I. He saw that I was much the weaker and helped me
with an extra portion of bread now and then.

These three men and a few others in more or less ways kept me from starving during the time I spent at
the camp.

Most of the boys at the camp were old prisoners, that is prisoners made prior to the Caporetto disaster.

It was said that at the large Italian prisoner camp at Mauthansen or the Danube near Linz where there
were about 75,000 prisoners when the first Caporetto retreat and prisoners were sent there, the prisoners
made in previous engagements would quarrel and even fight with the new arrivals and called them
“quitters” and traitors because of what they read in newspapers of General Cadorna’s bulletin. These new
men had to be kept separately from the older prisoners.

Though there were not such extreme cases as those at Mauthansen at Brietensee nevertheless the newer
men had great difficulty in making friends with the older prisoners for the same reason.

At the beginning of June we read from the Trieste papers which occasionally found their way to our camp
that the Germans had started a drive at the Western Front and on the first day made 50,000 prisoners.
They had pushed their way to the Maine River and their heavy artillery which the Austrians claim credit
for was shelling the city of Paris.

We all knew or at least expected that before peace could come Germany and Austria would have to be
beaten and even as late as the middle of June 1918 things were not rosy for the Entente.

It was about this time that the Americans were making themselves conspicuous on the Western Front.

It was the week of June fifteenth to the twenty-third that we kept our ears open. The Austrians on the
fifteenth started the long delayed offensive with their entire force against the Italians at the Piave.

As Austria had no men on other fronts while the Italians had some men in France, some in Albania, others
in Tripoli, we felt sure that the enemy outnumbered our men by a large margin. We were relieved though
because it was reported that no Germans were at the Piave as at that time the combined forces of French,
Americans and British kept her busy especially so the Americans with their victories at Belleau Wood and
Chateau-Thierry over the Huns.

The first day’s report brought that the Austrians had succeeded in crossing the Piave River in several
places, one of which was at Covolo where I had spent three months of idleness just a year before. The
paper stated the Italians also lost 10,000 men taken as prisoners. This was very gloomy news for even
though we were in enemy country we believed the press very much as it was very liberal in giving reports
either of victory or defeat.
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This was the first fighting on the Italian Front for over six months and both contenders were now ready.
The next day we learned that the Austrians had gotten as far as the gate of Treviso that meant that
Montebelluna was taken by them. A later report on the night of June seventeenth said that the Austrians
were repulsed back to the Piave and that there was terrific fighting going on at Montello where one year
before I had gone with my men to look after ammunition there and where we spent two glorious weeks.
After June seventeenth all the news we received was favorable to the Italians as having repulsed the
enemy beyond the Piave and that along with the wonderful success by the Americans and French also
aided by the two divisions of Italians at Rhiems brought about the beginning of the end of the terrible
war, though at that time we did not realize it.

We saw hundreds of trains with all Red Cross coaches passing our camp going either to Vienna or
elsewhere coming from the Italian Front. This verified the fact that the fighting had been severe and that
the enemy had been beaten. Even our guards openly admitted that the Italians with the youngsters of 1900
in the front trenches (at that time some yet 18 years of age) had repulsed the Mighty Austro-Hungarian
Army.

Of course we were very glad of this victory. No person more fully appreciated his country than when he is
suffering in a strange country.

In the meantime, though I was helped by friends and given some extra food by them, I was not satisfied
because that given us by the Austrians was positively uneatable. I tried to see if I could go to work some
place and even asked our non-commissioned officer guard to look for a place for me.

One day after coming from Vienna he came to me and said that he had talked to an engineer and found
out he needed a draftsman, so he knowing I knew a little about drawing told him about me. The engineer
told him he would come to Brientensee to see me and possibly take me along with him to his office in
Vienna. I certainly was glad to hoar this, but as he never came to get me, this proved to be a burst bubble
though I was sure the Austrian guard had not lied to me.

Prisoners from Brietensee were not only sent to work on the tracks but also were sent to work on the large
farms. Squads from twenty to fifty men would be sent to farms that needed the extra help. Once on the
farm the men were at least sure of not starving to death.

I too would have gone if I had only been strong enough, but my physical condition at that time was such
that I could hardly walk, let alone work twelve to fourteen hours per day on heavy farm work.

In cases where a farmer asked for only one or two men who he would keep as farm hands throughout the
whole year was very interesting. I was hoping that before my health failed me entirely I would be lucky
enough to land such a job, but such was not the case.

For the first time since being a prisoner, I was given permission to go out of the camp.

I had become friendly with an Austrian corporal who like most Austrians could speak good Italian. One
day, June twenty-first, he said he was going to the village of Kagran about 5 kilometers away to the post
office and asked me if I could go along.

Not only did I say yes, but was also glad to get an opportunity to leave the barbed wire enclosure of our
camp. For the first time I went to Austrian stores here and bought lettuce, a bottle of pop and caramels
which sold at four per Korona, or about 6 cents apiece in America. These same caramels sold for five for
one cent. Of course, the most important thing to buy would have been bread but that was not sold nor was
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any other food sold unless one had a card which the government passed out which entitled the bearer with
the food he wished to buy. This system was also used throughout Italy during the war on the most
essential food such as bread, meat, macaroni, etc.

At the post office I sent cards out to relatives and parents which as yet had not heard a word from me.
Neither had I received an answer to the telegram I sent from Heinrichsgrun, so I sent another from
Brientensee eight months after becoming prisoner. I was worried not only because I was not receiving
food packages while others were almost daily, but also because I did not know whether my relatives or
parents had received any of my many cards, letters and telegrams I sent them while prisoner or if
theywere under the suspense of my being killed or lost.

I made several trips to Kagran after that with the corporal and enjoyed myself at times very much. We
even, bought beer at the beer garden. The best day of the week in the camp was Sunday. On that day an
orchestra of thirty pieces played for two hours in the afternoon. They played mostly opera pieces, such as
Rigoletto, Aida, Pagliacci, etc,

I was also surprised at the Austrians giving the musicians the permission to play Italian patriotic pieces
such as the National Hymn and Hymn of Tripoli. The musicians, of course, were Italian prisoners who
were previously in regimental bands. The instruments were supplied by the Swiss relief committee who
looked after the welfare of the Italian prisoners in Austria.

Outside of the music and that the boys did not work on Sunday, that day was much similar to any other
day insofar as food was concerned, The commander of the camp being informed by the kitchen sergeant
that I was never receiving food from home on three different occasions gave me a package of bread from
Italy of about two kilos the owner of which had either died or had run away.

In spite of all of this my health and strength was diminishing daily. Some of the boys advised me to go to
Sigmundsherberg camp where I was told there was sufficient food for all. I was told to go to the doctor
and in my condition he certainly would have me go to a hospital and from there I would be sent to
Sigmundsherberg camp. So, I followed their advice and on the third of July, I went to the doctor to have
him examine me and sure enough he ordered me immediately to a hospital in Vienna.

I was very sorry to leave the camp not because I had sufficient nourishment but because I was having to
leave friends many of whom had helped to keep me from starving. Repetti, Tassmair, De Cristofero and
many others whom with the exception of De Cristofero, I never saw again.

Chapter 13 To the Hospital in Vienna

On the following day, July fourth, I got all of my belongings together and after saying goodbye to my
friends at noon with a guard and two other sick men left the camp and walked to New Sussenbrunn. From
there we took a regular passenger train and in less than one-half hour were at the central station of
Vienna.

The trip from New Sussenbrunn to Vienna was similar to the one from Eger to Heinrichsgrun, only the
civilians were different. Here were all German speaking people but very kind-hearted it seemed.

In the large station at Vienna we went in a large waiting room and waited for an ambulance. In the
ambulance though I could have laid in stretcher I wanted to sit up to see the part of the city which we
passed through. For almost an hour we rode through the streets of Vienna. I certainly was such impressed
by the beautiful buildings, wide avenues, the enormous bridge on the Danube and all of the other
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beautiful sites. It was not until I left the hospital that I could see a part of it. I was taken to Koenigspital
#2, This hospital was made of shacks, very clean, well-ventilated and well-lighted, The hospital
comprised of about sixty such shacks with lawns and flower gardens around them.

I was glad to be able to sleep again in a nice bed with white sheets and rather soft mattresses. Of course,
before being placed to bed we were given our customary bath and our clothes were disinfected, We were
given kimonos in which to walk around in.

I was delighted to be in such a nice clean place. I was placed in Shack #28 with twenty Austrian sick and
wounded. I was the only war prisoner. I made friends with a young Bohemian sergeant named Alfred Pan
who lived near Techen near the Polish border. Together we played my games of cards and he would try to
teach me German. He had been wounded on the arm at the Piave Front during the June offensive. He gave
me particulars of what was doing on the Front and did not hesitate to admit that he and his pals were
beaten plenty. He was young and fiery and very kind-hearted and would often protest when I was not
treated similarly to the Austrians when food was distributed. The food at the hospital was the very best I
had yet had since being a prisoner.

We had coffee in the morning. Vegetables with large pieces of meat (beef) at noon and bread and
Hungarian Goulash and coffee in the evening. That was approximately the food we had most every day
during my stay at the hospital.

Chapter 14 Fighting with a Nun

I probably would have been indefinitely at the hospital if I had not quarreled with my nurse who was a
Roman Catholic Sister.

This Sister, who from the first minute I arrived in her shack, for some reason had tried to make my stay
there uncomfortable. She was young, good looking and white robed. She could speak Italian better than I
and had studied and had been several years in Rome. She above all the others who were partisan in the
war should have been neutral and to her an Italian or Austrian should have meant the same but such was
not the case. She not only did not give me the same amount of food as given to the Austrians who were
with me but would not let me read either newspapers nor books which I had brought with me from
Brientensee.

The Austrian mates who slept near me saw her partialities and called her for it, but she kept on
nevertheless.

Things got so bad that Pan, the Bohemian sergeant, urged me to report her to Mother Superior, the head
of the hospital, for her conduct to me. At first I refused to do that but as time went on she was worse and
it got so bad she would not even let me get up from the bed. At last on July sixteenth, I got enough
courage to go to Mother Superior and complained to her of the treatment I received at the hands of the
Sister in my Ward. She was an elderly woman, very gentle and sympathetic, could speak very good
Italian and she promised to see that I was not further annoyed by the Sister, In fact in the afternoon of the
same day, I was given everything that was coming to me but with a scowl. She did not bring me my food
as she did formerly, but sent it by an orderly.

She got her revenge for my reporting her the very next day when the Austrian Professor who came twice
a week to examine us came and she told him in German that I was always up and she believed I needed
no further hospital nourishment. He after examining me a little agreed with her and I was placed
immediately on the board to leave the hospital although I did not actually leave until four days later.
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Though I never was a firm believer in church ceremonies, etc., the act of that Holy Roman Catholic Sister
certainly did not help to convert me any better in that faith. I had done nothing nor did I speak against
religion during my stay there. In fact I went to church every Sunday to make myself liked better. The only
thing she had against me was that I was a war prisoner.

Outside of the Sister I was treated royally by all of the boys in my ward. In fact I being the only war
prisoner, I aroused more curiosity and naturally I was never left alone. Some of the boys would always
come to see me and would talk a mixture of German, Italian and English to me.

One day a photographer came to our ward and asked the boys if they wanted their pictures taken, so a
bunch headed by Pan went out on the lawn with the photographer and just before the picture was taken he
came after me in my bed and insisted I take a picture with the boys. He and I being the sergeants were
given the center position in the picture. There were fourteen of us in the picture, and of course, I was the
only prisoner. We were only clad in our kimonos. I was given two copies of this picture but I lost them
when I returned to Italy after the Armistice.

On July twentieth on the 3rd anniversary that I left Milwaukee I left Vienna.

Chapter 15 To Sigmundsherberg

At first I was afraid I would be sent to Heinrichsgrun but later I was told I would go to Sigmundsherberg.
I was given my clothing in the morning and then waited for a guard. In the meantime I was given food for
the day. Another Italian was also to come with me and was waiting for the guard.

When the guard came, he happened to be a jolly fellow. He carried no gun, he carried only a bayonet at
this belt. We left the hospital and then as I wanted very much to see a bit of Vienna, I asked him if he
would like to walk to the railway station instead of taking the street car.

He said the station was very far but he would walk with us until we were tired and then we could take the
street car.

We walked through beautiful wide boulevards, passed public buildings, but what interested me mostly
was the spirit of the inhabitants. Though Vienna was at that time literally starving, one could never
imagine it by seeing the expressions on the faces of its people. They were jolly. The still patronized their
famous beer gardens, but the beer served there was a very poor imitation of what was sold previous to the
war so our guard told us. We also went to a beer garden, saw many well-dressed men and women who sat
near us. The young ladies were gay, one who could speak Italian came over to us and asked us several
questions. The beer cost us two Korona per stein. I paid for our guard. We then continued our walk doing
window shopping as we went on. In a window of a drawing instrument shop, I saw a complete set of
Richter drawing instruments made of German silver which I had seen in Milwaukee sell for $30. Here
they were only 55 Corona. If I had only the money, I certainly would have purchased a set.

As I carried all of my luggage with me, I got pretty tired of the load on my back so we decided to take the
street car. The oar was different than any I had seen in Europe, but it was full of people reading the latest
war news in the papers. At the station we waited for our train for Sigmundsherberg. We left Vienna at
about 12:30 p.m. and after four hours’ ride in third class coaches, we arrived at Sigmundsherberg. We
passed the town of Tulin on the way. Sigmundsherberg is about 80 to 100 kilometers northwest of
Vienna.

The ride was very enjoyable and we were allowed to converse with the civilians on the way.
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Sigmundsherberg was my last place where I was sent while prisoner. My first impression was certainly
not a pleasant one. There were at least 30,000 prisoners always at the camp and under the camp
supervision there were over 200,000 Italian prisoners.

It was the largest Italian prisoner camp in Austria and had passed the camp at Mauthausen on the Danube
which before the Caporetto retreat was the only Italian large prison camp.

The Sigmundsherberg camp was before the Caporetto disaster a Serbian and French camp, also an
officers’ prison camp.

It was now exclusively Italian with the exception of very few Serbs and French who took care of food
packages which came there from France and England by the way of Switzerland. Also all packages
coming to all the Italian prisoners in Austria-Hungary first came there where they were recorded and then
sent out again to the latest address of the prisoner wherever he be.

Not only were all the Italian packages sent here but also any packages for Serbs, French, English who had
fought against Austria, Bulgaria or Turkey on the Italian front, Salonski and the Dardanelles and
Mispotania, and as I said before, all these packages were recorded and then sent out again to their
destination.

There were train loads of packages arriving daily at the camp as much as 150 carloads of packages came
and none of them to me.

As soon as I arrived, I went to the package headquarters to see if my packages had been recorded to me
and also to give them my change of address. I found out that I had been recorded a package of food from
Italy only three days previous and it had been sent to the Garrison Hospital #2 in Vienna where I had just
come from. I was indeed sorry to lose my first package, but was promised that from then on I need not
lose any more for as soon as they arrived at the camp, I would receive them. I immediately sent a card to
the hospital in Vienna to please return my package, but it was never returned.

I thought by coming to Sigmundsherberg I would better my condition but the first month or so I certainly
was worse off. The food was certainly not better than at Brietensee and for bread instead of one loaf in six
as in Brientensee and Heinrichsgrun we were given one loaf in fifteen or 80 grains a piece, which was less
than a mouthful. As the bread was less and the only eatable food, naturally we were famished. Our little
wooden scales we made at Heinrichsgrun now were handier than ever. Everyone owned one.

The starvation I witnessed here surpassed anything I had seen at Udine, Cambresco, Plan, Heinrickegrun
or Brientensee. The tragic part of it was that from 30 to 150 carloads of packages came to our camp daily.
At the camp hospital where all those who were so famished that they could no longer stand up, there were
about 2000 patients and every day in the summertime while I was there from ten to thirty would die.

Every morning at 10:00 a.m. that many coffins with an eighty to one hundred piece Italian orchestra at the
head would be accompanied to the cemetery a short distance from the camp. I have been told that during
the winter from November 1917 to April 1918, the procession of coffins to the cemetery exceeded three
hundred per day. There were over 30,000 left lying at rest at the Sigmundsherberg camp cemetery when
Armistice Day came on November 3, 1918.

As stated, it certainly seemed almost criminal that so many should starve and be without food of any sort
while others had food not only in abundance but also sold food to the Austrian guards and in that way
were well-groomed, had some of the more miserable ones clean their clothes, shoes, etc., for a ration of
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bread, besides they also had money, more so than our Austrian guards. These were the leaders at the
package department and they sold entire packages of food to the Austrian men of our camp and even to
civilians in the town of Sigmundsherberg about 3 kilometers away.

These men had more authority and treated the poorer compatriots so harsh, much more so than the
Austrian guards. These men some of whom could barely read or write and were mere privates when
Armistice came were all rounded up and sent to Italy to be tried in
military courts and were told they were punished severely for the graft they had been at in the camp.
When I said all were taken, I meant all that could be found, for many on Armistice Day seeing that they
were doomed for the penitentiary if they ever returned to Italy ran away from the camp and with plenty of
money in their pockets were able to go all over without being caught. Though I was sorry to see such
things being done not only because the Italians, our buddies were doing it, but because many of the
packages probably sold belonged to some poor starving buddy who was anxiously waiting for it in order
to keep him alive and probably he and many others died because their packages were stolen from them.

These grafters who received only penitentiary sentences should have been put in the gallows or shot as
murderers, for they were just that type of criminal.

The camp of Sigmundsherberg was the largest camp in Austria-Hungary, I was told. It contained eleven
different sections, one of which held over 10,000 Italian officers, so I was told. This section or group, as
the sections were called, was entirely isolated from the rest of the camp and had a high wood fence
around it so that we could not see what they were doing in there and up until November first I had very
seldom seen an Italian officer.

Another section or group was the hospital which comprised of over thirty shacks with respective kitchens,
doctors quarters, etc. This group was separated from the others by barbed wire fencing. I never during my
stay did get a chance to get inside of it.

Still another section was what was called the Contagious Section where many invalids and those
recuperating from sickness were seat. This section also had over thirty shacks.
Then there were seven groups numbered numerically from one to seven. I was always in group #7 which
was typical of the other groups.

It contained exactly twenty-one shacks about twenty-five feet wide and ninety feet long with a capacity of
about two hundred men each as there was a balcony inside of them through the center on which some
slept. These shacks were similar to those at Plan, Heinrichsgrun and Brientensee - - - white washed, built
of wood, with skylights, wood floors and we slept on straw mattresses on a platform about 2’ x 6” from
the floor.

The size of our group was about 550 feet wide by 50 feet long, or about two ordinary city blocks square.
It was also about the same size as the whole Brientensee camp.

Besides having twenty-one shacks, two rows of ten per row with an extra one on one end, it had the
following additional shack, a shack for the office which was about the same size a ours in which all
accounting, paying of salary and all office functions for our group were taken care of. An Austrian officer
with one or two Austrian privates or Corporals assisted by four or five Italians who did the clerical work
and took care of the entire group which at times consisted of over 3000 men and then again sometimes
less than 500 men.
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Besides the above stated office, there was a small shack as the infirmary where those who were ill went to
the doctor for examination. The doctor was always an Austrian but his assistants were Italian soldiers.

There were two kitchens where the food was kept. The food was cooked and boiled in large tanks. One of
these kitchens at each end of the group with its respective wood shed for cooking of the krauts, cabbage,
etc., plus two pumps for drinking water.

In the back of each of the two rows of shacks were two shanties which were used as toilets, only the
plumbing was not up to date.

There were also tracks where hand trucks were pushed around with a supply of wood, carrots, cabbage,
sometimes building material, etc.

Our group was bounded on the north by the 1st group, on the east by the 5th group, on the south by the
6th group, and west by the hospital, and as I said before, being only barbed wire fencing between us and
our neighbors, we could see very well what all were doing.

The work group, which I forgot to mention, took care of all repairs, made new mattresses and also took
care of toilets and all other work to be done throughout the camp. They consisted of about sixteen shacks
similar to our own group. There were also four barracks which were full of prisoners who were being
punished for some misdemeanor which they had done either in the camp or at work on farms and
elsewhere. The prisoners, naturally, could not have had less to eat than we or they would have certainly
starved. The only punishment was that they were not allowed to get more than one hour per day of air,
slept on bare wood floors, and were continually under guard.

When I arrived at the camp, I was sent to a shack composed of all sergeants and sergeant majors. There
were about two hundred in the shack but very few were getting food from home.

It was unlawful for an Austrian to strike a prisoner and such was not being done since Emperor Charles
ascended the throne.

One of the first of the new Emperor’s edicts was to provide a more humane treatment for all war prisoners
especially the Italians who under Emperor Joseph’s reign had been ill treated, beaten, tortured, etc.

The older prisoners whom I had met at Breintensee used to tell us of horrible torture undergone by the
Italian prisoners for a mere trifle offense. One of their usual methods of torture was the following.

The prisoner would be made to stand up on a stone or bench against a post, then his hands and feet were
tied to the post, after which the stone or bench under their feet was taken away, and thereby, left
suspended and tied against the post.

The pain of such torture was immense; after a short time many would faint. They would be brought back
to their senses with the water hose. Many would be tied in this way for four and five hours without being
released.

Whipping the prisoners was also prevalent during Emperor Francis Joseph’s time.

That Emperor Francis Joseph was a bitter enemy of Italy was always a known fact, and I was sorry he did
not live to see the fall of his Empire by the Italian soldiers. History relates that when he ascended the
throne in 1848, he was master of the whole of Italy either directly or indirectly. He was the ruler of Milan,
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Venice and other large Italian cities. Little by little he saw almost all of the Italian regions under his rule
taken any from him.

Five days after my arrival (July twenty-sixth) I witnessed a very unusual thing. An Italian prisoner was
shot by a guard and died instantly. He was shot in broad daylight in group #5. The man was a thief and
though he had enough to eat of his own went in the barracks of the office of the group and stole not only
food but also money belonging to the guards. I heard the shot and saw only a lot of confusion in that
group. Of course, we of group #7 could not go over there to see the trouble. On that day for the first time,
I saw an Austrian soldier who was a guard at the camp being brought to the cemetery, having died in the
camp hospital. Almost all of the guards and officers were at the funeral, but the most unusual thing was
the Italian eighty-piece orchestra playing an Italian funeral march at the head of the procession. When the
dead man was placed in the grave which we could see not far from our group, four Austrian buglers
sounded the bugle call “At Rest” and “Attention”. On the return from the funeral the Italian orchestra
played an Italian march to which the Austrian soldiers kept time.

The following day over seven hundred left the camp for Tyrol and another squad of three hundred left for
Galicia at Sigmundsherberg, besides many comforts always excepting food, we also had our own
newspapers. Ours was a small four-page affair dedicated almost entirely to the welfare of the camp with
some war news also. It was a weekly periodical called “La Scintilla” (The Spark).

One of the first friends who helped me when I arrived at Sigmundsherberg was a young man from Milan,
a corporal major called Maldifasci. He was also from the 89th Infantry. He was taken prisoner when our
regiment was fighting at Mount Hermada on September 5, 1917. Just three days before I was sent to the
regiment. Strange, his brother who was also a corporal major was in the same company with him and was
lucky to return from the battle which made the brigade Salerno one of the best in Italy, I remembered well
when I first met his brother, whom, of course, was made prisoner with me as we were still in the same
company. He often had spoke of this brother who at that time thought he had lost his life at Hermada.

I was told by him that he had had already news of his brother who was made prisoner with me. He was at
Mauthansen camp.

With his help and that of Bochini, I was able to live through the three months which I spent at
Sigmundsherberg. They kept me from starving and becoming a human skeleton as all of the boys who
were not receiving packages.

Hardly a day passed, the first month of Sigmundsherberg, that Maldifasci did not bring me his ration of
Austrian bread which on the first of August had been increased from one—fifteenth to one- sixth of a loaf
per man, or from 80 grains to 250 grains. Many times when he could, he also brought me Italian biscuit
bread. By the end of July our weekly “La Scintilla” gave us news of the German defeat by the combined
American, French, English and Italian troops on the French Front.

That was the very first time I had read of a victory by the American soldiers in France.

Chapter 16 Staying Alive and the Great Circular Drop

At various times up until Armistice Day, some of us who did not receive packages were given either half
or full packages of bread and food stuff of some of the boys who were either lost or had died, This
together with what was given me by some of the boys kept me from starving as I ate little or no food
given us by the Austrians with the exception of bread. These packages were distributed by what was
called relief committees, who were made up of two-thirds Italian sergeants and one-half Austrian.
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On August ninth we heard that D‘Annunzio with one hundred Capioni planes had flown over Vienna but
instead of sending bombs as was usual the case when Austrian planes flew over Italian cities, they
darkened the sky with millions of circulars telling the people to quit fighting.

The substance of the circular was telling the Austrian-Hungarian people to quit and stop the war. They
were misled by the promises and untrue stories of the war by the German Emperor, that Germany was not
at all concerned with the welfare of the Austrian citizens.

It also stated that as they had brought them tons of circulars, they could just as easily have brought them
tons of bombs, and thereby, ruin their beautiful city such as the Germans were doing in France and
England and as their own folks lead by spiteful Germans were doing in Italian cities. The appeals to the
Austrian people of Vienna were written in German, Hungarian, Polish, Bohemian, S1avonia, Italian,
Croatian and other languages spoken in Austria.

From one of the boys who came from Vienna a few days later, we got his impression of the raid.

He said the streets were full of these circulars and each was written in a different language. He was able
to get one written in Italian. It said that as the planes arrived, the anti-plane batteries in Vienna along the
Danube just as the Viennese, thought the planes came to blow up the town and were afraid and ran. The
entire squad of planes hovered over the town for over a half hour before letting go of the tons of circulars.

When at last the circulars were let go, the sky darkened. The Viennese howled with joy, the Austrian
batteries seeing that no harm was to be done to Vienna ceased their terrific bombardment and the entire
Italian Air squadron after a few more circles around Vienna headed southward toward Italy.

It is claimed that one of the planes with its pilot and mechanic was forced to land on account of not
having sufficient fuel. These two Italians, of course, were made prisoners, but were paraded through the
important streets of Vienna where the people came to see them and hail them as saviors.

It was said that these two men landed and became prisoners on orders from their superiors to see the
moral effect the circular and the raid had on the inhabitants.

The inhabitants, of course, went after the circular, but the government officers assisted by the soldiers
issued orders that anyone seen with circulars would be punished. The soldiers immediately swept the
streets of these circulars, but civilians got all the circulars they wanted from their balconies and the roofs
of their homes.

The circular just as was printed was published by all of the papers which gave out the news of the raid.
The newspapers stated that the Italian squadron could not have carried bombs to bombard their city
because of the long distance from Italy to Vienna with such weight.

I also had one of the circulars written in German and a translation written in Italian, but I lost them on my
return to Italy from Austria after the Armistice.

Chapter 17 Camp Life

In the early part of August a school was started in the camp under the leadership of an Italian officer, a
young sub-lieutenant.
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His classes were from the first to fourth grade. He taught six nights per week. Every night except Sunday,
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he taught first and third grade; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, he
taught second and fourth grade. I enrolled and was put in the fourth grade. Here we learned only Italian.
We had reading, writing and arithmetic, but what interested me more and the reason I enrolled was to
learn to write correctly. I had never been to an Italian school in my life, the little I knew of reading and
writing in Italian I picked up by myself in the Army. I was glad to get the chance to learn.

Being placed in the highest class, I thought was an honor. We were given free of charge small
composition books which we kept our work in and this was corrected by our instructor.

The class lasted from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. We had many good times while the school lasted which was over
one month. The school was not in any way under the Austrian supervision and our note books showed it
as my things written in there I doubt very much if they would have passed the censors.

On the seventeenth of August was Emperor Karl’s birthday, so we had a holiday at the camp. I went to
the theatre and enjoyed a musical comedy by some of the boys who acted very well. The name of the play
was “Anime Allegre” or “Happy Souls”. Our orchestra as usual was a large part of the entertainment. We
were glad when we could hear it play some opera pieces or live Italian folk songs, as we hated to see it
every morning day in and day out leave the hospital followed by twenty or thirty caskets and playing
funeral marches.

The following day I sent still another telegram which Maldifasci sent for me to my Uncle Bazzini. I also
sent a card to the American Red Cross in Paris. On that day I was also given charge of a squad of twenty-
seven men,

From the beginning of June there had been an agreement between the Austrian and Italian governments to
exchange war prisoners who were sick and not capable of further military duty, such prisoners would
have to be so ill that there would be no doubt of their ever being able to return to the Front.

The Austrian doctors sent to Italy only those who they thought would hardly live to get there. There was
one Red Cross train leaving Austria every week with Italian invalids for Italy by the way of Switzerland.
One week it would leave from Mauthausen camp and the other week from Sigmundsherbe

rg camp so that from our camp one train would leave every two weeks for Italy.

The day of the parting was always a great day, All of us envied the ones who were leaving. We certainly
did not envy the condition of their health. They were skeletons and had to be carried on the trains on
stretchers.

On August fourteenth not feeling very well and being also the day that the Austrian doctor was examining
for invalids to send to Italy, I thought I might have a chance for though I was not as bad a many that were
sent to Italy I was bad enough for I weighed only 83 pounds and was all bones.

The doctor after a slight examination thought I was too healthy to be sent back and so I returned to my
shack discouraged, although not disappointed for I knew before I went for the examination I had no
chance but only tried for luck. From this time on my health always improved because of getting sufficient
nourishment.
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In the meantime, I spent my time reading and chatting with those around me. Some of the books I got
from the library were “Robinson Crusoe” in Italian, “Eighty Days Around the World” by Verne, many of
5bakeapeare’s dramas in English and many others.

On August twenty-third, a commission of Italian superior officers came and inspected us and we were
given a package of bread from some missing buddy. This was the first time I had seen an Italian superior
officer, a colonel, since I became a prisoner. He was very good to us and told us to keep up our courage
and that maybe we might soon be able to return home.

About this time I met a buddy who I was told lived in Bertinoro, His name was Bochini. He was a private
in the infantry and had been prisoner since the Austrian offensive in Trentino Front in May 1916. His
companion also from Bertinoro, Georgioui also became a good friend of mine. From the first day,
Bochini helped me after finding out I never received any packages. He was a good friend of my Aunt and
Uncle who also lived in Bertinoro. It was with his help plus what Maldifasci was and had been doing for
me that I was able to see Armistice Day on November 1918.

On September fifth which was my lucky day as I received my first and only package since being prisoner
that was over ten months. It was from Uncle Bernardini of Forli and contained one kilo of rice, 300 grains
of cheese, one and one-half kilo of polenta and a sweater, hose and shirt. I was glad to get the package for
I thought then as everyone else thought that once I started to get them I would receive them regularly. I
was pleased to get the clothing as I was pretty well worn out all of what I had when taken prisoner.

During the first half of September, I felt better every day. The food was getting better also. The bread
ration was increased from one loaf for six men to one loaf for three men.

Besides relief committees composed of Italian officers came and distributed food from the lost package
department to the more unfortunate ones who were receiving few or no packages. Somehow or other my
name was always among the list of needy, and therefore, I was also given a share of the food.

For five days we were fed on packages of food from England which were sent to English prisoners in the
hands of the Turks and were a part of the unsuccessful Gallipoli expedition. The food given us was
probably that of British soldiers who had died or ran away from the Turk camps.

My time was, in the meantime, spent in reading mostly Italian books from the library, playing checkers
and thinking of the next meal.

Before the middle of the month we heard great news of the defeat of the German army on the Western
Front by the combined French, English, American and Italian forces. By the fifteenth of September, we
were told that the Germans had retreated over fifty miles at some portions of the Front. That the
Americans were nearing Metz and that the Great Hindenburg Line was broken.

Three days later were again joyful by the news that a French General with an allied army had started an
offensive in Macedonia and in the first day 4000 prisoners were captured and advanced nine miles.

A striking example of Emperor Karl’s liberal policy with the Italian prisoners was furnished on the
twentieth of September, which is the Italian National holiday, such as the Fourth of July in the United
States. It was the anniversary of the Italian entry in Rome in 1870 which was the making of a United
Italy.
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In making Italy united, more territory was taken from the Austrian Empire which had under its rule
Lombardy, Venice and other provinces which are now Italian.

So, on the twentieth of September we had a wonderful day, not only was our food excellent but our band
played national airs, we had races, football games, also had a large lottery which cards were sold to the
boys at two cents each, but though I had several cards I had no luck.

Except that we were within a barbed wire fence, one could never imagine that we were prisoners in an
enemy country. The news of retreat of the German, the Turk and Bulgars made our holiday so much more
enjoyable and it seemed that probably we would not be prisoners here for years and years as it seemed
only six months before, though none of us even the most optimistic dared predict that we would be home
in less than a month and a half from that date.

The following day was also a holiday but more of an Austrian holiday. The Colonel, Commander-in-
Chief of the entire camp, died in the camp hospital and on that day the guards were not sent out with the
prisoners.

The day after that, September twenty-second, being Sunday was also a holiday so that made three
holidays in succession which to me did not mean much because I never worked. It was on this day that we
were informed by our guards that Emperor Karl had made overtures to the Entente for peace. That
certainly had much effect on us, we now began to feel that we might not spend another disastrous winter
as prisoners and that maybe peace might come before Christmas. On the same day we also received glad
news from both the French and Macedonia Front.

On Monday, September twenty-third, we had our fourth successive holiday. We had a great and imposing
funeral procession for the Austrian Colonel.

There were over 300 Austrian soldiers which comprised of over 75 per cent of the men in charge of the
camp. Besides there were many civilians which must have been friends or relatives of the Colonel. There
were also over fifty Italian officers lead by two Italian Colonels, This was the first time I saw such an
imposing bunch of officers since being prisoner.

The best sight of the whole parade was the Italian prisoner band which on this occasion consisted of over
one hundred pieces. All the musicians were newly uniformed for the occasion and played special funeral
pieces. The band was led by an Italian officer band master.

The body was taken to the same cemetery where over 30,000 Italian prisoners were buried just outside of
our camp. We saw the Austrians “goose step” to the music furnished by Italians.

Not receiving any more packages from home, I tried a new stunt, that was to write to the Swiss Red Cross
in Bern. But as usual it got me nowhere.

I had a good chance for a time to go to the officer’s camp as instructor of English for five different Italian
officers, but the Austrian chief would not permit it, so that though I would have preferred a nice, steady
employment which would guarantee me food to live on, I had no such luck and was forced to lay idle and
to depend on a few of my friends for food.

Beginning from the end of September until Armistice Day, the camp was eagerly waiting for news from
the Fronts. On September twenty-seventh we heard that the Serbs had made great strides and had gained
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150 kilometers on the Austro-Bulgarian Front. Also, in Palestine, the British had made over 25,000 Turk
prisoners.

On the West Front the French and Americans met with success and captured over 12,000 prisoners in the
first days of the offensive, The figures and dates of the doings at the Front during my time as prisoner
were taken from enemy papers or Italian printed papers and under enemy control. I had never verified
either dates or bulletins with present histories of the World War.

On September twenty-eight we were informed by our guards that the Bulgarians had asked for peace and
were meeting an Allied Commission at Salonika. This made us more than ever feel sure that the end of
the war was in sight.

Chapter 18 Writing nd Correspondence

Bochini who had given me food from time to time until Armistice Day could not read nor write a word
and in order to do him a good turn for helping me out I advised him to let me teach him to read and write
a little. After much coaxing I succeeded in getting him interested and once interested he was like most of
the men from Romagna, eager to continue so I got a few composition books from school and started him
off.

For three weeks we put in two hours per day and in this way by that time he was able not only to write his
own name but also a few simple words. Then I advised him to go to the camp school in the first grade
where he received much better teaching. This he did, and in the meantime, I kept on giving him two hours
daily. He only started at the beginning of September, but when Armistice Day came, he could read
intelligently simple stories and write simple letters home. This was his aim to be able to write home
without having a second party know his affairs.

He was later very glad of my having coaxed him to learn to read and write. He now writes me often from
Bertinoro telling me just that.

On October ninth I got personal news from the outside world. I received three postal cards from Italy, one
from my Aunt in Turin and two from my fiancée in Forli. I was very glad to get the cards though there
was no news in them save that they were feeling well and that they were sending me food. The cards were
mailed in July, Elisa’s on July fourth and my Aunt’s on July twenty-fourth.

The cards went to Brientensee camp and were sent to me by Tassinari who I had already stated was in the
mail office at that camp. It took three months to receive them.

These three cards and that one package of food and clothing received on 5eptember fifth were the only
news or food I received during my more than a year stay as prisoner.

On the first week of October not feeling very well I went to the doctor who ordered me to the camp
hospital. I was there only three days as I did not like it. The food was not much different than at the
regular groups while there I was not getting extra food from Bochini and Maldifasci because they were
not allowed to come.

In the hospital the arrangement of beds and everything else except the food was much similar to the
Vienna hospital. But as the food was by far the most important of all, I asked to be sent to my regular
shack again which was immediately granted.
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One of the best pastimes during the last days at the camp were the movies. The tickets were high priced,
being 12 cents. The movie theatre was in the Austrian group; that is where all of our guards slept, ate and
kept themselves when not on guard duty.

We would see six reels for that price, always one two reel comedy and four reel main pictures.

The titles and pictures were in German, none referred to the war. The audience was composed mostly of
Austrians with many civilians from Sigmundsherberg and a few Italian prisoners who were willing to
spend their money in seeing plays they could not understand.

Many of the higher up prisoners who had much money made by selling packages would go to these
shows in order to meet young girls from the town who used to patronize the show in great numbers. Many
ill affairs came about by these meetings.

Chapter 19 Getting Good News

On October twelfth which in itself was a day worth remembering on account of being not only Columbus
Day but also my brother Ralph’s birthday and at that time my fiancée’s birthday, we made a holiday of it
because we were notified of the surrender of the Turks to the Allies and had agreed on a separate peace.
We were told that the Italian fleet along with that of the Allies had sailed up the Dardanelles.

This was one step nearer the end of the conflict. But winter was fast setting in. Snow was already on the
ground, the large stove in the shack already was lighted. We now hoped something would happen soon to
see a speedy end of the war.

Two days later we heard that Germany was preparing to evacuate every bit of foreign soil. That is, all of
France and Belgium. How true that report was I never was able to confirm.

On the eighteenth of October we heard that Austria had evacuated Belgrade and that Emperor Karl had
asked the Austrian and Hungarian Chambers to reorganize the entire empire making it a confederacy of
different states under one ruler. The following day we heard that Belgium now had transferred their
capitol from L’Havre, France, to Ostend in Belgium. Also that in Bohemia there was an uprising which
later became the new state of Czechoslovakia. Also that the Hindenburg statue was burnt by an angry
mob of Germans.

During all of this excitement, I was peacefully reading most of the day. Having during my last days in
camp had a chance to read most of Shakespeare’s plays in English, also many other English and Italian
books.

On the anniversary of the Caporetto disaster we heard more favorable war news, such as the Belgians
were almost at Antwerp and that Bohemia was now separated and independent from Austria. There were
Italian riots at Fiume.

The following day we heard that the Italians of whom we had not heard of since July had commenced an
offensive against the Austrians in the Piave Front, We also heard rumors that the Kaiser of Germany had
abdicated from the throne in favor of his youngest son.

Sunday, October twenty-seventh, we had a very enjoyable day. It proved to be the last Sunday as
prisoner. Our orchestra gave a special program and we sort of felt in the air that we were now in our last
hours as prisoners.
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The following day we heard that the Italians were rapidly advancing on the Piave Front. Also that Gand in
Belgium and Belgrade in Serbia had been captured by the Allies.

On Thursday, October thirty-first, we heard rumors that the American fleet combined with the Italians
had entered Trieste, the German Army was evacuating all foreign soil. Hungary was in Revolution. This
proved to be our last day!! That night I went to sleep not knowing that the next day would find us free.
There was, however, much excitement throughout the camp and we heard rumors after rumors of the
finish of the war. One rumor had it that the Italians were at Udine.

When we arose in the morning of November first, which was on Friday, also being All Saints Day, the
excitement was almost beyond control. By noon of that day the command of the camp notified the
separate group commands that all of the prisoners in the camps were free and that the gates of the camp
were thrown open. At that hour a large Italian flag (the first I had seen since being prisoner) was flown on
the mast of the high camp tower where guards were formerly stationed with machine guns to see that no
one escaped.

Then each group and each barrack was given a flag to place on the roof.

Chapter 20 The Joy!

The Joy! Everyone was dancing and were happy. We were now free - - - something almost unbelievable
and not only that, the war was ended. Many of the boys who had been prisoners for several years could
scarcely believe they were going home soon.

Our officers were also set free and intermingled with us. The first day there was no order nor command
though there were no disorders either. Most of our guards except the officers were leaving for their
homes. We could see them pack up their belongings and leave singly, in twos and in small groups for the
railway station at Sigmundsherberg. They too were glad that the war was over and we were freed. The
few that remained with us were treated as pals. They intermingled with us all and we celebrated together.

In the afternoon, our famous band which was over 100 members first marched around the camp with all
of our officers and the soldiers following behind. At the head of the improvised parade were standard
bearers with large flags of the Entente Nations. The Italian flags and also one large flag of France,
England, United States, Belgium and Serbia were amongst them.

The band played the national anthems of all of these nations but more frequently that of Italy and France.
“God Save the King” of Great Britain and the “Star Spangled Banner” of the United States were also
played by our band.

We marched around Sigmundsherberg singing the songs played by our band, There were at least 10,000
in the parade though we did not march in order. Order was kept insofar as annoying anyone either civilian
or military. Some stopped to buy drinks at the beer gardens but, as I said before, I saw no sign of
rowdyism by our men.

After the march our band accompanied us back to our camp much the same way as the children followed
the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

On our return to camp to await further orders, we were given a fine meal for supper.
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All during the day many prisoners came to camp who worked in the surrounding country. Many also
escaped from the camp. Those were the ones who had been grafting, stealing and selling packages to the
Austrians.

They had accumulated much money and seeing if they fell in the hands of Italian authorities they would
be severely punished, they ran away and many I have been told never returned to Italy. Over 75 per cent
of these men were from the Venetian provinces of Udine, Venice, Treviso and Beluno.

Our officers during the afternoon while the parade was going on took command of the camp. Two Italian
colonels were put in charge, with a captain or major at the head of each group. The Austrian officers were
there to assist during the change while all the guards had disarmed and were leaving for home. It was nice
to see our officers back with us again.

But that night an order came to all the barracks saying that we were free from prison but we were still
soldiers of the Italian Army and, therefore, to be disciplined as such. Most of us felt bad about it, as we
figured that we were almost free as civilians, but we were brought to realize that we were not by any
means discharged from the Army. I, myself, had to wait ten months more for that valuable piece of
paper. We were made to see that we would get along much better if we remained in good humor and do as
we were told to do by our superiors. That night a guard of Italian soldiers with Austrian rifles were placed
around the camp such as is done in camps in Italy.

During the day the most puzzling thing to me was where and how did so many Italian flags come from.
There must have been at least five hundred of them throughout the camp. Besides the Italians there were
many French and Belgian flags and a few American and English also.

The large silk flags with a mast of at least three feet by five feet of all the Entente Nations which we used
in the parade were also mysteriously brought to camp.

There was a large Italian regimental flag which when an entire regiment was taken prisoner at Caporetto
the officer in charge of the flag bid it under his clothes and was able to keep it from being seen by the
Austrians.

Another thing that had later puzzled me was why we were released on November first, four days before
Armistice Day. Of course, at that time, we were under the impression that the Armistice was signed.

We were told on that day that the Austrian fleet was in the hands of the Entente and that Vienna had
proclaimed itself a republic.

That night when we went back to our straw pile our heads were dizzy with the events of the day.

We were happy that the war was over and that we were no longer prisoners, but we envied our guards
who went away happy and were going home to their families after so many years of hardships. They did
not need a discharge to go home. They just naturally went while we who were supposed to be the victors
remained in the camps and in the Army for still an indefinite period of time.

The next morning we awoke with the Italian bugle sounding. Though we were not forced to get up if we
did not want to.

An Italian Lieutenant took charge of our barracks, All barracks were then given in command to either a
lieutenant or a sergeant.
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An Italian plane flew over our camp with a large Italian flag. We were given a nice surprise by our officer
who said that within a week and a half the camp would not have one prisoner left, that is we would all be
in Italy. We hardly believed him, but it turned out to be the truth after all.

Of course we did nothing that day nor the following days for that matter, The camp had no Austrians
whatsoever twenty-four hours after we were set free except a few officers giving advice to our officers.

Sunday, November third, the third day since we had been released we spent a very nice day, but we
missed our band which had gone to Vienna so we were told, to celebrate the Victory of the Entente. We
were also told that the first train load of prisoners would leave camp the following day for Italy.

We were told to keep in readiness to leave in an hour’s notice as it had been rumored that we were to be
armed and sent to the Austrian-German boundary in case the Germans invaded Austria to send troops to
Italy. This was not relished very much by the boys who figured they had suffered enough during their
long prison hardships and were far from being able as far as health was concerned to stage another
campaign against Germany.

This, however, did not materialize and no troops were sent there on account of German Armistice a few
days later.

On November fourth, though we did not know it at that time, Italy and Austria signed an Armistice and
the first trainload of prisoners were sent to Italy from our camp, Maldifasci left on the first batch. I was to
leave the next day I was so informed.

The leaving of the first train was celebrated in grand style. Because of our band being absent, a squad of
thirty-five buglers played national hymns both in Italian and in French. The natives of Sigmundsherberg
were glad to see us go and came also to the cars and begged for food which the party leaving were well
furnished.

While out at Sigmundsherberg, Giorgioni and I went to a

beer garden and bought apple cider which set us back six Corona per liter. The food at the camp was
excellent, being made of food from packages coming from Italy.

On the fifth, the following day, I was disappointed and my departure from the camp was postponed one
day, but Bochini and Giorgioni left. I would have liked very much to go along. The three of us would
have had a good time together,

But as my name was not on the parting list, it was useless to wish to go along. There was one train
leaving the first day, then two trains - - - one in the morning and one in the evening - - - every day after
that.

Our officers had full control of the railroads so it seemed. Our Colonel Menno who was in charge of the
camp until it was vacated was the supreme head of Sigmundsherberg. The Austrian railroad officials at
the town were always at the orders of the Colonel.

I went to see Bochini and Giorgioni off and made an appointment to see them again at Bertinoro. When I
returned to camp, I found thousands of civilians, men, women, and children, going from shack to shack
begging for bread and other food.
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Chapter 21 Leaving Camp and Sharing Food with the Austrians

Many of the boys who were returning to Italy had been receiving packages regularly and had a food
reserve of as many as twenty packages. As one or two would be sufficient to carry them to the Italian
border, they willingly gave the starving people all the food they could carry away.

When the camp was vacated there left in the shacks in the package department over three million
packages of food for boys who were either dead, lost or missing. Packages had just arrived in the last few
days from Italy. The packages, we were told, were donated to the starving population of the city of
Vienna a few weeks after the Armistice.

November sixth was my day, a very important day to remember. Early in the morning I was told I was
leaving on the afternoon train and to be prepared. I did not have to be told twice, as I had my belongings
ready long before being called. We got an early start and at 11:00 a.m. we were already in the train at our
camp. We were placed in regular “8 horse 40 men” freight cars. There were fifty-seven such cars in our
train and in our car there were forty-two men, that was two more than capacity. But we were squeezed in
any way, We were given fresh straw to lay on. We were each given one British package of food which
contained canned sardines, canned meat, chocolate and many other varieties of food. We were also given
biscuit bread from Italy in large quantities, in fact a whole crate of biscuit bread was placed in each car in
order to have enough to eat en route. At 3:00 p.m. amid wild excitement we said goodbye to our buddies
who would follow us to Italy as the camp had to be vacated by Sunday, November tenth, I was told. We
said goodbye to our officers, especially Colonel Menno who was responsible for our going home so soon
after the Armistice. The thirty-five buglers played national airs of France and Italy as our train left the
Sigmundsherberg station. The civilians in large numbers gathered about us as a last goodbye asked for
food.

Everyone of our cars had an Italian flag and the engine had a large flag in front. We left all in the best of
spirits. The day was one which will be long remembered.

Before dark, we were at Tulin and this large town was a long stop. It was long after sleeping time when
our train left Tulin.

During the night we passed Vienna, but we were asleep and the train made a short stop outside of the city.
All during the following day we went at a snail’s pace towards the Italian boundary. We were singing and
all were happy. We stopped at most every town on the way. We fed the population, especially the small
children who came to our cars and begged for food. As we were happy, we were on our way borne, we
met train loads of Austrian soldiers who were going in the opposite direction and were also happy. They
were going directly home. The trains were loaded even the top of the cars were full of men. They all
cheered at us as we passed each other.

The Bohemians were the ones who cheered most. On trains which were taking them home were written in
large letters “Long Live Wilson” and “Long Live America”. It seemed that they gave credit to President
Wilson for their independence.

We passed Leoben just before dark and then we had another night of sleep in our over-congested car. We,
in the meantime, told stories and talked about going back borne and also of the welcome we would get by
our country after such a long absence and sufferings.
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The next morning we were near Klagenfurt, the region where I had been in the beginning of my prison
life. We passed the outskirts of the city and proceeded on to Villach where we made a five hour stop.
When we arrived at Kiagenfurt, we noticed that the six rear cars of our train were missing.

They had been unhitched by some crank at a small station during a stop at night, A special engine was
sent after them and they were hitched to our train again at Villach.

While we were waiting for the oars which was over five hours, we left our train and went to look at the
city of Villach. This was one of the few towns that I saw in Austria that I liked. The inhabitants were
dressed in quaint costumes. We were really in the center of the beautiful Carnia region with the world
famous Carnia Alps surrounding us.

One of the amusing sights was seeing Italian and Austrian soldiers walking the streets side by side. The
population was in most part German speaking and treated us very well. We were not charged excessively
for articles purchased at the stores.

While here I bought a native smoking pipe as a souvenir for my father and a few other souvenirs for my
friends in Italy. All day long trainloads upon trainloads of Austrians passed us for the interior. As I said
before, the cars were overly crowded. There were men even on the fenders of the engine. All the roofs of
the cars were full so that I could not see how they could get along when the train went under long tunnels
which were frequent in these regions.

After leaving Villach we continued towards Italy which we knew was only a short distance. We made a
long stop at Trevisio until after dark.

At 2:10 a.m. of the ninth of November, we arrived at Pontefel, the last Austrian city. We thought we
would proceed for Italy but such was not to be the case. We were told by the Austrian and Italian officials
at the city that we were to get off and walk to Per la Carmia Station. To get us up at that time of the night
and tell us to walk thirty kilometers was not the kind of reception we had in mind by our countrymen, but
we did as we were told.

We crossed the boundary to Pontebba which is on the Italian side, just one-fourth of a kilometer from
Pontefel. We were glad to be back in Italy again but we were sorry that we were given such a poor
reception, in fact no one noticed us. We saw many Austrian soldiers disarmed who were going home
waiting for trains at Pontefel.

It was 6:00 a.m. when I left Pontebba for Per La Carnia Station, where we were told we would find Italian
trains, I could not figure why trains could not leave from Pontebba as the road from that town to Per La
Carnia was not damaged.

I had quite a pack on my back, books, food, souvenirs and a little clothing. We carried very little food
because we thought when we left the train at our first stop we would be fed and placed on trains again. A
thirty kilometer hike was nothing to be sneezed at but that proved to be just the beginning of a long march
to Piave River of 162 kilometers, or 108 miles, in seven consecutive days, really in six days as the last
day we only walked five kilometers or less than three miles.

For the first day I walked in company with a young Ravenna private. On our way we passed the town of
Dogna and Chiusaforte.
We did not go in any particular order - - - everyone was for himself and in this way we rested and stopped
where and when we pleased. We ate a little of our reserve food for the day. With us returning to Italy
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were many French soldiers who had been taken prisoner at Gallipoli, Monastri and at other Balkan fronts
and being near Italy were now returning to their country by the way of Italy. They herded together and
were complaining of the ill manner in which the Italian Government was receiving the Allied prisoners.
We also complained but to no avail. We hoped at least that when at Per la Carnia we would be decently
received, but when we got there, we were told to proceed to Gemona, a large town on the road to Udine.
We were very tired so we laid down for the night with the blue sky for our roof, as we had done when
marching from Laibach to Udine just one year previous. We were fortunate that this time the weather was
favoring us. I had been at Per La Carnia once before way back in February 1917 when delivering
deserters to the 131st Infantry which was in the Carnia Front from Frosinone, so I figured I was an old
timer in that place though I had been there only a few hours when waiting for the train from Tolmezzo to
Udine.

That night we rested and the next morning after eating a little more of our preserved food, we proceeded
to Gemona although I had never been there. The town was 12 kilometers away. We followed the railroad
to Udine which I had once been on and also on our right was the wide but shallow Tagliamento River,
The scenery along this route was beautiful though our thoughts were far removed from it.

We kept meeting Austrian soldiers disarmed but otherwise with all of their belongings going the opposite
direction to Pontefel to catch a train for home - - - they were happier than we.

At Gemona which we arrived in, in about two and one-half hours after leaving Per la Carnia our spirits
were revived here since we saw civilians and Italian soldiers who had just arrived from Udine and were
the first victorious troops to enter the town since it was abandoned more than a year previously.

They were well uniformed while we were all ragged. Here we bought cards and also I bought a flag. The
cards I mailed immediately to Forli. The population, that is the few civilians still left at Germona, were
over joyous to see the boys again. But naturally they paid more attention to the well-groomed
“Bersaglieri” who had come as victors than to us poor prisoners whom most blamed for their sufferings at
the hands of the enemy. At Gemona we were told to proceed to Tricesimo where we were told there was a
tramway which took us to Udine. We were given nothing to eat by either civilians nor military authorities,
but were told that at Udine there was plenty. Tricesimo is about 17 kilometers from Gemona and 10
kilometers from Udine. So we slowly walked to Tricesimo. Here we found the tramway all right but after
we were seated on it ready to leave some military police came in and chased us out saying that we should
proceed on foot for Pagnacco, about 4 kilometers away. Being dogs of war and with the exception of a
few who strenuously objected, we got off and proceeded to do as we were told. Just as I was leaving
Tricesimo, I met Bochini and Georgioni with their belongings on their backs. I was very glad to see them
and we decided to go together. They had walked slower than I for they left Pontebba one day before me.
They also left Sigmundsherberg one day previous to me. They had walked in two and a half days the
same distance I had in one and a half. At Pagnacco we went 37 miles since leaving Per La Carnia and
were fortunate to find a farmer who placed us in his loft. We gave him some cocoa from our British food
packages given us at Sigmundsherberg. That was the last of my reserve of food, for so far we got nothing
from the government. The farmer and his family made cornmeal mush (polenta) for us and were certainly
kind, much better than when in the regions before Caporetto’s incident. The treatment they got under the
Germans (who many thought were their friends) made them wish they were again under the Italian rule.
And, naturally when the Italians won at Vittorio Veneto, they were glad that their sufferings were ended.
We heard many weird tales of atrocities committed by the Germans to these natives, especially the
women.

After our meal we went in our hayloft. Here we had the best sleep since leaving Sigmundsherberg. The
following morning we proceeded to a place called Gradisca. We were told that it was only 18 kilometers
away, but it proved to be 32 kilometers. We passed through the towns of Martingnacco, Nogaredo, San
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Vito, etc. At Martignacco having finished all my reserve food, I helped Bochini eat his. I also went to a
farmer to see if I could purchase some with a few Austrian Korona. But I was given some without having
to pay for it. Probably my shabby appearance not having shaved for over two weeks and dirty, torn
uniform and shoes which the soles were coming out and being thin, weighing only 44 kilos, or about 96
pounds, helped.

From Pagnacco we wanted to go to Udine which was only 7 kilometers away but the Military Police
which were stationed enroute would not let us proceed to that town and told us to go to the Tagliamento
River. Gradisca where we were promised food and transportation to Italy, and if we went to Udine we
were told we would lose time. Grudgingly we did as we were told and as I said before we proceeded for
Gradisca. At Gradisca, Bochini, Georgioni and I went to a wine shop for food and here we used our last
cent for our meal; we went to a hayloft to sleep. Again we were not given anything by the government.
We thought it strange that our government which had won the war would make us hike 100 kilometers
without food. Such we thought was a great injustice. My strength was giving out. As I was already weak
when I left Austria, and that day we walked 32 kilometers.

The next day we crossed the wide shallow river of Tagliamento. From there we proceeded southward to
Pordenone. We passed the large town of Cordenons. We managed to get food from the farmers again.
Bochini also ate his last food. It mast be remembered that when I say “we” I do not mean my friends and I
alone but also thousands of others who were either ahead or behind us and were just as disgusted as we
were. During the day which was our fourth since leaving the train at Pontefel we went 25 kilometers, a
total of 124 for the four days. This was November 12, 1918, the day previous as we were going to
Gradisca the German Armistice was signed, though at the time we knew nothing about it, while in Italy
and America they were celebrating.

At Pordenone I felt so ill that I thought I could go no further. I, therefore, asked the Military Police for a
medical visit and to do that I had to leave Bochini and Giorgioni who proceeded towards the Piave River.
I was placed in a camp hospital and slept on a mattress for the night. In the meantime, I and many others
waited for the doctor who never came. We were also not given anything to eat. Early the next morning we
were told that the doctor could not come and that we could find one at Sacile. We thought that our
country had certainly betrayed us because we were prisoners. Sacile was 14 kilometers away so slowly
with empty stomachs we proceeded to the town. On the way I stopped at a farmhouse of a farmer where
two women were alone and they prepared some polenta for me. They were very generous and told us of
their suffering at the hands of the enemy. At the town of Fontanaffedda about 8 kilometers from Sacile we
were given our first food by the Italian authorities.

We got a can of meat and one hard biscuit each. We had gone 130 kilometers and four and one-half days
without food from the government.

At Sacile we got more food and found a loft to sleep in. Sacile now did not look anywhere near like I first
saw it on the twenty-seventh of September 1915, or three years previous. It was now deserted except for
the ex-prisoners returning from Austria all dirty, tattered and torn. Instead of there being 30,000 Italian
soldiers as there were at that time there were less than one hundred and a few hundred civilians instead of
5000 as in 1915. The houses and buildings were all deserted. Sacile was only 26 kilometers from the
Piave River but its buildings showed no effect of the cannons, which were not far away.

The next morning we were definitely promised by the Military Police that if we would be so patient as to
walk to Susegana on the Piave River we positively would not have to walk any further as Italian trains as
yet had not been able to cross the Piave River. But I could see no reason why Austrian trains which let us
off at Pontefel could not have proceeded on to the Piave River and in this way we would have to cross
only what used to be no man’s land. Susegana, we were told, was not over 16 kilometers away but it
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proved to be 22 kilometers instead. We left Sacile without food. Just outside of Sacile we began to see
signs of conflict. The first since leaving Udine almost a year previous. As we proceeded southward the
more destruction was visible. At Conegliano which was a town of importance on the Treviso Udine
Railroad line was half demolished by bombardment, This town before the Caporetto disaster was even
larger than Sacile and very pretty. It was now ruined. After leaving Conegliano we went to a farm house
which by some miracle was still intact and in it found two women, one very old. She gave us polenta
which I ate heartily.

It seemed strange to me how well liked we were now in these regions where they once used to cut our
throats by their excessive charges. The Germans had cured them it seemed.

As we reached Susegana we saw scenes so familiar to those I had seen at the Isonzo Front. It seemed
hardly possible that these towns and villages thus in ruins were in Italy. We passed trenches used by the
Austrian soldiers and so much ammunition, rifles, cannons, machine guns, etc., left by them in their
retreat. There were still dead horses and a few dead soldiers as we approached the Piave. The famous
battle which ended the war started at this point just exactly three weeks or twenty-one days before from
the day I was at Susegana and the Armistice between Austria and Italy was signed just ten days before my
crossing the Piave on November fourteenth.

The great waste of material and shells of cannon shots were scattered all over the ground. When we
arrived at Susegana we looked all over for the town but it was a small place where the ruins were in no
place higher than three or four feet. There were trenches and runways crossing the town.

At Susegana we put in a very uncomfortable night. We were out in the open the night long and with
heavy snow on the ground. We built fires to keep warm. We were told that in the morning we would cross
the Piave and go to Spresiano for a train. I was told to organize a company of one hundred men in order to
leave Susegana in some order and not in the disorganized way we had marched from Pontefel.

I was far from capable to start a company being very ill, tired, hungry and cold.

But nevertheless, I made the attempt during the cold night we bivouacked at Susegana. In the morning
after another sleepless night when we were ready to leave Susegana for Spresiano, my company had all
been disorganized again so I sneaked into another company which was formed and ready to proceed for
Spresiano which was a hike of 9 kilometers to Susegana. Four kilometers after leaving we reached the
banks of the famous Piave River where we crossed in single file across a pontoon bridge. The trip from
Susegana to Spresiano was what three weeks previous was “no man’s land”. There were still many dead
and also much war material scattered throughout.

At Spresiano we were given foods; a can of meat and one half loaf of bread. This was the second meal
given us since we got off the train at Pontefel on November eighth or eight days previous and, in the
meantime, we had walked almost 110 miles.

We were now very near the Montello where on July 1917 I had spent a delightful week camping and
which now was full of trenches and holes made by large caliber shots.
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Chapter 22 Finally the Train

At about noon we were put on a train. The regular third class passenger coaches, and shortly after we left
Spresiano and were on our way south, passing through Treviso, Padova, Rovigo, etc.

The compartment we were in was usually for sixteen passengers, but we were squeezed in so tight that
they put twenty of us in where four should be, but anyway we were so thin from dieting that they had
little difficulty in squeezing us in the compartment.

Early in the morning we found ourselves at Ferrara, as from Rovigo to Ferrara is only about fifty miles. I
did not know what we did or where we were the entire night for we left Rovigo before dark the day
before. From Ferrara we changed roads and went towards the city of Modena. We stopped at the next
station, Castelfranco. Here we were placed in a large Fortress for a few hours and given food, the same
rations as at Spresiano.

At about 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon after having formed companies of two hundred men each under an
officer, we left Castelfranco and we were told that we would go to a town called Castelnuovo about 18
kilometers may. It was cold and a heavy blanket of snow was on the ground. I did not know how we got
enough strength to endure the distance, but as we reached Castelnuovo we were told that to reach our
destination we would have to walk nine more kilometers. We did not get to Castelnuovo until 11:00 p.m.
I was exhausted and could go no further. I walked two more kilometers and then went to a farmer to ask
for a place to lay down. I saw a light from the window, though it was now almost midnight and snowing
hard. I left the company and the farmer took me to his barn where it was nice and warm. There were
many cows there. Before leaving me, he gave me some milk and bread. I had a good night of sleep in the
nice fresh straw and hay.

Early the next morning after thanking the farmer for his courtesy and for the breakfast be gave me, I set
out in the snow storm to find my company. I walked over 25 kilometers around the neighboring country
looking for it. All day long I walked from one village to the other. At noon I stopped at a farmhouse for
rest. Here the farmer and his wife seeing in what condition I was in let me in their house and had a real
dinner with them, the first in over a year. I also was given a bottle of wine.

Chapter 23 Getting Back to the Company and the Real World

Towards evening I went back to Castelnuovo again after having walked all day in the snow and ice
through villages of Portile, Montale, Colombari, Formigine, etc., After I reached Castelnuovo, I was told
that my company was at Portile only 4 kilometers from where I had already been so I immediately set out
for the village again and found the boys. I was given my ration of food and then was given some straw to
sleep on. Our quarters were in an attic of an old building. We slept on a little straw on the floor. Luckily
we were in this place only one and a half days for on the nineteenth of November we made our
headquarters in a nice vacant villa about two kilometers from Portile. One thing I was glad that we were
through walking, for since leaving Pontefel on November ninth or ten days previous to our moving into
our permanent quarters, we had walked exactly 216 kilometers or 140 miles. The food we got at first was
far from being sufficient, getting only one-half loaf of bread and one can of meat per day.

The day before we went to our new home or while yet in Portile I, for the first time since leaving Austria,
shaved and cleaned my under clothes. The villa we were in was entirely vacant - - - no furniture of any
kind was left. We slept on the floor with some straw. Later on we were given a mattress, but at first we
did not have a blanket nor an overcoat. The weather out there was extremely cold and was snowing the
first days of our stay there. We could make no fire and our windows had no glass, just shutters which are
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so prettily portrayed in American homes of Italian design. These shutters though very pretty from the
outside did not prevent the cold weather from coming inside.

One of the first things I did as soon as we were permanently established was to inform my parents and
relatives of my return to Italy and gave them my new address. Shortly afterwards I received letters and
money orders from my relatives in Forli.

Five days after our arrival we were given hot meals and from then on our food kept getting better. We
used to have wine, noodles, meat, broth, etc., also one loaf of bread. In this way it did not take long to
regain our health; we had nothing to do except keep ourselves clean.

About two weeks after we were given entire new outfits, uniform, underclothes, shoes, blankets, mantel,
etc.

I was also getting back money from the day I left Austria which amounted to 50 lire, also my salary and
money orders which I received front my Uncle Bazzini, so in that way I was pretty well fixed financially.
Most every night I went to Portile where we loafed around the village. Though we had nothing to do but
eat and sleep, we were not allowed to leave our villa except at the established time. We also had to return
before 9:00 p.m.
On these different occasions during our stay at Portile, we were taken before a commission of officers
which asked us many questions. Among them when and how we became prisoners, how we were treated
by the Austrians or Germans, if we had enough food, if we had any complaints against any particular
person to make, either enemy or Italian, and by whom we had been ill treated during our prison stay.

Under the last question, many Italians who had acted a interpreters for the enemy and also many who had
worked in the package department of Sigmundsherberg were reported.

Of course, I was given a squad to look after of about 18 men. I also had a corporal in the squad so I let
him do the work. About three times while at Portile, I went to the city of Modena. Once I went with a
college boy who showed me the town.

Modena was a very nice city of about 70,000 people. It is at Modena where the principle military school
of Italy is located. It is the West Point of Italy. During the war more cadets and subs came out of the
Modena school than all other Italian cities combined. Modena is only 23 miles northwest of Bologna and
is in the region called Emilia, It is naturally the capital of the Province of Modena.

The last two weeks of my stay at our villa I received permission from our sub who was in charge of us to
go and live with a farmer next to our quarters. This farmer whose name was Alfred Baschieri had
repeatedly asked me to take his son’s room while he was in Modena. As I was in his house most all of the
day anyway, it was just a question of remaining for the night. I had my meals with him, his wife, and two
children after the second week I arrived. Of course, my military rations I got anyway and were made use
of by the farmer’s wife.

For three meals and a nice white bed to sleep in I paid only one lira or 20 cents per day. Besides I drank
as much milk as I wanted, never less than two liters per day, as he had a dairy farm.

In fact this whole region is noted throughout Italy and even abroad for its famous dairy products
especially cheese which is sent in great quantities even to the United States. At home we used that cheese
very often grated in spaghetti, ravioli and macaroni.
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On December 4, 1917, my diary said I roasted a turkey for the first time since Thanksgiving day of 1914,
or over four years before. I remembered it was some feast and we all ate heartily on that day.

With all of the milk I was drinking plus the extra food I was getting, made a great change in me. When I
arrived at Portile on November eighteenth, I weighed 44 kilo, or 97 pounds, and when I left on December
thirteenth I weighed 55 kilos, or 121 pounds.

Though I was putting on much weight I was still not adding much strength. All the milk was only adding
flesh not muscles. On December eighth after over thirteen months I received my first letter from home. I
was certainly glad to get it. It was mailed on November first to Forli and was sent to me from there by my
relatives.

In the evening of December twelfth we were told that early in the morning we must leave for Castelfranco
and from there we would leave for our trip home. So we said goodbye to all of our friends we had
acquired, but I slept to the last night in the home of Baschieri.

At 5:00 a.m. the next morning (December thirteenth) I arose and almost immediately with a company of
sixty men left our quarters for Castelfranco, 20 kilometers distant. I thanked Mr. Baschieri and the entire
family for what they had done for me, for when I left them I no longer looked like a poor, sick and shabby
beggar. I was now well, clean, newly uniformed and fairly strong.

Though before going to Portile I would have much rather gone to my relatives to recuperate. I was now
glad I had not gone for they would have worried very much over my condition as I came from Austria.

Chapter 24 Furlough to Forli

The 20 kilometer walk was nothing to us now after our long rest. We got to Castelfranco in the afternoon
and late in the evening we all got our documents for our furlough which was for twenty days. At 10:00
p.m. several others and myself were going from Castelfranco by train for Bologna and from there to Forli.
As usual I got to Forli in the small hours of the night which was at 1:30 a.m., and as I did not want to
awaken any one of my relatives, I slept a few hours on the benches at the station.

I was very glad to be able to see Forli again for during the bad winter I spent at Cambresco I had almost
given up hope of ever seeing Italy again, much less America.

The suffering mostly because of insufficient food which I endured during the year as prisoner was beyond
anything I ever hoped to go through the rest of my life.

It was a question of not knowing how soon we might die of starvation, 50,000 were starved in
Sigmundsherberg camp alone. Early in the morning I went to my relatives and was very much welcomed.

Not so by my fiancée who during the tine I was prisoner was convinced by her folks to remain at their
side and not to come to America. So after a quarrel with her father, I broke up completely with them, I
was sorry to leave the girl and she in turn promised me we would get married even right away provided I
did not leave Europe. She was willing to go to England or France to live if I so wanted. But as I insisted
that I would return home as soon as I was released, we broke up definitely.

I only stayed two days in Forli, then I went to Bertinoro with my Aunt. Here I met my friends Bochini,
Georgioni and Sirotti. When I got to Bertinoro on December nineteenth, I went to the Bochini house to
see him, but he had not yet arrived home. His mother and sisters were waiting for him and, in the
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meantime, prepared a wonderful meal for me. After a few hours of conversation, I started to leave for my
Aunt’s home. On my way there I met Bochini who was just arriving at Bertinoro so I accompanied him
back home. One can imagine the welcome he received from his widowed mother and sisters after being
prisoner over two and one-half years, being made prisoner in May 1916, he had not been home for over
three years.

His mother was very grateful because I taught her son to read and write, but I told her if it had not been
for her son, I might never had returned home, for without food which he was constantly supplying me
while at Sigmundsherberg, I might never have lived through the summer and fall of 1917. I spent four
days at Bertinoro. During the time I was in an Austrian camp an addition came to my Uncle’s family.
They had a boy and though I was far away when it was christened I was his Godfather and my cousin
who lives in Turin was the Godmother.

At the time, my Father’s mother who lives with my cousins and Aunt in Turin came to Bertinoro to take
care of the baby. On December twentieth I returned to Forli and had a strange experience.

Chapter 25 The American Sailor

While walking through the main square of the town, I saw a sailor who was not dressed in the regular
Italian uniform, and while looking at him, a friend of my grandfather came to me and told me he was an
American sailor. At first I did not believe him as I could not see what an American sailor would be doing
at an out-of- the-way town like Forli. Being assured he was an American, I met him in a sort of ice cream
parlor where he had entered and where they sold liquors. I stopped to speak to him and naturally he was
just as surprised to hear me speak English as I was to hear him.

He told me he was from New York City and he came from an American torpedo ship at the harbor of
Porte Corsini 5 kilometers from Ravenna and that he took the small steam train from Ravenna to Forli. He
said three boys of the same torpedo ship were in Forli, one of which was a Chicagoan. So after a long
conversation, we left the store and went to meet his pals. The buddy from Chicago was also surprised to
see me and all wondered what an American was doing with an Italian military uniform. And also, why I
was in the town of Forli which up to now was quite unknown but had since been made prominent as the
birthplace and early home of Mussolini up to 1913 before be became Editor of “Avanti”, socialistic
newspaper at Milan.

The other two boys were Philadelphia and Pittsburg residents. These two and the New Yorker were a
trifle tipsy from drinking too inch liquor. The Chicagoan was the most sober of the four. That night we
accompanied the other three to the room they had rented and then the two of us went out alone. In the
meantime, while we were sipping some coffee at a shop I wrote a note home to my folks which he
promised to deliver and which he did about two months later.

The next morning they were leaving Forli to go to Porte Corsini, so I accompanied them to the train for
Ravenna.

I certainly was very much surprised to see Americans at Forli. They were the first I had seen since leaving
the States, though later on I saw many American buddies in Florence, Turin, Milan, Pisa and Bologna.

My stay in Forli now that I was on the “outs” with Elisa was not very pleasant so I decided to go and visit
my relatives in Milan and Turin. My cousins and Aunts at Turin from the first day I arrived in Italy over
three and one-half years before had requested me to visit them but I could never leave Forli on the few
days I had furlough from service.
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Chapter 26 Visiting relatives in Milan and Turin

Two days after returning to Forli on December twenty-second, I left Forli for Milan.

I left on a regular military train by way of Bologna, Modena and Piacenza, the latter part of the trip was
new to me as I had never been in that portion of the country. After passing Piacenza we crossed Po River.
At this point the river is very wide, being over a one kilometer, we crossed it over a long steel bridge.

After fifteen hours of weary traveling I got to Milan which is the Chicago of Italy, being the railroad and
manufacturing center of the nation. The station was a large but not an impressing and architecturally
pretty one as that of Turin or Genova.

It was raining hard when I arrived at about 5:00 p.m. I was also tired and hungry as I had left Forli at 2:00
a.m.

Thinking I might get a good meal at my Father’s aunt’s home and at my second cousins, I took a cab
which set me back five lire. As I got to their house I found them all home, but I had not seen them since
1911 or over seven years before, and of course, they had changed much in that time.

The younger boy of twenty-two years was home from the service on furlough and was a captain in the
infantry, a few months later he became a major. With the exception of him, I did not get the welcome I
thought I would get, and as their apartment was small, I told them I had only stopped to see them but that
I was going to leave for Turin that night. After a bite to eat at their house, I left by streetcar for the main
square where the famous cathedral is located.

As the train for Turin did not leave until 2:00 a.m., I had from 9:00 p.m. until the time the train left to get
a night’s glimpse of Milan. Of course what most interested me was the cathedral, but here I was
disappointed as I expected to see something more monumental than what I saw. The fact probably was
because the square in which it was located was so large and that made the cathedral appear small. Then,
too, I saw it at night which might have had something to do with it. During the night I saw many of the
principle streets and also the famous Arcade. I also went to a movie in order to pass the time away.

Milan is now the largest city in Italy having passed Naples in population. It has now very close to one
million inhabitants. The Milanese have a dialect of their own which anyone not a native of the town could
not understand. It is very different from the Italian language.

Six hours after leaving Milan I arrived at Turin. This trip I made in a passenger train on the third class
coach. As the trip was at night I did not see the country we passed and being tired I tried to get a wink of
sleep.

As soon as I got to Turin I went to my cousins and Aunt’s house where I was given a nice reception and
here I made my home until January second.

I liked Turin very much, it was a very clean city having many monuments and fine buildings. All
residences or apartments were of the same height and very well built. The more I saw of Turin the more I
liked it.

My cousins took me to every place of interest and also to theatres and movies. Christmas, I spent a very
delightful day with them. I slept in my Grandmother’s room who was then at Bertinoro.
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One of the prettiest buildings was the railway station - - - also the cathedral, the Royal Armory and the
Royal Chapel were very interesting.

1919
Chapter 1 Wilson, the Chicgo Tribune and the YMCA

Turin at this time was getting all dressed up for the expected visit of President Wilson. The city in the
principle streets and buildings were highly decorated with Italian and American flags, also a few French
and English. I never saw so many American flags as was in the city in those days.

Before the war very few Italians knew what an American flag looked like and even in the days I was in
Turin with the American flag out in every window and poles, one would meet people who would ask
what kind of flag that odd looking banner was that was hanging all over the town.

President Wilson though he stopped at Turin on January second at 3:00 p.m. on his way to Rome did not
get off the train, and shortly afterwards left for Rome by the way of Genoa. On his return from Rome to
France he stopped at Turin for a day, January sixth.

Here in Turin I was able to read the first American newspaper since returning from Austria. I was
surprised to find the Paris edition of the Chicago TRIBUNE as up to that time I had always read the Paris
edition of the New York HERALD,

Though the Chicago TRIBUNE was my home paper, I from the start preferred the New York HERALD
because of its sympathies with the Italians in what proved to be a serious question on the Adriatic shores.

The Chicago TRIBUNE sided with President Wilson and Yugoslavia. This was possibly the only thing
that the TRIBUNE had in common with President Wilson because in other questions up until the death of
the President the “WORLD’S GREATEST” was always against him.

The New York HERALD on the other hand always took the Italian end of the Fiume “Imbroglio” of
which more will be said further on.

While in Turin I also met American soldiers and officers and with several I became acquainted at the
Y.M.C.A. canteen. I also went to see the American Consul to find out if it was possible to return home
and what documents I needed,

At this time I had hopes of returning home in less than two months, but because of the Paris conference of
which President Wilson was Chief, I had to wait almost a year or eleven months to be exact,

On January third in the morning after a delightful time in Turin, I left for Florence, Italy, where I was to
show up after the termination of my furlough. I was already two days late, but I wanted to remain in Turin
to be President Wilson’s onlooker, who I was not able to see because he did not get out of the railway
station and there were thousands around the depot throughout the day he arrived, which was the day
before I left Turin. I followed President Wilson’s special train only he was twelve hours ahead of us on
the same road. All the stations on the way were all decorated with American and Italian flags.

I left Turin on a military train but was lucky to get a place in a second class coach.
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As usual the train went at a snail’s pace of about six miles per hour for it took us sixteen hours to go 166
kilometers, or 100 miles. It was not that the train was so slow but it made long stops especially at the
cities of Asti, Alessandria, Ranchi, etc. At the first named, we met a train of British who were going home
from the Galonika Front. The train was at the station and waiting for orders to proceed. Here I had a nice
chat with British boys for over an hour. We left south before they went north. At Genoa we got in early in
the morning and though we stopped at the station for over two hours, we were not allowed to leave the
train. I was anxious to see at least a part of the city which is the chief port of Italy and also Columbus’s
birthplace. I had a chance to see the town a few months later. I had not been in Genoa since 1901 when
we first went to America.

During this time the Italian papers were full of the welcome given President Wilson in Rome. It seemed
as if the Almighty Himself came down from heaven - - - he could not have been given a better reception.

Wilson was considered the savior of the Italian people and everyone looked up to him to settle the
European squabble with fairness to Italy and her 650,000 dead on the Isonzo and Piave. How badly they
were ill-used by him only a few months later. No one at that time ever believed it possible.

Though I was in America during the three year Wilson administration and usually voted Democratic, I
was not even then a Wilson sympathizer. From the first in 1912, though I was only a kid, I always had a
dislike for him.

One of the many faults I found with President Wilson was that knowing the ambition of the Italian nation
for the redemption of the Italian speaking towns and cities on the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, he did not
come out from the beginning and flatly refuse to consider them. Instead of first going to Italy and not only
being honored, worshiped, but also receiving gifts from the government, municipalities, Pope and other
Italian Royalties to the amount of over one and a half million lire, or about three hundred thousand
dollars, the best and principle streets of most of the cities in Italy were named after Wilson.

From Genoa to Pisa the distance is the same as from Genoa to Turin, or 100 miles. As we left Genoa at
7:00 a.m. and reached Pisa at 3:00 p.m., we made much better time.

The trip from Genoa to Chiavari is a wonderful one. The panoramas, I doubt if they could be beat in the
world, on the east is the mountain and on the west we had the deep blue Tyrranean Sea. The portion of the
country is called the Italian Riviera and is full of wonderful villas belonging to English and American
citizens, but mostly they belong to British nobility.

Only a few miles past Genoa, 4.2 miles to be exact, we passed a small town called Quarto. It was from
here that Garibaldi in 1860 with 1000 volunteers left for Sicily and thereby uniting not only Sicily but the
entire region south of Rome to the kingdom of Italy when his thousand fought against the oppressive
government the natives of those regions had. It was also there that D’Annunzio made his famous speech
in April 1915 which fired the Italians for the cause of the Allies. After passing Chiavari we went through
a series of tunnels much similar to those on the Florence-Faenza route, but we always had the deep blue
sea at our right.

After an uneventful trip I reached Pisa at 3:00 p.m. and as I was able to sneak out of the station, I went to
town where I wanted to see the famous Leaning Tower.

The four architectural marvels are just a little outside the town, but street cars take you there easily.
 190

The four marvels consisted of the cathedral, Baptistery, Leaning Tower and the Cemetery. Each is a
masterpiece of art in itself. Of course, the one which catches the eye is the famous Leaning Tower which
is just behind the cathedral. The baptistery is in front of the cathedral while the cemetery is on the side of
the cathedral. I purchased a ticket and for 12 cents was permitted to go on top of the tower which was
only 178 feet high. Once on top one gets a strange feeling because of its bending. When on top looking
down it seems as if we were falling with the tower. The tower is one of the eight wonders of the world
and to this day archeologists have not been able to determine whether the tower was built in that manner
or whether the footings sank to one side and, thereby, made the whole tower lean over.

The four marvels are of Italian Gothic style of architecture and are made of marble exterior.

The Cathedral is also very wonderful outside. Inside it looks much the same as the Florence Cathedral
with nothing but large pillars and naves. Little or no decoration such as there is in abundance at St.
Peter’s in Rome.

The Baptistery is very large, something on the order of that of Florence, though entirely different style of
architecture. Like the tower the Baptistery leans to one side, though not nearly so pronounced as the
tower. The cemetery has very fine monuments.

Pisa besides the four marvels just mentioned has four long bridges over the Arno River and has a
University. It was Pisa where Galileo was born and taught in the University.

Chapter 2 Back in Florence after two years

Having gone around Pisa for four hours and thinking I would get to Florence too late, I took the trip at
about 7:00 p.m. for my native town, I was on a regular passenger train on second class coach. The
distance from Pisa to Florence on the route through Empoli was 79 kilometers, or 48 miles, and in three
hours I was again in my native city for the first time since March 1917, or almost two years. It was after
10:00 p.m. when I got to Florence so I went to a hotel instead of the Armory of the 69th Infantry where I
was to go.

Early next morning I went to the Armory where I was taken in force. I was given a nice bunk with white
sheets and pillows in the room with sergeants and sergeant majors. We also had our own mess as at Fort
Pietralata.

I did not stay long in Florence, only five days. In the meantime, my time was very much my own as we
had no drills nor work to do. We (the sergeants) were permitted to go out when we wished. During these
five days I saw more of my native town than during any other stay I had in Florence. I went through the
Uffici Gallery, Boboli Garden and different buildings which I had not seen before. This made me more
acquainted with the city. I could go all over without getting lost.

The only work I did in the five days was on the second day I was chosen as Sergeant of the Day. I was
assigned to the third company which was over 1000 men, mostly ex-war prisoners who had returned from
Austria or Germany. These men were also about fifteen sergeants and sergeant majors.

To be Sergeant on duty for twenty-four hours for such a large squad of men was no cinch. First I had to
see that coffee was distributed then had to look after the cleaning of the cantonment, which was very
large. Then came dinner and supper distribution, taking the sick to the hospital and so forth. That was the
busiest day I had since before I became prisoner.
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On the third day I met my old buddy who had started his military career way back in August 1915, Enrico
Serafini. As we had started our military careers together so we were now finishing it, a long grind of
almost four years. I was very glad to see him and the two remaining days I spent in Florence we were
always together. He had also been prisoner, but instead of going to Austria and Czechoslovakia as I did,
he was sent to Germany, France and Belgium. In fact, he traveled all through the west Front. He had
many experiences to relate, most of which were about the cruelties of the Germans in France and
Belgium.

He had already sent for his documents from Egypt to be released from the Army and was daily expecting
his release from the Army because he was a British Government employee before the war and was
recalled to fill his old position. Together we took in the sights of the town and as already said, had a very
delightful time.

Chapter 3 The American Consul and taking care of Austrian Prisoners

While in Florence I went to the American Consul to see if in some way I could be released before my
time, before my class was released. I could get no definite information but was told to wait.

On January ninth I was asked if I desired to go to take care of Austrian war prisoners and as I did not care
much for the kind of loafing life which was led in Florence unless one had much money to spend, I
decided to take a chance and see what taking care of Austrian war prisoners was like.

I was sorry to leave Serafini, but as he was expecting every day to be released from the Army and I
thought I would prefer a nice pleasant place out in the country where there was no one to watch over you;
I went. I was now pretty well familiar with Florence anyway and had seen most of the sites with the
exception of Fiesole, which I intended to see but never got the time to do so.

On that day I was transferred from the Armory at Corta San Giorgio and went to Fort Belvedere which is
on a hill. It was formerly the headquarters for an artillery battalion.

At Fort Belvedere which is not far from Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge over the Arno river where
jewelry and antique shops were located, the headquarters of the company which is in charge of about
3000 Austrian prisoners is located. The prisoners worked on farms as far south as Arezzo, as far north as
Pistoia and also east to Mugello district and west to Empoli. There were over 120 different groups of
prisoners, each in charge of a sergeant major, sergeant or corporal major which was under the direct
charge of Captain Biondi at Belvedere.

Some of the groups were far out of the way from transportation as this one I had later at Luogognano, and
it was difficult to get food and other equipment at the place which in most part had to come from the
warehouse of Belvedere.

On the tenth of January, the day following my arrival at Belvedere, I was assigned a group where I was to
relieve a sergeant who was going home. The place I was chosen to go was near the town of Bucine which
was 61 kilometers, or 37 miles, from Florence, central station. During the day I made preparations to
leave. I was given the necessary instructions and at 6:15 p.m. took a train for Bucine at Florence’s Central
Station. Serafini accompanied me to the train. Bucine is on the road to Rome. It was already dark when I
left Florence and when I arrived at Bucine it was 8:00 p.m. I was told that the place called Lupinari where
the prisoners were was 5 kilometers away so I decided to remain in town and rented a room for the night.
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Bucine was a very small town, not over 3000 people, being important only because it is on the railroad
route from Florence to Rome. There is only one movie and that is closed every day except Sunday.

Many olives and much wine is shipped from the surrounding country. More will be told of the immediate
surrounding later.

I had a meal at a wine shop and then spent the evening there talking to the natives who were as always in
a small town curious to know everything of both private and military life.

From this time until I was finally released from the Army, I felt quite a bit with civilians. In fact most of
my dealings were with them instead of the military authorities and I had to get used to their calling me for
even mere trifles. If I heard the word “Sergeant" meaning sergeant once I heard it tens of thousands of
times from peasants and also the more cultured people I had to deal with.

Chapter 4 Going to Lupinari

Early the morning of the eleventh of January, I was ready to leave for Lupinari, and as usual when a hike
of any kind was to be made, it started to rain hard, but a little later having ceased a bit, I found a peasant
going that way in a cart driven by a donkey and he asked me if I would want to go along. He was going as
far as the hamlet of Pogi about one and one-half kilometers from Lupinari.

I went with him though I left all of my belongings in the place I had stayed during the night and I sent a
man after them shortly after I arrived at Lupinari.

The country which I now passed for the first time but which proved to be my permanent home until June
first, or over five and one-half months, was very nice; though it was January, the country was green. The
olive trees were in full bloom. The road was of gravel and by June I knew every corner and twist. When I
arrived at Pogi the peasant which by the way was the father of the young girl who was hired at the estate
in Lupinari sent his son to accompany me to Lupinari. I was taken to the house where the prisoners and
the guard was living. I met Sergeant Treu who was in charge of the prisoners and the guard, who I was to
relieve from duty.

Treu was an older man than I being seven years my senior, and he was now being recalled to receive his
discharge papers. His home was near Sacile in the Province of Udine which was invaded and which just
two months from the day I met him I had passed through. He asked me of the surroundings of his native
town and if the Germans had done much damage. His family remained up there during the invasion and
he had not seen it since the summer of 1917.

Treu remained three days with me at Lupinari. On the second day I took charge of our quarters.

Chapter 5 Life in Lupinari

The work which I was now to do was entirely new to me. I as already said, took charge of twenty-seven
prisoners and six Italian soldiers as guards to the prisoners including an Italian corporal.

The prisoners worked on the farm of a large estate owned by an Italian Congressman who spent half of
his time in Rome and half at his estate at Lupinari. In this estate there were farmers who worked the land
belonging to this Congressman whose name was L.E. Frisoni, and as most of the men of the farms were
in the Army, prisoners were used to work the soil much in the same manner that the Italian war prisoners
worked in Austrian farms before the Armistice.
 193

The estate was managed by an administrator who took care of the estate both financially and otherwise.
My dealings were with the administrator as he would tell me where he needed the prisoners to work and
where to send the squads.

The prisoners were usually divided in squads depending on how many different places they were to be
sent to work, usually three or four, with each squad I would send a guard with rifle whose duty it was to
see that none escaped. From January thirteenth to September seventeenth, when I was discharged from
the Army, I looked after prisoners and had a record that not one escaped on me, which considering how
often they would run away from other similar camps like ours, was quite a record. Two men had escaped
on Treu just one month previous to my arrival.

On my arrival Treu passed word around to the prisoners that I was an ex-war prisoner and the men were
much more afraid of me than of him, though I was just to them, for in the nine months that I was in
charge only once did I have to discipline any of them and of that occasion more will be said later, it
happened there at Lupinari.
The prisoners worked ten hours per day in the farm starting at 7:00 a.m. and quitting at 7:00 p.m. with
two hours for lunch - - - later an order came to cut the working hours to nine, so at 6:00 p.m. they quit
work.

The prisoners were getting three cents per day from the government just as the Italian war prisoners were
receiving the same amount from the Austrian government. Besides the three cents the prisoners would
receive one cent for every hour they worked from the amount the estate was paying to the Government.

The government was paid ten cents per hour per man, of which as said, one cent was given to the prisoner
and the other nine cents were taken up for expenses and profit, if any. In that way each prisoner earned
five lire or one dollar per day for the government and that made about twenty-seven dollars per day for
the twenty-seven prisoners.

The guards were paid entirely by the government, the privates got only two cents per day, one cent less
than the prisoners. They received a bonus of ten cents per day for doing guard duty, while I was paid
twenty cents per day bonus. The bonuses of the guard were
not paid by the estates. That bought my salary to sixty cents per day and that of the privates twelve cents
and the corporal fifteen cents per day. The Austrians were receiving thirteen cents per day for workdays
only, in case of sickness, rain, Sundays or holidays they would get only three cents per day while our
enormous salary was steady.

The Government naturally paid all expenses for food, clothing, maintenance, etc., for both prisoners and
guards. The only thing we got free from the estate which could not be charged to the Government was the
house we were in. The government would not pay for shelter.

The estate, of course, gave us many conveniences which they did as a favor for the guards and I. For
instance, I had a bed which belonged to the estate in which I slept and the linens for it were changed every
week for which neither the government nor I paid for. The guard slept in military bunks which came from
Fort Belvedere. The prisoners had mattresses but slept on the floor. They had blankets to cover
themselves with and white sheets belonging to the government which I had washed every three weeks.

My duty was to take charge of the entire camp, to provide food, clothing and maintain the guard and
prisoners. I was to see that they received three meals per day, clean linen such as towels and underclothes
once per week, that they were paid every five days, kept the cantonment and themselves tidy, also that
they keep their place, not mingling with civilians nor disturbing them, watch that they did not escape. I
was also to see that the guard was fed, clothed, and paid. I was to keep a book where the name of all the
 194

prisoners were inscribed and what the hours every prisoner worked every day. These hours would at the
end of the month be added up and the administrator of the estate would check up with me and then pay
me for the whole month, the prisoners worked for him. This sum ran into quite a bit of money at the end
of the month usually over $650.00 or 3250 lire which in Italy was quite a sum of money. This money I
would take to Fort Belvedere in Florence, and from it would be deducted the salaries I had paid the
prisoners, the guard and expenses which I could charge such as laundry, barber, cartage, kindling wood,
olive oil, etc. The rest of the food with the exception of the bread and meat we got bi-monthly at Fort
Belvedere. The bread and meat I would send a guard every day to San Giovanni Valdarno where there
was a military commissary station, it was only 15 kilometers from Lupinari. Vegetables such as beans,
potatoes, etc., I bought from the estate which was deducted monthly when I was paid for the labor of the
prisoners.

The prisoners though I paid them every fifth day were not allowed regu1ar Italian currency in their
possession. I had special prisoners’ currency in paper from one cent or five centesimi to forty cents or two
lire. This currency, of course, would not be accepted by anyone except myself and as I was also their
storekeeper because I kept in stock cigarettes, tobacco, soap and food which was not given to them by the
Government such as wine, potatoes, fruit, bacon, etc., I bought these articles either from stores or from
the farmers and then resold them to them, of course, with a little profit for myself.

The Government had a maximum price which I should pay for barber, laundry, vegetables, kindling
wood, cartage, olive oil and oil for lamps which we used for lighting purposes. Not only did the
Government set a definite maximum price but also the maximum amount we could use for the number of
men in the cantonment.

The following is the menu of the prisoners for a week which never changed in five months I remained in
Lupinari:

Day Breakfast - 6:30 a.m. First Mess –12 noon Second Mess – 7:30p.m.

Monday 1/3 liter coffee and 400 Amer. Salt Pork 150 gr. Macaroni 120 gr. Beans – 50
grain loaf of bread or boiled beef 100 gr. gr.

Tuesday Same Fish – 150 gr. Rice - 100 gr. Beans – 50 gr.

Wednesday Same

Thursday Same Same – Monday Same - Tuesday

Friday Same Same – Tuesday Same – Monday

Saturday Same Same – Monday Same – Tuesday

Sunday Same Fresh meat 150 gr. Same – Monday

For breakfast the ration was 15 gr. of sugar and 10 gr. of pulverized coffee each. Also 10 gr. of salt for
both daily meals. To realize the amount it can easily be figured as one ounce figures roughly 80 grams.
The quantities are also given here in raw state so when cooked would be a decent meal, certainly more
than we eve received in Austria.
 195

The so-called American Salt Pork was ham salted for preservation, it came from Chicago as the labels of
Wilson & Co. and Swift and Co. were still on the hams. The boiled meat was canned preserved meat
which also came from America, but Argentina instead of the United States. It was packed by the same
packers that made Chicago famous.

The food for the guard was, of course, better as shown

Day Breakfast - 6:30 a.m. First Mess –12 noon Second Mess – 7:30p.m.

Monday Coffee 10 gr.. Sugar 15 Boiled beef 100 gr., Beans – 120 gr., potatoes
gr.,Bread 700 gr. potatoes 120 gr. 100 gr., or 150 gr. cabbage,
macaroni 50 gr., potatoes
100 gr.

Tuesday Same Fresh meat 200 gr. Cabbage 50 gr. Cheese 25

gr.

Wednesday Same Same as Tuesday

Thursday Same Fresh meat 200 gr., fish Same as Monday, macaroni
150 gr. 100 gr.

Friday Same Potatoes 100 gr. Cabbage 50 gr., potatoes 200

gr.

Saturday Same Same as Thursday

Sunday Same, bread 700 gr., Fresh meat 200 gr., Cheese 10 gr., macaroni 100
catsup 15 gr. sugar 15 gr., onions 10 gr., coffee 10 gr., salt 20 gr.
gr., pepper ½ gr.

As the rations for both guards and prisoners were established by what was given us, all we had to do was
to cook the rations as was given by the Government. I never in any circumstances gave less than what was
allotted to the men and in the nine months that I was in charge of prisoners I had only one complaint for
the meals I made for them. This exception will be told later.

This experience that I received taught me a little of business as already said not only did I look after the
prisoners, but bought food and articles which were not given us by the government which I either sold to
the government or to the prisoners. In this way I earned money for myself. I was by no means violating
any laws as I charged the government only what was chargeable at the prices fixed by them. The prices I
charged the prisoners were not exorbitant, for they expected that I sell them at a profit for I was not
obliged by the government to keep a stock of necessities for them. On cigars, cigarettes and tobacco I
made no profit whatsoever as the prices of those articles were fixed by the Government.

The most profit I made was on wood for cooking purposes. We were all entitled to one kilo of wood per
day per man and my monthly amount ran even lower than 75 per cent of what we were entitled to, besides
the administration of the estate sold me the wood for 50 per cent cheaper than the government price so in
this way I made about 60 lire or $12.00 per month on that item alone. The transportation from Bucine
railroad station to Lupinari was furnished us free of charge by the estate while the government paid 45 lire
or $9.00 per month for the same to me and my predecessors.
 196

On the barber I made 10 lire or two dollars per month as all prisoners were entitled to a shave once a
week. Ten lire per week would not have been half enough if I had had to take them to the barber of
Bucine. So, I let one of the prisoners shave all of them when they needed it. I supplied the razors, soap
and clippers. The barber would usually receive tips from his fellow prisoners and from us so that the two
dollars allotted for him came to me. I also made some profit with my laundry as I found a woman who
would wash all underwear, towels and bed sheets for less money than the government allowed. In this
manner I made five lire or three dollars per month. Sales I made to prisoners amounted from 40 to 50 lire
or eight to ten dollars profit per month. Sales made to the government of lamp oil, vegetables, etc., netted
a profit of about five dollars per month.

The whole thing came to about forty dollars profit per month which in addition to my salary of eighteen
dollars made a nice sum in Italy. Sixty dollars per month with no expenses save that for having good
times was not to be sneezed at.

As I said before, all of this was legitimate profit, but, of course, if one wanted to be crooked and take a
chance of being sent to a dungeon such as Italian prisons were, it was very easy to do so, and many, many
sergeants when I was in Florence were in military prisons waiting for their trial to come up for doing
crooked work in places similar to mine at Lupinari.

The way they would do to make a lot of money dishonestly was in the following manner: As I said
before, the Government through the sergeant collects from the estate 10 cents for every hour the prisoner
works and one cent of that amount is given to the prisoner. The dishonest sergeants after receiving the
money from the estate administrator would falsely place on his books three, four or five days of rain, he
would pay the one cent to the prisoners and keep for himself the other nine cents per hour per man. If the
place had say fifty prisoners such as I had later at Santomato, by putting four days as rain on his book he
would get a profit of over 1000 lire or two hundred dollars per month. That, of course, was crooked
bookkeeping, and as I said before, is punished severely, but nevertheless it was practiced extensively
throughout the prisoners cantonments
such as mine.

From the first day I arrived I liked the place very much, the administrators who I dealt with were very
nice people. There were two administrators, one which was the permanent who was from Parma and at
the time I was at Lupinari happened to be there on furlough
as he was in military service during the war and the other one a native of a neighboring village who was
exempted from military service to be administrator of the estate. The government only recognized this last
as the real administrator of the estate. Both were young men, neither was thirty years of age. Both were
very well educated and respectable.

Lupinari consists of only the villa where Congressman Frisoni, his family and servants lived and a few
adjacent buildings. One very nice and large building was the home of the administrators.

Then there was a stable, a garage, wine cellar, large place where olive oil was made, also chicken houses,
two farmers’ homes were nearby, and last but not least our house.

Our house consisted of a large kitchen where we would prepare and distribute the food, a room for the
guard and where my six men slept and kept their belongings. Another large room where fourteen of my
prisoners slept, the Bohemian and German prisoners. In the attic, I also had another room where thirteen
Hungarian prisoners slept. Besides I had a large storeroom where I kept all of the supplies and food and a
nice large room for myself with a nice civilian bed which was donated by the estate to the man in charge
of the cantonment. This bed was kept in order by a maid who worked in the home of the administrator or
Secretary.
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The villa was one of the prettiest buildings I had seen with a high tower and weather vane on top. It was
on the order of an ancient castle combined with an American porch and commodities, It was in the center
of about two acres of land with beautiful flowers and passages.

At the time I arrived the Honorable Frisoni and his wife were still at their city home in Rome, so the villa
was occupied only by one servant who did the housecleaning.

In the large building where the administrator lived there was also the housekeeper who was an elderly
woman and who during my stay had much to do. She not only took care of the house but was responsible
for much of the work which was done on the estate.

During the silkworm season she saw to it that all of the farmers’ wives raised them in order to get silk
cocoons. Chickens, eggs, milk, butter and the management of the household at the villa were under her
care. She sold eggs for hatching to farmers and had a man who made cheese from milk which the farmers
turned in from their farms.

The housekeeper had a young girl who did all of the housecleaning except the heavy work which was
done by either the gardener or coachman.

Mrs. Frisoni’s maid which did the work at the villa also made her home at the residence of the
administrator while her mistress was in Rome.

The stables had six fine and well-groomed horses and a nice little donkey. That latter was for my
exclusive use. I used him to go to Bucine or any other place I needed to go. In case I went to get food or
other necessities I had a small cart which was hitched to him. When I went for a ride or accompanied
some one of the boys to Bucine who were to go to Florence I had a nicely kept buggy and well kept
harness for him. This little donkey named “Nanni” and I became very good friends in the five and a half
months of my stay in Lupinari. No one else was permitted to use him, I took many a long trip with him
through the surrounding towns and even as far as the province of Siena. On rare occasions I was allowed
to take one of the horses, especially when I accompanied an officer back to Bucine after passing an
inspection of our cantonment.

The most interesting thing of the entire estate was the wine cellar. It was a monstrous place and had many
tanks in shapes of barrels where a capacity of between 2000 to 2500 gallons was contained, besides there
were hundreds of smaller barrels and kegs. Some of the best wine of Italy came from this region. The
famous Chianti wine came from here and Sienna. I did not have the pleasure to be here during the harvest
of the grapes and therefore, according to the natives I missed a very exciting period as grapes are the
principle crop of this region. In this cellar there is an old wine many years of age and the administrator
prides in telling how good and how many years back he had wine in his stock. But his cellar does not only
consist of the regular red wine but also white wine, sweet wine and vermouth, etc.

Another interesting period is the harvesting of olives, which ranks second to wine in importance. The
olives were picked from trees during the months of April and May and I happened to be present at that
harvest. I got some idea of how olive oil is made.

All of the olives are picked from the trees by the natives or farmers, mostly girls when I was there. They
were placed in baskets and then brought to the administrator who keeps each farmer’s olives separate.
They are weighed and then brought to a storeroom. In a separate compartment of this immense storeroom
is a large stone grinder which smashes the olives to bits. This grinder is operated by horse power in the
strict sense of the word; that is a horse is fastened to a long pole or harness which in turn is fastened to a
 198

large round stone and as the horse moves around the stone mill the stone moves with him and crushes the
olives. Then these crushed olives are placed in a presser where they are pressed and all the juice is taken
out. The pressing operation takes a long while as the Juice oozes out of the olives it is put in a large vat.
The liquid is then transferred from this vat into large earthen jars about four to four and one-half feet high
and of about forty gallons capacity.

Here it is let alone so that the sediment goes to the bottom. It is kept in these large earthen jars several
months and then becomes very clear and is sold in glass jars or bottles or placed in tin receptacles to be
shipped. The sediment which remains at the bottom of the jar is sold for lamp oil, while the remains of the
pressed crushed olives are used as fertilizer. The olive oil of this region is noted throughout Italy being
called by some who know its qualities superior to the famous Lucca olive oil.

A farm in this region especially on this estate was rather small, scarcely over ten or fifteen acres. A
farmer and his family lived in the midst of it in his home and stable which usually consisted of at least
two healthy oxen which do the heavy work on the farm, a donkey, few sheep, a goat and several swine.
The rest consisted of one or two cows for milk and chickens for eggs, etc. This small farm usually keeps
an entire family of seven or eight busy.

The farmers here as in the majority of regions in Italy do not own the farm. They work on a percentage
basis, that is they earn fifty per cent of the entire harvest, the other fifty per cent goes to the owner. This
system though on the face looks very unfavorable towards the farmer in reality is not as will be shown.

The farmers get fifty per cent of the gross harvest, be it wheat, wine, olive oil, corn, etc., for his labor or
for his work. He does not spend one cent for taxes, seeds, fertilizer, implements, and other expenses
which may occur on the farm. His fifty per cent gross harvest is net to him without expenses, except to
feed and clothe himself and family.

All expenses for running the farm are paid by the landlord with his fifty per cent of the harvest. The oxen
or animals which are used to till the soil belong to the landlord unless he helped raise some young ones.
The rest of the livestock is also divided in half, the farmer takes care and feeds the animals, but the
landlord pays half the expenses for the food. The farmer also pays no rent neither for his house nor for the
stables he uses. They belong to the landlord. The farmers had sort of leases which the landlord was
supposed to live up to. The most important part of it being that he could not be removed during or before
harvest. He could be removed only during one winter month, right after the harvest and before starting
any new crops.

The estate of Lupinari consisted of nine separate farms and all producing wonderful grapes.

Besides grapes and olives there was corn, wheat, barley, hay, etc. The farm produced the year around,
getting one crop of hay and wheat off the same land during one year.

The olive trees when I went to Lupinari in January were already full of leaves and the following month
continued to bloom.

The olive trees were placed in straight rows about twenty feet apart and in between the olive trees were
grapevines. These rows of olive trees and grapevines were from fifty to sixty feet apart and between these
rows the regular crop of wheat, or corn, was planted also in straight rows. In this way the farmer was kept
busy the year round. Upon the hillsides were also chestnut and mulberry trees, the former a very
important fruit and the latter was used for silk producing.
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The silk industry is also a very important one in this region and is usually taken care of by the women
members of the family, even though the boys or men usually are the ones who climb the high mulberry
trees to procure the leaves of that tree which serves as food for the silk worm.

The estate housekeeper as already said has silk moth eggs hatched and there comes from them hundreds
of thousands of baby worms so small that one almost needed a magnifying glass to see them. After the
third or fourth day they are hatched which, in the meantime, are fed on mulberry leaves finely ground.
The housekeeper gives these small baby worms to the farmers’ wives and daughters in quantities she
knows they are capable of tending and taking care of. The silk worms with great pains and much care are
made to grow up and in about six weeks the worms are ready to spin their cocoons of silk, They are laid
on large bamboo mats covered with mulberry leaves. These mats are usually about twelve to eighteen
inches, one above the other in about four or five layers in a large room. When the cocoon is spun, it is
separated from the leaves or twigs and then brought to large baskets to the administrator who weighs
them and after they are sold in the market the money is divided equally among the farmer and landlord.

I was not in Lupinari when the silk worm season was on, which was in July and August.

The farmers were all rather good people, and I got along pretty well with them, though I did not have too
much to do with them. They respected one very much and tried hard to have me give them materials not
belonging to me such as food, clothing, etc.

My predecessors had done that and they expected me to do likewise. But when they found out I did not
want to give things which belonged to the prisoners and to the government, I was not such good friend
any more.

The best part of the day I spent with the secretary and the housekeeper. With the former I used to take
nice long walks throughout the estate, and in the meantime, I would see where and what my prisoners
were doing and whether the guards were doing their duty. With the housekeeper I used to also have a very
good time. She was an elderly woman by the name of Miss Fabbri, and when the day was not too pleasant
out, I used to spend the entire day with her. Here I became her assistant chef, for I made macaroni for her
as done in Forli as I had seen my relatives make.

When I arrived at Lupinari it was still cold being early in January, but outside the olive trees and the
country in general was green. Most of the long evenings I spent by the large fireplace in the large kitchen
of the secretary’s house and telling stories or relating experiences of the war until 11:00 or 12:00. I also
liked to play checkers with the secretary on different occasions.

On Sunday the secretaries and I would take long hikes to neighboring towns, one of which was San
Levlino, a very small village about 6 kilometers away up on a high hill, similar to Bertinoro. This little
town became our usual Sunday morning hike. Though none of us were overly religious after the mass was
let out, we would go to see the Priest and spend a few hours with him and he would give us drinks of
sweet wine and tell of the history of that small villa for though I have forgotten for what reason it was
historically famous, it was never the less an historic village.

Several times I went with my little donkey to Ambra which in the province of Sienna but is only 15
kilometers from Lupinari.

To Bucine I would go most every day and often went to San Giovanni, Val d’ Arno and Montevarchi,
both being towns of importance on the railway line to Florence. The former place was where we got our
bread fresh every day, also our meat when our menu called for it.
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After the first month I got enough experience at my duties which were very light but had sufficient
responsibilities attached to them.

Once a month a lieutenant from Florence would come and inspect our cantonment to see if everything
was going on smoothly and the prisoners were handled and fed properly. As he had no set date for
inspection, he came by surprise.

I had a little inspection book on which he would write the condition of our house as he found it and then
sign his name.

Twice a month and sometimes oftener I went to Florence for clothing, information and at the end of the
month to close the accounts for the month and bring the money I received from the estate for the payment
of the prisoners’ labor.

When going on a train trip or sending any of my men, I filled out regular blanks used for traveling. I had
to fill out these blanks and sign them giving permission for my men and I to travel on train to Florence,
San Giovanni, Val d’ Arno, Arezzo or anywhere else we needed to go on duty. These blanks signed by
me had the same value as those which the commander of a regiment had when he gave them to go on a
furlough home.

During my stay at Bucine besides the trip I made to Florence, I made two trips to Forli and two to Turin,
always using my traveling blanks signed by myself in order to do it successfully. The first trip I made to
Forli was on February first after getting through my work at Florence and had consigned the money to
headquarters there. I was in Forli only forty-eight hours and then returned to Lupinari by the way of
Florence.

During the same month I took another trip on the sly all the way to Turin, a distance of 1000 kilometers
or 600 miles for the round trip going from Florence to Bologna, then to Milan and Turin, staying up there
forty-eight hours and then returned to Florence by the way of Genoa, Pisa and Pistoia. The entire trip was
made without a hitch of any sort but if by chance I had been caught, I would have gotten the minimum
sentence of seven years in military prison, so I was told.

As time passed I became better acquainted with my prisoners and though I demanded respect from them,
such as a military salute and obedience to the full extent, I was often among them and telling them of my
experiences in their country as a prisoner. I was fair with them, never cheated them out of a cent nor out
of food due them.

I gave them liberty to remain up one half hour longer than the law required, though before my time they
were given even more liberty; that is they were less looked after in the evening after the work was done.
During the nine months I was in charge of the prisoners only once did I have trouble with them and this is
the way it came about.

Chapter 6 Trouble with the Prisoners

One Sunday, February ninth to be exact, a Hungarian prisoner came to me and asked if it was all right
with me if they could get raw food such as macaroni, potatoes, etc., so that the men could cook the meals
by themselves.

I asked the reason for it and after beating around the bush for a while, he told me that his fellow
countrymen were not quite satisfied with the amount of food given them and he was chosen by them to
 201

see if he could get the right quantity of raw food, so called on the menu, and see if after it was cooked it
was more or less than the rations I was giving them, in other words, even though I was honest with
regards to their welfare to the extreme, I was doubted by them.

This hurt me for I had always done my utmost for them during the month I had been with them.

I then told him that I would grant their request to give them the raw food to cook for themselves, but if
after it was cooked the amount was less then I usually gave them I would place every one of them in an
underground cellar for three days with only bread and water for food. But if on the other hand the food
they cooked was as much or more than I usually gave them, then they could have me reported at Florence
on charges of dishonesty.

The leader told me I should not take it to heart and that he was sure the boys did not wish to cook their
food on those conditions. I told him it was already too late to take back what he had said and I took him in
the storeroom and gave him all the raw food for the twenty-seven men. I gave him the exact rations to the
gram.

On that day it happened that there was rice for soup. The prisoners with heavy heart set about to cook
their rice. Now rice is known to swell if left in the large pails where it was cooked for a few minutes. The
boys knew this and after it was cooked, they failed to distribute it immediately waiting for it to swell, I
put a stop to it and ordered it distributed in the mess mugs. The food or soup was far from being even so
much as I usually made for them, not to say more than they expected.

As soon as they were through with dinner, I told them to get their blankets ready and with three guards
armed with rifles and bayonets, I with my revolver took them all in an underground cellar formerly used
for wine storage. Here I kept them two days on bread and water. I kept an armed guard continually at the
door. They did not make any move to rebel, as Italian prisoners might have done. They took their
medicine quietly, having been used to obey by their training in the Austrian Army.

In the morning of the third day I took fifteen men out, being all the Bohemian and Austrians which slept
in a different room and which I knew were not the instigators of the idea of cooking their food. The
Hungarians which had their dormitory in the attic I knew were the rebellious ones so I kept them in the
cellar two days longer, There were twelve Hungarians and with few exceptions were not of the very best
men to look after. After this incident the men returned to work as before and no one I thought would bring
the subject up again.

About fifteen days later the inspection officer came and as I usually had the prisoners lined up in front of
our cantonment for him to look at and question them if everything was satisfactory with them, one of the
Hungarians protested and told the officer of my cheating in the distribution of food and then when they
found out about it and protested to me, I placed them all in a cellar for four days on bread and water. The
officer then asked his fellow prisoners if that was true and every one of the other twenty-six denied that I
cheated on their food, They said that I was really the best sergeant yet stationed at Lupinari. This on top
of the punishment I had inflicted upon them was quite a compliment. But the Hungarian would not keep
still when he saw he was not held up by his countrymen, he kept saying lie after lie to the officer about
me in my presence. I was so furious I could have shot him. I just imagined how far we would have gone
when prisoners in Austria by telling lies about our treatment to Austrian officers.

The officer for a while listened to this fellow’s gross falsehoods and seeing that his countrymen did not
agree with him, he told him to keep still, I was so darn sore I could have done most anything to him. As I
accompanied the officer back to Bucine with horse and buggy, I asked him what he would do to punish
him.
 202

He told me the best thing for him would be a sound thrashing. I asked him if that was not prohibited to
beat up prisoners. He told me it was, bit if it was done without witness no one would be the wiser for it.
The prisoner cannot prove his beating, he would not be believed.

That gave me an idea to follow his plan, so when I returned to the cantonment I sent a guard to call for
Zabowsky, that was the prisoner’s name, and had him brought to my room and locked the door. The other
prisoners were all out in the fields working.

Zabowsky was a big Hungarian farmer over six feet tall and twice my weight. I knew that if he gave me
one punch I would be in the land of “has-beens”. So, with my revolver in my right hand, I told him if he
made one move he was done for, as I would shoot him through the brains. I then asked the reason for his
lies to the officer and he did not offer any explanations. I was still so angry that I could have shot him. I
started punching him with my left hand and kept the revolver in the right. He took all the punishment I
gave him without a murmur and then I sent him back to the field to work. I could not have hurt him much
as I was not very strong at that time having just returned from Austria a few months ago.

The next month when the inspection officer came, he did not have to nerve to protest on account of the
beatings I gave him. In fact he did not give me any further trouble until he was recalled to Belvedere with
the other Hungarian prisoners on Sunday, March sixteenth.

Chapter 7 The Trouble With Wilson

All during this time the older military classes were given their discharge at the rate of one class every
week. Then all of a sudden all further discharges were suspended because of new war which seemed to
be rising.

During the months of January, February and March, we knew there was some hidden intense feeling on
account of the Adriatic pretensions of Italy and Yugoslavia. It was a country distrust between these two
powers and strange as it may seem the Allies instead of favoring the Italian side, favored that of her
former enemy, the Slavs and the Croats.

Though the Italians would probably have had both the British and French with her, it was America who
made matters worse.

Wilson with his famous Fourteen Points in which he intended to apply only as he saw fit caused a severe
rupture in the relations of the Italian and Yugoslavs. On the Fourteen points which included self-
determination of the inhabitants of the regions contested he quickly waived in regards to the city of
Fiume. This city is, was and always will be more Italian than Boston, New York or Philadelphia are
American. In Fiume there were not more than twenty-five per cent of the inhabitants who did not speak
Italian as their native tongue which cannot be said of any city of the United States. It was for this city that
Wilson would discard his famous Fourteen Points in favor of any interest he might have had in mind at
that time,

By the end of April, the Paris Peace Conference had settled most every issue except the Italian in regards
to Fiume and Dalmazia and the Japanese Shantung affair. When I first went to Lupinari I happened to talk
with Congressman Frisoni, the owner of the estate, and he was praising President Wilson to the sky. He
told me that America was fortunate to have such a man for president. Honorable Frisoni was in Congress
when President Wilson spoke in the Italian Congress at home on January third.
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I had a sort of a hunch that something was going to happen for I knew regardless of all the honors
President Wilson received he was not very fond of Italians. So I tipped Honorable Frisoni off that I never
had much liking for President Wilson and that many, many Americans did likewise. I told him how very
near be came to losing out in the re-election in November 1916 to Hughes.

Honorable Frisoni would tell me that we in America never could appreciate a man like President Wilson
because Wilson did not belong to America, he belonged to the entire world. He was an international man
and a man who could save humanity.

Such was the faith of not only Honorable Frisoni but of one hundred per cent of the Italians to President
Wilson when he came to Italy in January l919.

I told Honorable Frisoni to wait for developments and he did. On April twentieth, being Easter Sunday, I
was invited to dinner with Honorable and Mrs. Frisoni and the housekeeper. The secretary and the rest of
the help were given the day off to spend the holiday with their families.
I spent one of the most pleasant days during my military career on that day. At the table the Congressman
and his wife were very democratic though they owned one of the richest estates in Tuscany.

After dinner our conversation as usual was on President Wilson and Fiume. On that day things were
pretty bad at the Peace Conference in Paris. It was in fact the following day that President Wilson came
out flatly against the Italian claims of both Fiume and
Dalmazia. On that day he retired from the Peace Conference and let France, England and Italy try to fix
up the trouble the best they could by themselves.

Wilson was against Italy’s claim for Fiume because he said it was not included in the Pact of London, but
he was also against the Port of London because he said that he would not recognize any previous secret
treaties with the Allies. In this way Italy who had had over 500,000 killed and one and a half million
wounded in the war “was to get nothing whatsoever for the great sacrifice for what Wilson was willing to
give to Italy, Italy would have gotten it anyway if she had remained neutral.

The days from April twenty-first to April thirtieth were wild throughout the Italian nation. Italy with
France and Great Britain could not come to any agreement unless it was also approved by Wilson, Lloyd
George and Clemenceau, especially the former were perfectly willing to abide by the Pact of London
which they had signed but President Wilson who at that time should have been in America to straighten
out the difficulties over there including race riots which occurred in Chicago insisted that America had
not sent soldiers in the war to protect secret treaties and that his stubbornness kept the world on its head
for more than six months. I know for myself I have him to blame for being in the Army over six months
longer than I needed be. During this time all discharges from the Army were suspended.

The nation was furious and called President Wilson as much as a criminal for having accepted all the gifts
from them in good faith when he in turn intended to double-cross them.

From March to August the Italian nation had more soldiers in service than any of the other nations,
including France and the United States. The government did not discharge any on account of the
impending trouble.

After it was decided that Fiume was to be a free port for two years, the Port D’Annunino with his fatuous
“Arditi” took the town by force and after a short time became part of the Italian Kingdom. A plebiscite
was held and the town was overwhelmingly in favor of annexation to Italy.
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The stubbornness of the President did not get anything but bad feeling among the various nations
especially between Italy and Yugoslavia, for if he had not championed Italy’s former enemy they would
not have had the pretenses they had.

For the Fiume affair President Wilson was criticized not only in Italy but also in Great Britain and France.

What was Italy’s loss in the Fiume affair was Japan’s gain for Japan, the Shantung one followed the
Fiume affair and in order to put as near a solid front against the German Peace Envoys who were coming
to Paris, Japan was awarded the Shantung Regions from China without a protest of any sort from
President Wilson.

Shantung was even more Chinese than Fiume was Italian. It was a queer situation for the Allied Peace
Commissioners when they allowed Japan a piece of China, which was also one of the nations who
declared war against Germany and refused Italy Fiume which was a part of former enemy territory.

The newspapers not only Italian but also British and American especially the New York HERALD who
was in favor of the Italian claims said that the Allies especially President Wilson were afraid of the
trouble the Japs might cause if they were not granted what they wished but were not afraid what Italy
might do.

This trouble during the latter part of April and early May not only united the Italian nation behind their
Ministers Orlando and Sonnion, but they were ready to make further sacrifices if worse came to worse in
order to keep what they had considered theirs.

Strange to say, I heard of no American being insulted or mistreated these days.

The Italian newspapers made it plain to the public that the American nation was in no way responsible for
President Wilson’s actions and that in America many of its foremost statesmen even in favor of the Italian
claims, among them being Senator Lodge who was the most important figure in the American Senate. So,
the Italians gave out to their anger to President Wilson only. But, nevertheless, the Americans were
protected by the soldiers while traveling through Italy. It happened that in those days many American
soldiers were coming to Italy on brief furloughs from the French Front to see Italy before returning to
America. As soon as President Wilson issued his proclamation to the Italian people about Fiume, these
furloughs to Italy were suspended and those that had furloughs and had not yet reached the Italian frontier
were kept from coming to Italy for fear of mistreatment of them by the frenzied Italians.

The Y.M.C.A. workers were protected as I have said by Italian soldiers.

Chapter 8 Grandmother Bazzini Dies

On March twenty-ninth I received a letter from my Uncle Bazzini stating that his mother (my
grandmother) had died. I was very sorry and two days later I left for Forli thinking I would be in time for
the funeral. Then when I arrived, the funeral had taken place. I was disappointed. I bought a large garland
of flowers for her grave. She was ill only two days, she had caught a severe cold going to church early in
the morning before 5:00 a.m. and in forty-eight hours she died. She was 79 years of age, but was very
lively and did all of the cooking for her son and her husband, who was 82 years of age. She had a servant
to do all of the housework, while another old woman took care of my uncle’s room and clothing. As I had
taken ‘Trench Leave’ from Lupinari, I could only stay in Forli twenty-four hours.
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When I went to bring the receipts for the month of April to Florence on the first of May, I went to Prato
and Figline where I spent my early childhood days and where my brother Mario was born.

Figline is a small village of not more than 800 people. When I arrived in the village, I naturally did not
know anyone, though I remembered well the house where we lived. I went to see the family who lived
across the street from our former house. This family was still there, and after I told them who I was, they
greatly welcomed me and forced me to remain there overnight. I had my meals with this family. I was
then taken to visit all the older families of the village who knew my parents well. I also became
acquainted with my childhood playmates who, of course, did not know me.

As my father was one of the foremost citizens of the village at that time we lived there, naturally all made
inquiries as to his health and his work, also that of my mother and of my brother, Mario, who as I
previously mentioned was born in this village.

I had great difficulty leaving the village after twenty-four hours of stay and was able to do so on promise
that I would return there shortly.

On Sunday, March sixteenth, twelve of my twenty-seven prisoners were sent to Fort Belvedere in
Florence.

The reason was that many of the men who were in the Army had been discharged and naturally they took
their place on the farm. I sent to Florence the most troublesome ones; that is the Hungarians. With them I
sent my corporal and a guard having only fifteen prisoners necessitated less guards so I had only three of
which one was the cook. I was sorry to lose DeSantis, my corporal.

Even though through the cities and towns there was much excitement because of Fiume, we at Lupinari
were quiet, no disturbance whatsoever reached that peaceful country estate.

I took many, many trips with my ass ‘Nanni’ seeing the surrounding towns and villages.

On May twentieth being my Saint Day, that is St. Bernardino, which is the patron Saint of Siena, I
decided to take a trip to town with “Nanni” to see the festivities.

Siena is about 40 kilometers or about 18 miles from Lupinari and for a donkey it was a long trip, but after
several days of preparation, I left early at 3:30 a.m. with my donkey all clean and well-groomed and his
nice rig and harness also well cleaned end polished. I left alone, leaving the guard at headquarters to take
care of the prisoners.

We went all right until we passed the village of Ambra which was already in the province of Siena. Then
the skies commenced to be clouded and after a half an hour it started to rain hard.

I found refuge at a farmhouse expecting the rain to cease, but though the heavy storm was soon over, it
continued to drizzle the entire day. The farmer, being hospitable, insisted that I remain with him for the
day. He un-harnessed “Nanni’ and brought him to the barn, fed him oats and then insisted I have dinner
with him, which I could not refuse. I remained with the farmer and his family until after 4:00 p.m. after
which be re-harnessed “Nanni” and I returned to Lupinari. I was very disappointed not to be able to see
Siena, for I never got another chance to see the famous city again. Though when I went to San Gimignano
in October for my honeymoon, we were only twelve miles away from it.
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Chapter 9 Absent Without Leave

On May eighth I took one of my frequent trips to Florence. I left early in the morning so as to be able to
return before dark. I took one of the guards with me to Bucine in order to take Nanni and the buggy back
with him. I also told him to return to Bucine in the afternoon to get me at 3:30 p.m. when the train from
Florence stopped there on its way to Rome. I had done this dozens of times and I had no fear of being
caught.

That morning I left in an unusually early train, leaving Lupinari before the prisoners went to the fields to
work.

The main reason for going to Florence was to go to the American Consul’s office to see if something
could be arranged so that I might be able to return home, being a former American citizen I had hopes of
getting somewhere with the Consul. Unfortunately, it was just at the time when there was such a
demonstration against Americans throughout Italy. The Consul could not promise me anything.

The rest of the day I spent around town, but if I had only an inkling of what was happening at my camp, I
would not have remained in the city strolling around.

Shortly after I left my camp, a marshall from Fort Belvedere came to inspect my camp. This was a
surprise inspection.

Naturally not finding me, he demanded to know where I was. The guard at first hesitated to tell him that I
had gone to Florence but finally through his insistence they told him.
I had always kept my cantonment in first class order always clean and neat. I also had insisted that the
guards go on duty with the prisoners when they worked. On this particular day when the Marshall arrived
at the cantonment, my three guards were in the kitchen playing cards while the prisoners were out in the
field unescorted, besides that the cantonment hadn’t yet been swept, the bunks not yet straightened up, the
kitchen pans still dirty. Never was my cantonment in such condition. The Marshall, after bawling out the
guards for the condition of the cantonment, told them that I would pay heavily for leaving camp. He went
to dinner with the secretary and there talked about my leaving the cantonment without permission. Both
he and the housekeeper told him not to file the very unfavorable report about me, and he promised that he
would make the report rather lenient, but he would have to report that he did not find me in camp.

Then I returned to Bucine at 3:30 p.m., the Marshall had left only a few minutes before on the train for
Florence.

They told me I was in for a heavy penalty. The cantonment had been put in spic and span condition, the
guards were with the prisoners.

As soon as I heard of what had happened, I decided to go to Florence again to see the Marshall. I left
immediately the next morning and found him in his office at Fort Belvedere. I pleaded with him not to
make his report so stiff, as he had reversed his promise to the Secretary to make his report rather loose.
He had now drawn up a stiff report against me because not only had I left the cantonment without
permission but also because of the condition he found the camp.

If the military court ever received such a report, I was told my minimum punishment would be seven
years in military penitentiary,
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On my return to Lupinari I told the Secretary I was in for a heavy punishment as the Marshall had put in a
stiff report against me. I was very worried!

Honorable Frisoni unfortunately was in Rome at the Congress there it had a special session because of
Orlando and Sonnino’s return. The Secretary sent a night letter to the Honorable Frisoni telling him of my
trouble and asking him to use his influence with the military office in Florence to help me out.

Honorable Frisoni immediately wrote a letter to Captain Biondi, my commander at Fort Belvedere, and
through his aid, I was able to escape punishment. I had a fine record during my stay at Lupinari and it had
made friends for me who during my trouble came to my aid.

Though I was able to escape punishment, at least a long penitentiary term, I was told I could no longer
remain at Lupinari, and that I would be transferred to another camp.

It was a strict rule that no commander of a cantonment could remain longer than three months in the same
cantonment. After that time, he was transferred to other camps. I had now been over five months at
Lupinari without being transferred. So after I had been caught and excused for my misdeed, I was told
that I would be relieved by some other sergeant, though Honorable Frisoni did his utmost to keep me
there. He did not succeed as my three months time was expired long before.

During my trouble I was called several times by Captain Biondi in Florence where I was bawled out, but
he was curious why Honorable Frisoni took such a liking to me as he wrote several letters to the Captain
from Rome in my defense.

Though I expected to be relieved of command at the Lupinari quarters a few days afterwards, the relief
did not come until May twenty-fifth, or over two weeks after the escapade. I had almost a feeling that
everything had been forgotten and I was to remain at Lupinari for the rest of my stay in Italy. So when
Sergeant Mario Fabbrizzi came on Sunday, May twenty-fifth, I was surprised and felt very sorry. When
Fabrizzi came, I was at San Leolino with the Secretary. A guard came to tell me that a sergeant was at the
cantonment to relieve me.

I immediately went to the cantonment to meet my successor and presented him to the Secretary and the
housekeeper. I also sent a telegram to Florence asking permission to remain until the end of the month. In
that way I would take charge of the books for the rest of the month of May.

During the remaining six days at Lupinari, I slept and lived with the Secretary at his home having given
up my place to Sergeant Fabrizzi. During these days, Fabrizzi and I became good pals and got along very
well.

My last days at Lupnari were sad, I was very sorry to leave the place where I had such nice times and
made such good friends. Mrs. Fabbri, the housekeeper, was very sorry to see me go - - - as were the
prisoners and the guards. Honorable Frisoni I saw no more, he being still in Rome.

On June first having said goodbye to all of my friends, I had Nanni hitched up for the last time and with
Fabrizzi left Lupinari for Bucine.

At Bucine I also bade goodbye to all of my friends there and then left for Florence. Sergeant Fabrizzi
came with me to Florence for he was to get orders for food and the account book for the month of June. I
finished the financial statements for the month of May.
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Chapter 10 Reassigned to Luogomano

When at Florence, Captain Biondi gave me the name of the new camp where I was to go which was at
Luogomano.

I had never heard of that name and Captain Biondi told me that that place was so far away from
civilization that could never escape. He told me it was up in the mountains and that to reach it there was
one and a half hour’s walk up hill after leaving the main road or last town. He laughed as he told me that I
was being sent up there as a punishment for what I had done at Lupinari. Little did he realize and I too for
that matter that the punishment he gave me was not one that lasted for only the remaining months of my
military service, but instead lasted, or is still lasting for the remainder of my life, for it was up there that I
met and married my wife.

After leaving Captain Biondi, I went to meet Sergeant Fabbrizzi again who was getting ready to return to
Lupinari.

He asked me where I was being sent. I showed hit my slip and he was surprised. He said that the town
was only three and a half miles from his home. I told him he could go up there in my stead if I could
return to Lupinari. But that was out of the question. I had to go to Luogomano and he had to return to
Lupinari. He gave me a letter to take to his mother. He also told me of the place I was going which he
knew very well. He told me that the inspector of the estate where I was going had four nice daughters, the
nicest of which was the eldest who a little over three months later became my wife.

I stayed two days in Florence then I went to Pistoia where a sub-commanding office of all the prisoner
camps around there were administrated and got their food. Luogomano camp was directly under the
supervision of Pistoia command though the main headquarters were at Port Belvedere in Florence.

Pistoia is a very nice town and so is Prato. From Pistoia I was sent directly to my new camp by the way of
the city of Prato. At Prato I took a bus which also carries the mail to the cities up the Bisenzi Valley. As
this bus leaves only in the morning, I stayed in Prato overnight. I went to a small town called Vernis from
Prato with the bus. Here I got off and was told to walk the remaining distance up the mountains. Vernis is
about 28 kilometers, or 17 miles, from Prato. I remained in Vernis for breakfast and in the meantime,
asked where the city of Luogomano was and how to get there. I was told it was about 14 kilometers, or 8
1/2 miles away up the mountains. They told me that the mailman from Luicciana was at Vernis for the
mail and that be would take me with him to Luicciana which is half way to Luogomano.

While I was eating a girl went to the post office to tell the mailman from Luicciana to stop at the
restaurant before returning home. He did that about an hour later and, in the meantime, I left all of my
belongings at the restaurant and told them I would send a man down for them later.

From Vernis to Luicciana is a distance of about 5 miles. The mailman and I made it in about two hours.
We chatted. The street we traveled was in good enough condition for wagons and buggies. We had a
small bag of mail which consisted of the mail for Luicciana, Cantagallo, Luogomano and neighboring
farms and small hamlets in that vicinity. It was getting rather warm when we reached Luicciana. I had
dinner in the town which was small having about 500 inhabitants. The village of Luicciana was also the
capital or seat of the Comune of Cantagallo, that is where the mayor’s office and court house was located.
Though Luicciana was a small village, the Comune was extensively bordering that of Prato and Pistoia.
 209

I stayed in this village (which later proved to be where I was married) for a couple of hours to rest up.
Then I asked the storekeeper with whom I am now distantly related by marriage, the way to Luogomano.
He told me to follow the main road which was rather primitive to a large mill.

In the hot sun of the afternoon of June fourth I trudged along that dusty road about two miles to the mill.
Here I stopped again and went to the miller and asked for the rest of the way to Luogomano.

This miller which I later got to know very well was very kind and generous. He was also fat and jolly,
much like the millers one reads of in children’s story books.

He made me stop at his house for a rest and as usual when a stranger is taken to a native homestead, he is
offered drinks and food. Being very warm, I did not hesitate to accept the wine which was offered.

His family all in the house insisted I stay there until evening when the hot afternoon spell had ceased. I
refused saying I wished very much to get to Luogomano before evening and then I could rest up there.

His family was very large which besides several small children consisted of two daughters with their
husbands and one son and his wife. Then, also, the miller’s wife. They all worked in the mill which I had
a chance to go through at a later date.

Being set on leaving right away, the miller led me to a trail which he said was a short cut to Luogomano.

From Luicciana to the mill, the road was good enough for teams of oxen or horses, but from the mill to
Luogomano, the trail was very steep. The only way to get there was on foot or on horseback. Even by the
main road from the mill to Luogomano teams cannot make it except baskets instead of carts with no
wheels but drawn on sleds. The road was very steep, though the short cut trail was still steeper.

I had done some mountain climbing in the Isonzo, but the roads were fine so that I never had the hard task
similar to that of going to Luogomano. Also a slip meant a possible fall to the creek in the valley.

The trail was so steep that at intervals I stopped to rest under the chestnut trees which were in abundance
in this region. I was also sweltering from the warm weather.

I followed the trail on and on for what seemed miles and miles but which proved to be only one and half
miles. The strange part was that one does not see Luogomano which was hidden from view behind trees
until you reach the first house.

After a couple of hours of hiking I reached the first house of Luogomano. I stopped in and asked where
the soldiers and the prisoners were. One of the soldiers from the cantonment happened to be in the house
and he took me to where they were stationed.

I was introduced to the corporal major which I was relieving and with whom I became good friends.
Corporal Major Tartaglini was of my age though he seemed younger, he was a native of Abruzzi. He was
well educated, but for some reason or other was obeyed neither by his own men nor by the prisoners.

Right from the start I knew that I was not going to have as good a place as I had at Lupinari. The
administration of the Ginigrardini estate at Luogomano was far from being as friendly and as obliging to
me as the one at Lupinari.
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This secretary was a middle aged man of about 50, married but no children. He was tight, mean and
selfish. His wife was not much better, and though I never had an open quarrel with him during my stay
there, I know he had no use for me, nor for Tartaglini, whom I was relieving.

Chapter 11 The Eight Families of Luogomano

The Secretary’s house was really the only nice building in Luogomano. I expected Luogomano to be a
small village, but never had I ever imagined it was as small as it really was. It consisted of exactly eight
families, as follows:

The first, nicknamed “Bippe", consisted of man and wife with eleven children - - - all small. They were
the filthiest family of Luogomano. They lived in the first house as one reached Luogomano from the mill.
The second, consisted of man and wife with five daughters and one son. The children ranged in age from
five to 18 years - - - the son being the eldest. The third was a middle-aged couple named Santona with
two sons and one daughter, the latter about 17 years. Of the two sons one was home being discharged
from the Army and the other was still in the Army. The next, or fourth family, was named "Gaspare" and
they lived downstairs from us. The family consisted of six sons and one daughter. The eldest being a son
of 17 years of age.

The fifth was the Vittario family which consisted of one son, one daughter, his wife, sister-in-law and his
mother. The son was a baby of two years of age named ‘Nello” who died shortly after my arrival.

The sixth family was that of the inspector of the estate. This family who were now my in-laws consisted
of a widower with three grown up daughters ranging in age from 14 to 22 years with his mother, the
fourth daughter was in Prato as a companion to an elderly but rich lady. With this family, naturally I spent
most of my leisure hours, their house was across the street from ours.

The seventh family nicknamed ‘Bista’ consisted of a young couple with a baby daughter. They lived
downstairs from my in-laws.

The eighth family was, of course, the secretary with his wife, who were very aristocratic and made life
miserable for the farmers and families just mentioned.

Besides the above list, there being a church in Luogomano naturally there was a priest with whom I spent
much time. He had a woman who took care of the house and church. The only two other human beings
not including the soldiers and prisoners was a maid who took care of the secretary’s house and a general
all around man whose chief duty was to collect milk from the farmers and make cheese.

All these were the civil inhabitants of Luogomano - - - to these we must add fifteen prisoners, four guards
and myself.

There were only seven houses including the church and Secretary’s house, Of course, there were barns,
granaries, etc., in fact we lived in a granary upstairs from the Gaspare home.

Luogomano is built on a hill about 2000 feet above sea level. Its only street or better path is made of
rough boulders and is very steep, no houses are on the same level. For instance, my wife’s family’s house,
on the street at one end is level with the second floor, while the street at the other end where “Bista” lives
is level with the first floor.

The only level spot in the place is the front courtyard of Secretary Becchi’s house.
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The road from the Papanti house to the church is fairly level. It is but two city blocks long and is the best
kept in that region.

Chapter 12 Life at Luogomano

The prisoners which were at Luogomano were not as well behaved nor as disciplined as I had at Lupnari.
In the first place all of them had been there over three years, and though the guards and commander were
changed frequently, three prisoners had remained all this time. They knew intimately all of the families
and especially favored were they by Secretary Becchi and his wife.

One especially who was a corporal in the Austrian Army was very arrogant, and neither Tartaglini nor the
guards could dominate him. He called them all by their first names. He was favored and exempted from
heavy work. He worked as a carpenter in the shop of the estate. He was a Viennese very well educated
and a bitter enemy of the Italians. He enjoyed himself immensely on seeing that he was favored in
preference to the guard by the Secretary and his wife. He enjoyed seeing the discord between Italy and its
Allies over Fiume.

At the first look, I knew I had a tough nut to crack. Tartaglini told me the best way to get along with him
was to let him do as he wished. I saw his arrogant way and the first day even though I had not yet taken
charge of the camp I called him, made him stand at attention and demanded from him a regular military
salute every time we met. This was a hard dose for him to swallow for up to that time he never saluted
anyone and treated everyone as his equal or his inferior.

Though from that time on be always saluted me and called me sergeant instead of by the name he used to
call others, he had a severe dislike for me.

The next day when I took charge of the prisoners and guards I called the prisoners together and told them
that from then on they were not only to work as they had been doing but that I insisted that there be
military rules to observe of which the salute was due me and to immediately stop calling the guards by
name, 8:30 p.m. bedtime, no ridicule of Italian soldiers, songs, etc., less contact with civilians, and
general military discipline. For several weeks the prisoners grumbled at the new order of things, but when
they realized that it would not be changed, they calmed down and except for an occasional reprimand they
behaved very well.

Putting this change among the prisoners brought protest from the civil population, especially the
secretary’s wife who would care more for the prisoners than she did of her own farmers.

She made a complaint to Belvedere that I was cruel to the prisoners. She received an answer from Captain
Bondi that as long as the prisoners were doing the work satisfactorily that was all that she could ask as for
the treatment and conduct of the prisoners I alone as responsible.

Though little by little I won the prisoners, all except “Franz’ the Viennese, over by a fair military
treatment, it was not as easy for me to win the farmers who could not understand why I should put
military discipline in Luogomano.

Only three, possibly four of the eight families, were in any way favorable towards me and since the
secretary was not among them, I had hard sailing.

The man who most admired the new arrangement of things I had set up was Mr. Papanti, my father-in-
law. He agreed that the prisoners had had free rein and it was a nice thing that I checked them.
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The prisoners at Luogomano did work somewhat similar to Lupinari. But as Lupinari was on a level plain
near the Arno River, Luogomano was on a high hill and not all of the land was good for cultivation.

The farmers had patches wherever some could be found to cultivate, The prisoners were lent to the
farmers and were paid by the secretary; that is Secretary Becchi would give me at the end of the month
money for the amount of work done by the prisoners. When the farmers did not need any men, then the
secretary would use them to clear the woods, make kindling wood, dig trenches for new water pipes, etc.
When they were working for the secretary, the inspector, Mr. Papanti, went along to give them work. Of
course, I
a1so sent one or two guards depending how many squads they were divided into.

I had only three guards, two of which did duty and the other were always way on service either to
Florence, Luicciana, Pistoia, etc. While in Lupinari I was making a neat sum of $60.00 per month
excluding salary. Here at Luogomano, I was actually losing money. The secretary did not allow me
anything. The wood of which the place was full I had to pay him to the last cent that I received, cartage I
also had to give. Laundry, the laundress knew the prices paid by the government and I had to give her all
that I received.

Prices of food were high and many times had to come out of my own pocket in order to buy meat as was
prescribed, but at a price the government would not pay.

As extra benefits which I received plenty at Lupinari, I had none at Luogomano. I doubt if I got more than
two glasses of wine from the secretary - - - one thing I never had one meal in his house during my stay
there.

Two days after my arrival at Luogomano I got a phone call from Luicciana to go there immediately with
the horse. I had never rode a horse before in my life and going down hill on horseback is quite a stunt. I
got on his back after “Bista” harnessed him for me to get there faster I took the short out trail which a
false step of the horse would have sent us both to the bottom of the ravine. The horse, was a wonderful
one having gone down that trail many times, so I didn’t need to guide him. I let him go in his own way. In
a very short time we arrived at the mill. There to my surprise I met a lieutenant colonel, a captain and a
sub-lieutenant, all of the sanitary corps or doctors.

They wanted to come and see our camp - - - to see for themselves the cleanliness and health of the
prisoners.

Fortunately, Tartaglini had not yet left for Florence so he had time to put the place in order while I went
down and came up with them.

One very good thing about being at Luogomano was that one was never surprised by inspection because
of the difficulty getting up there. Whenever an inspection came, they would always phone for the horse to
come up. In the meantime, one had a chance to straighten things up. Of course, if it was hard for
inspectors to come up, it was just as difficult for me to have as it was no pleasure trip to walk to Luicciana
and back.

I returned with the sanitary officers up the main road which was also very rough and steep. The colonel
was on horseback while the captain, lieutenant, and I walked by his side. The colonel said that I must be a
good horseman to be able to ride on such roads. I told him that that was the main road and I had come
down by a small trail for n short cut. I also told him that that time was the very first time I rode a horse in
my life. He smiled and looked amused though I doubt whether he believed me.
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On arriving at Luogomano everything had been put in spic and span condition by Tartaglini, the prisoners
were out at work. Tartaglini was hiding in a house of a family, as we did not care to have them see that
there were two of us at the camp. One of the guards was at the place as was the Austrian cook, ‘Une”.

The commission first inspected the oantonment, then our toilets. In the meantime, I sent the guard to call
the prisoners and the other two guards who were at work. When they returned, they were inspected and
questioned about their cleanliness and then sent back to work, the kitchen and the food was also looked
over.

After the commission had finished and had found the conditions excellent, the secretary invited them to
dinner at his house. I was not invited but was called in after the meal by the Colonel who being more
humane than the secretary ordered me to remain with them, This was one of the two occasions that I was
given a drink.

After the hot spell, I accompanied them down to the mill again where their military automobile was
waiting. The colonel rode the horse while the others walked. Before leaving the colonel congratulated me
for the fine condition of the cantonment, which I did not merit as I had been in Luogomano less then two
days. He was also curious to know why the secretary was not on more friendly terms with me as was the
case of all similar prisoner cantonments he had been in.

They left for Florence while I went back home. I was surprised to note that the horse could go up the hill
much easier than down the hill. The food for the prisoners and guards was not much different than at
Lupinari. The only difference was that being so far away from a military commissary we could get neither
fresh bread nor fresh meat.

For bread we got flour from Florence and a woman named Viola who was also our laundress was given
authority to make the bread from the flour. Twice a week I would give her the flour necessary for the
making of our bread, and as per agreement also additional flour for her pay. As this woman was honest,
we were sure we were not cheated. The bread she made was good and everyone was satisfied.

The meat on the days it was called for I sent one of the men down to Luicciana for it. It was in this
manner that I at times had to put money out of my pocket as the price of the meat was more than the
government allowed. It was a good thing that I had to furnish them with fresh meat on Sundays only. The
guards and I had fresh meat three times a week.

Une our Austrian cook, not only cooked meals for the prisoners but also for the four of us. He also acted
as my orderly cleaning out my room, making my bed and shining my shoes, etc. He was an old man, that
is old as far as soldiers were concerned. He was 44 years of age, or 20 years my senior. He was very
good, obliging and courteous, and could not have wished for a better man to do the duties he was doing.
He was a cook by profession.

As I have already stated, we had our quarters in a granny or a grain storage loft, which had been
partitioned into rooms.

The prisoners as in Lupinari had divided themselves into two distinct groups, one led by Franz composed
of German Austrians and the other was Hungarians. Strange as it may seem, this time it was the German
Austrians led by Franz who caused me more trouble than the Hungarians. The two groups were generally
scraping among themselves, they slept in different rooms. On one occasion they started to fight and did
not want the communicating doors between them kept open. I had to go and remind them that they were
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first of all war prisoners and then Austrians or Hungarians, and that as war prisoners it was their duty to
behave.

The Austrian group could speak Italian fluently and from Socialists, many in this region, had learned
songs against the government. One occasion at night thinking I had left Luogomano a chorus of them
started to sing these socialistic songs to the great satisfaction of the farmers who were for the most part
Socialists.

As soon as I heard them I went to their dormitory from where they were singing and immediately put a
stop to it and threatened that another similar offense would find them for thirty days in jail at Luicciana or
on bread and water. Though they calmed down, the farmers were now more against me than ever calling
me militaristic, etc.

Later I will relate a serious uprising which happened throughout Italy and especially the region I was in
on July fourth to July tenth.

On June eighth Tartgalini left for Pistoia. He was transferred to a cantonment at Serravalle near the
famous resort of Montecatini and eight days later having to go to Pistoia on duty, I went to pay him a
visit. He had a nice place with twelve prisoners and liked it much better than at Luogomano. At least he
could leave his place to go to Montecatini or to Pistoia and enjoy himself. On this trip I stayed only a few
hours with him, but on a trip to Pistoia later on which I made, I stayed with him forty-eight hours.
On that occasion we went to see the great summer resort of Montecatini which resemb1es our Hot
Springs, Arkansas, resort.

Montecatini was a town of not more than 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants. It was one of the best known health
resorts in Italy and Europe for that matter as a great percentage of its patrons or tourists are English.

The city has several very nice and large hotels of multiple stories though not higher than six floors. There
were many nice villas, owned by foreigners. The people were all dressed up - - - the women very
fashionably. One could see only wealthy people on the streets with well-dressed children with their
nurses.

What made Montecatini the resort that it was, was not only its climate which is mild in comparison with
the surrounding country but also the mineral water fountains throughout the town. All of the hotels have
their own fountains of this mineral water which is considered among the most healthful water in the
world. Thousands and thousands of gallons per day were bottled and then shipped and sold throughout the
world.

Though the water is considered very healthy, it is not the most pleasant thing to drink for in addition to
being bitter like Pluto water it also smells like spoiled eggs. Naturally, one cannot go to Montecatini
without having its water, but one half glass full was enough for me.

There are many forms of amusements, such as horse races, outdoor theatres, merry-go-rounds, etc. There
were also many large passenger automobiles, most of which were Italian make.

Tartaglini and I spent a very nice day at Montecatini and late in the evening returned to Serravalle which
was only 5 miles away. I slept in his camp and the next morning prepared to leave for Luogomano where
I arrived late in the afternoon.
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Chapter 13 The Four Big Events of Luogomano

Here at Luogomano for the short time I was there proved to be quite exciting. Three major events
happened while I was there. The first in Importance was my engagement to Josephine, the eldest daughter
of the inspector of the estate. The second a socialistic rebellion throughout the surrounding country, and
the third an earthquake.

The last happened on Sunday, June twenty-ninth. I was in my room lettering a large silk ribbon which
was to be placed in garland of flowers for the death of Little Nello the two year old son of Vittorio, a
farmer. The little chap who was the pet of all the guards and the prisoners as well had died the day before,
and his funeral was set for that day, June twenty-ninth. Josephine made the gar1and while I lettered on the
ribbon “Gli Amici al Caro Nello” translated meaning, “To Dear Nello From His Friends.” As I was
lettering the ribbon on that hot Sunday afternoon at about 2:45p.m. I felt the house shake very much, it
was just swaying to and fro.

Never having had the sensation of feeling an earthquake, I did not know what that was. At that moment it
seemed to me as if some people were above me raising Cain or making a racket. Though I heard no
noise, just the same the swaying of the building made me think it.

After a moment’s pause, I realized there was no one above us except the tile roof. Then too all of the
farmers came out of their houses, the women yelling at the top of their voices about the earthquake.
Unless I had heard them mention the word ‘earthquake’, I am sure I would have never known it though
the shock was severe.

Everyone was outside and no one wishing to return in for fear of another violent shock and find them in
with their homes demolished.

Many people slept out that night with the fear of another shock. How severe that shock had been none of
us realized at that time. But the following day brought sad news of the damage the quake had done in the
Mugello region where several hundreds of inhabitants were killed and many towns and villages were
demolished completely.

The King of Italy two days later made a trip to that unfortunate region. The Luogomano farmers were
thankful that no damage had been done to their small hamlet.

Getting back to the funeral of Nello, it was held that very same evening.

We had a funeral procession from the house of little Nello to the church. Josephine having taken care of
the dressing of poor little Nello and also made the only large garland of flowers was to lead the
procession. The prisoners who had asked me for permission to attend the funeral followed at the tail end
of the procession of which everyone of Luogomano took part.

The little coffin was taken to the church and after the functions was accompanied to the cemetery less
than a block from the church. Less than five days later, or on Friday, July fifth, another exciting incident
happened at Luogomano. On that day the Reds or Communists invaded the small hamlet.

There had been communistic revolts throughout Italy for several months, There had been strikes and open
rebellion in several larger towns such as Turin, Milan and Florence.
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In Forli when I was last there I noticed written in the walls of many buildings in black print, “Long Live
Russia” and “Long Live Lenin.”

On July fourth there had been a furious uprising in Prato, Florence and all along the Becenzio valley. All
of the small towns had routed their mayors and town officials and placed others in their stead of
Communistic sympathies. The valley of the Bicenzio from July fourth to July tenth was known
throughout Italy as a miniature soviet republic. All government officials were ousted. Among the towns
were Vernis, Vaiano, Luicciana, Cantogallo, Migliana, etc. On July fourth the Reds had ousted all the city
and government officials from Luicciana and they seated their own men in their place.

From the flagpole of the town hall the Italian flag was taken down and the Red flag was substituted. All
of this in itself was not so bad, but the worst fact was that they raided every home. They checked up on
the amount of food stuff that was in the house and if they had more than what they thought was necessary,
it was taken from them and brought to their headquarters.

In this way, all of the well-to-do families were not only robbed but even beaten if they did not do as they
were told. Food, wheat, rifles, olive oil, etc., was taken from many of the families and brought to the
Communist headquarters at Luicciana and Vaiano. These communists were a gang of hoodlums of about
twenty to fifty in number dependent upon where they were going. One of these number carried and waved
a large red flag while the other carried large clubs. Some were armed with revolvers, most of them were
young boys under 17 years of age, too young to be in the army, but the leaders were older men who had
been discharged or had come from some foreign country, usually from France.

As I have mentioned, on July fifth a mob of about twenty-five or thirty of them came to Luogomano
armed with clubs, The leader was an ex-convict who had been exiled from Italy, but whose folks lived in
a neighboring village.

They immediately went to the secretary and demanded to be shown all of the food that was in the house.
Also all of the grain, chestnut and cheese store rooms, where those things were kept. Seeing such a mob
of men, many of whom he knew, he turned over the keys of all of the storerooms to the leader who was
also well known. His name was “Gianchi”.

The leader with his men ransacked the whole place, took all of the cheese, much of it which was fresh —
just newly made —also wheat, corn and chestnuts. All of this was brought out in the courtyard to be
brought down to the headquarters at Luicciana.

The poor secretary and his wife were shivering with fright less they would also be beaten. When men
came to raid our quarters also, I refused to let them in and when they went to their leader Gianchi who
told them that I was not to be molested. He had heard from the farmers that I was militaristic so for that
reason he preferred not to make trouble.

At that moment as I was watching the bunch of hoodlums doing those deplorable acts, I would have
enjoyed giving them a battle if I had had orders from the government. I was armed as usual with my
revolver and it took much self-control in order to keep from using it. My guards, though there was only
one with me at the time, would have stood by me if I had given a fire order to disperse the gang. I had
never seen a similar act of violation by members of our race. Their treachery just made me boil with
anger.

All of the farmers and also Mr. Papanti were searched though none of them were molested and nothing
was taken from them. The farmers who for the most part were of the same party were very glad of the raid
 217

which was being made. They now considered that the day when they could do as they wished had come.
The gang especially their leader was telling them that from then on there would be no rich class, all would
be equal as in Russia. There was applause from most everyone. A few were sad for they knew that it
could never be as they had said though they did not want an anarchy to reign.

The secretary, though I never got along with him, was now coming to me not only for sympathy but for
protection. I was sorry for him, but I told him I was not a military policeman and the only time I could
interfere was when the prisoners were tampered with as my duty was only towards the prisoners.

The leader, Gianchi, demanded a horse and went out to the surrounding farms and looked for hidden
stores which they thought had been hidden by the secretary or his men. Then, Gianchi commandeered
three teams of oxen harnessed to a sort of large sled and brought all the food to Luicciana at their
headquarters.

The following day being Sunday I was to buy wine for the prisoners for the week, so with two twenty-
five liter kegs and four prisoners I went to Luicciana for wine.

We found the town in great confusion. The Red flag was on the municipal building. They had
commandeered the secretary at the city hall to remain on duty and he took orders from them. Most of the
leaders and almost all of the hoodlums were illiterate.

On arriving at Luicciana finding all of the stores closed and not wishing to return home empty-handed, I
went to the Communist headquarters for wine. They, of course, had taken over all of the wine and
supplies. I went to their headquarters and bought fifty liters of wine. When I went to pay for them, they
refused to take the money though they had placed a price on the wine. The reason for their refusal was
that I wanted a signed receipt for my money. None of the leaders cared to sign the receipt so I did not pay
them. I told them when they were ready to sign a receipt as is the law in Italy, I would pay for the wine.
They were all afraid that a signed receipt would convict them in case the government should put a stop to
their game. So I went back to Luogomano with the wine unpaid for. I paid for it two days later when I met
one of the leaders who was willing to give me a signed receipt.

This state of affairs lasted six days. In the meantime, the government had not taken part in it. Only the
large cities where soldiers were stationed were back in order after two days of riots. The Bicenzio Valley
was let alone and no soldiers were sent until July ninth when one regiment of infantry, a battalion of
Military Police and one squadron of cavalry a were sent. They invaded all of the small towns in the
miniature republic of the Soviet in the Bicenzio Valley. They made many arrests and took hold of all the
communistic headquarter’s where all the food was stored. On July tenth the soldiers arrived at Luicciana
and made more arrests.

After a day or so everything was running as usual and after a while all of the food that was salvaged from
the raid which belonged to the estate when we were at Luogomano was returned. Not fifty percent of
what was stolen was returned and that which was returned which consisted mostly of cheese was spoiled
and could hardly be sold at any price. I was glad the government had gotten hold in a peaceful way and
that it did with few casualties. The farmers did not like it very much but kept still lest they too be arrested.

Chapter 14 Count Guicciardini

The estate of Luogomano was very large, and as I have mentioned, belonged to Count Guicciardini of
Florence. Count Guicciardini owns one of the largest buildings in Florence called Palazzo Guicciardini
where he lived. Besides the estate of Luogomano this Count owns the large estate at Montale and a still
 218

larger one near San Gimignano. He was a young but very rich man. His father was the Italian Foreign
Minister at the time of King Humbert.

The chief products of the estate were chestnuts, cheese, some grain and coal made from wood, or
charcoal. During my stay at Luogomano I watched the making of charcoal which was the only coal used
in Italy to cook meals.

The way the charcoal was made was by first digging a shallow hollow and then it is filled with branches
of trees which there are in abundance. A very large file was made, then it was covered with earth leaving
only small homes for a little oil. It was then set on fire and care was taken that it did not make flames for
then it would become ashes. But if it was burned without flames, it would become charcoal. Several of
these piles were made at one time. The wood in burning makes smoke only. From each pile when
thoroughly burnt would fill from ten to fifteen sacks. It takes about three days for each pile to burn. The
men who do that work do not leave the fire during the whole season they are working. They stay there
and watch day and night for fear of forest fires.

The farmers of Luogomano were by no means as prosperous as those of Lupinari though they had more
livestock than those of Lupinari. There were many milk cows, flocks of sheep which the youngsters
would look after and also hogs.

The farmers here were more discontented than those of Lupinari though the Count Guicciardini was a
very good landlord. The stinginess and the rough treatment they had to suffer from the secretary
accounted for it. I think for he was being virtually a dictator with his men.

Chapter 15 More about Giuseppina Papanti

Not long after I arrived at Luogomano I became quite a frequent visitor to the house of Mr. Papanti, as the
farmers and the secretary were not amiable friends I naturally turned to a family who were. Papanti was
out almost every day so I spent my time with his two daughters and his mother. One of the daughters was
Josephine whom as I said I married later. The youngest one, Clamira, of about 14 years of age, and with
them also was a cousin from San Gimignano, a girl of 15 years of age.

My future wife (though in those early days neither of us knew it) with her grandmother and I would
converse almost the entire day. In this way we became friendly. She was rather tall with dark eyes and
hair and rather attractive.

On the day of the earthquake right after the funeral of little Nello, I asked her if she wished to marry me
and she gave me an answer to the negative. After a few other attempts, I was accepted providing her
father also gave his consent.

Now Mr. Papanti was known to be strict and severe and had turned down any other would be suitors of
Josephine. So I, being still in service and unknown to anyone, many of the farmers insisting I had a wife
and children in America, figured it was much harder then any of her former suitors. Nevertheless, the
same day she said yes, I asked her father. I took him for a walk in the evening and explained the
condition. He naturally said ‘no’ but it was not a flat refusal. He said that after I was given my discharge
from the Army if we still cared for each other he would give his consent. I took his statement for a yes. A
few days later we went to Florence and bought the engagement ring - - - that was about one month after I
first met her.
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From then on unti1 October eighteenth when we were married we were pretty much together though I left
Luogomano with all of the prisoners on July eighteenth.

During my stay at Luogomano I went many times to Luicciana and once even to Vernis on horseback.
The horse though it belonged to the secretary I was permitted to use it when I needed to go out.

I went out to see the various little towns and villages such a Migliana Cantagallo, Viano, Usella and
others nearby. These little villages were all about the same. Migliana being the only one different because
of it being on a high hill.

Strange as it may seem, Luogomano was only 10 miles away from Figluna where I spent my boyhood
days before going to America, I had been there once while I was in Lupinari but now that I was near I
went there frequently. The hike from Luogomano to Figluna was over high hills and there were no roads
of any kind only trails could be used. It was an easy three hour trip.

Chapter 16 Orders for all to leave Luogomano

On July seventeenth I received a telegram from Florence stating that I with all of my guards and prisoners
were to leave Luogomano temporarily and go to a camp especially made for us in Pistoia.

At first I could not see any reason for such an order. The order stated we should leave early the following
morning. We were to take with us all of our belongings and kitchen utensils and food for six days.

So, early on the morning of July eighteenth I led the prisoners and the guards over the mountains, passed
several small villages and went to Pistoia, the entire trip on foot took us over four hours.

The prisoners were wondering what it was all about, though we were told later the reason we were given
orders not to say anything to the prisoners. The reason for leaving our cantonment was that on July
twentieth the Communists had planned on a large demonstration and revolt. It had been said that they
were going to liberate the prisoners and send them home. So the government had called in all of the
prisoners and centralized them in only three or four groups. At Pistoia there were about twelve different
groups. Among them were the one in charge by Tartaglini from Serravalle. We camped in a large prairie
in the city of Pistoia in a regular military tent. There must have been between 250 and 300 prisoners,
about 50 guards and one officer. Our camp was fenced in by barbed wire. The guards were doing
twenty-four hour sentinel duty around the camp.

On July twentieth the day the Red Rebellion was scheduled nothing happened. The government had taken
extreme precaution, put in jail many of the leaders, so the famous Red Revolt failed to materialize. Of
course, we were all glad that nothing had happened. That day also happened to be the fourth anniversary
of my leaving home.

We remained two days more in Pistoia before the order came to the different commanders to return to our
cantonments.

During the five days we remained in Pistoia we did practically nothing. The prisoners ate and slept all day
while we, those who were not in service, were let out in the evening for four hours.

One day, of course, I had to be chosen as Sergeant of the Day and was doing service for twenty-four
hours. As usual I looked after the distribution of food, cleanliness of the camp and the hundred and one
different other things that comes with that office. For Corporal of the Day I had a chap from the
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cantonment from Santomato, names Edilis. He was almost illiterate but of good heart. We got along very
well together during the day and in the evening just as our 24 hours’ service was completed he said that
he would be happy if I could only be transferred to where he was or he be transferred to my camp. He
said the sergeant with whom he was with was very mean to him, I mentioned this because just five days
after this conversation, I was transferred to his camp and the day after that he committed suicide. More of
this will be told later.

Chapter 17 Closing Down Luogomano

On the night of July twenty-second all but two of the camps were given orders to return to their quarters
the next morning. One of the two was mine. That meant that we were not to return to Luogomano. The
prisoners were to be sent to Florence in order to be prepared to leave for their country for they ware now
being slowly sent back home. The prisoners were very glad that after three and some even four years
would be able to return to their families, I left them in Pistoia while I was told to return to Luogomano
with one of my men and prepare everything that remained up there to be taken to Fort Belvedere.

I had food, clothing, shoes, and had to be paid by Secretary Becchi for work done by the prisoners up
until the day we left. There were many old clothes and shoes of which I had strict orders from Belvedere
to destroy. Under no circumstances, was I to give them to the natives.

I also had much food and though I was told to return it to Belvedere, I instead distributed it to the farmers
at Luogomano. Most of all I had flour for making bread though I had also plenty of macaroni, rice and
beans. This I distributed equally to all of the farmers who would accept.

Before distributing the food, I took two large sacks of red clothes of prisoners, which included shirts,
pants, coats, shoes, etc.- - - most of it was filthy and soiled. Taking it to a vacant apace, I set fire to it
according to the orders given me. Though the farmers of Luogomano never did take kindly to me, now
that I was burning all those clothes, they became hostile towards me.

They demanded that I give it to them saying they needed it. They all were very, very angry, and as I piled
up the rags in order to barn them, they would try to take what they liked. I made them put everything back
in the pile saying that I was just obeying military orders. When they saw all the rags tossed in flames,
they groaned and called me mean names.

The reason I did not give them the clothing was first I had specific orders not to do so. Secondly, in the
event that I had done it, they would certainly have worn them, and then if they were seen out with military
clothes, they would have been asked where they got them, so naturally the blame would have come back
to me. Then, too, with very few exceptions, most of them had been rather hostile to me during the month
and a half that I spent as Luogomano. Then after it came that I distributed the surplus food, some of the
meanest ones refused it saying they had no need for it. I thought I was doing them a favor giving them
the surplus food, and at the same time, I could not be blamed if it was found out because our food was
similar to that of the civilians.

I stayed at Luogomano over two days to put everything in shape. There had been prisoners up there for
over three years and in that time much stuff had been accumulated. All the extra material was taken to
Prato on the backs of four mules accompanied by the guard. From Prato it was placed on a train and
shipped to Florence. The farmers of Luogomano were for the most part sorry that the prisoners were sent
home. They were sorry because they were very much used to them. When I returned to Florence with the
remaining supplies and money, I was told to go to Pistoia to see the officer there and tell him that I was
given orders to relieve the sergeant in charge of the cantonment of Santomato.
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Chapter 18 The Camp at Santomato

Before going to Pistoia I spent a day in Prato and Figline. In Prato I went to see Josephine’s sister
Yolanda and then to Figline where my folk’s friends treated me very well.

I went to our old house which was now used as a school. It was here that my brother Mario was born. I
also went through it.

Though I left the village at the age of six, I still could remember different landmarks especially the creek
where I used to play, the bridge, our house, that of the family across the street from us and the place
where my father worked. I told the family I was with whose name was Mercatanti and who lived across
the street from us that I was transferred to Santomato which is five or six miles from Figline and that I
would come again to see them.

The following day I went to Pistoia and Baile and received all the information with regard to Santomato.
Then I took the train again and got off at Montale which is halfway between Pistoia and Prato. From
Montale I walked to Santomato which was just about one and a half miles away. The camp where the
prisoners were was before reaching the village of Santomato.

On my arrival at the cantonment I found Sergeant Adurri who was in charge and who I was sent to
relieve. He greeted me very civilly, he being a sergeant in the cavalry who considered themselves very
superior to sergeants in the infantry. I had met Adurri at Pistoia during the week we were there in fear of
the Communistic revolt just a week before. Though we had been together for about five days in Pistoia,
he had a different set of chums than I had, therefore, seldom came in contact with me.

He was a Florentine of a very well-to-do family. He was the same age as myself. He had the peculiar
superiority about him which was common among cavalry officers and sergeants when speaking to those
of similar rank in the infantry.

For some unknown reason he was wanted at the military command in Florence and I was sent to relieve
him.

The very same day of my arrival I immediately started to take charge of all the different equipment, such
as kitchen utensils, blankets, bed sheets, clothing of prisoners, food, mattresses, and one hundred and one
different things. He had a list of all of the material and equipment except food in the cantonment and
expected me to sign it without checking it over. He, himself, said that he was not sure that everything was
so stated in the list, but since he signed it from the sergeant who preceded him, he thought it was my duty
to do likewise.

I might have done it if I had not been stung it Luogomano. When I took charge of Luogomano camp, I
signed a receipt just as Tartaglini gave me and similar to that he had signed for his predecessor. But when
the camp broke up and I had to return everything to Florence storeroom, I found that during the time that
Luogomano camp had been in existence two blankets were missing so when I returned the blankets at
Fort Belvedere, I was charged 36 lire or $7.20 for each of he blankets I failed to return, so those two
blankets cost me exactly $14.40 - - - I had to pay up right away.

Naturally leaving for Santomato I demanded that each item be checked and counted in my presence which
Adurri thought was most unfair as he had taken his predecessor’s word for the amounts called for on the
list.
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In counting over the blankets I found that nine were missing and some were bed sheets. I naturally told
him I would sign for just the articles which were there. He complained that I was no sport. He could not
see my reasoning that if ever the Santomato camp broke up while I was in charge I would have to pay
$84.80 for the nine missing blankets to say nothing of the amounts I would have to pay for the rest of
what was missing. I decided to go to Florence the next day to find out from the officer in charge just
exactly what I should do.

The camp at Santomato as I have already said was just about one half mile from the village of Santomato.
It was the largest of the three I had in charge. There were fifty prisoners, eight guards, one corporal and
one sergeant who was in charge, making a total of sixty men or almost double what I had in Lupinari and
four times at Luogomano.

We were quartered in a large home by the roadside from Montale to Pistoia. All the prisoners in this
camp were Yugoslavs. All of then could speak Italian. They were on the whole very orderly. Among the
fifty was also a sergeant who was a very good man. He did not do any manual labor but always went out
with the prisoners to work. He told them what to do. During the time that I was with them, I had learned
to place more faith in him than even my guards. We was a gentleman in every way.

The entire camp worked for an agricultural concern whose office was in Pistoia. The men dug ground
with spades and shovels which had not been cultivated for a very long time. Here at Santomato we were
now in the lowlands again though the mountains were to the east and north.

Besides all of the prisoners I also had a donkey to take care of. One of the men of the guards was given
charge of the donkey and the wagon. There was much more responsibility in this camp than in either of
the two previous places I had been being because it was so much larger.

The accounts or payments for work done by the prisoners was paid to me every week instead of once a
month. Though I did not give the money to the Military Command of Belvedere until the end of the
month. More of the management of this cantonment which I stayed from July twenty-seventh to
September fifteenth will be told later.

At this time an order came out from the war ministry that all soldiers who resided in a foreign country
were entitled to a furlough to their home. Many who lived in France, Egypt, Tunis, England and other
foreign countries were permitted to go home providing they had served over three years in the army.

According to this new order, I was entitled to a furlough to Chicago, and at that time not only made
application for it but tried hard to have it pushed along to Rome. According to the order, I was entitled to
from four to six months’ furlough in America. The furloughs of all kinds were granted during the period
from February to August. Few if any military classes were demobilized on account of the pending trouble
in the Adriatic. Had it not been for that, I would have had my discharge in March.

Just as my application was making some headway in Rome, the government recommended to demobilize
its army and in the better part of August to the middle of September nine classes were demobilized.

When I first went to Santomato I still had hopes of getting six months furlough to the States, so every
time I went to Florence I went to the military command to see if my application was making any
headway.
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On July twenty-eighth the day after I was sent to Santomato, I went to Florence for the double purpose of
first seeing what I should do about the nine missing blankets and then also to find out how my application
for the American furlough was coming out.

I was accompanied to the railroad depot of Mortale by Corporal Edilio whom I had met at Pistoia. He was
the corporal of the cantonment. He was very glad that I was placed in charge of the cantonment, and be
said he was a good fortune teller because he had wished it the first time he saw me at Pistoia about a week
previously while I was still with the Luogomano cantonment.

On the way to the depot he was telling me how cruel Sergeant Adurri was to him and how happy be was
now that he was leaving and I was taking his place.

I left the camp at about noon. Corporal Edilio after accompanying me is far as the depot returned to the
cantonment before leaving I gave him orders to have my supper ready 6:00 p.m. as I expected to be back
by that time.

The afternoon I spent in Florence getting news about my furlough. It as said that it had been passed by
the military command at Florence and was on its way to Rome for final approval. That made me feel
very good. Then I went to Fort Belvedere and asked what I should do about the missing blankets and the
officer called me a fool if I signed for more blankets than I received.

Chapter 19 Edilio takes Action Against Adurri

At about 6:00 p.m. I returned to Santomato feeling very good about the news received in Florence. As I
entered my cantonment and went to my room I saw the table had been set for my supper by the corporal. I
noticed that the corporal’s eyes were red as if he had been crying. I was also a bit surprised that he was
still in camp as the prisoners had returned from work and supper was over so that he could have gone out.
But I was too excited about what had happened in Florence to give much thought to the Corporal. Just as I
was changing my clothes a prisoner came running to me and said that Corporal Edilio had gone out with
his rifle with the intent to kill Sergeant Adurri. I ran immediately to the window and saw him run away
among the high corn stalks. I called to him to return but he paid no attention. In fact when I first saw him
before I called he was walking fast, and as soon as he heard me, he started to run and hid among the corn.

I immediately came down and with one of the men and went to look for him in the direction 1 had last
seen him, while I sent another man at Santomato to warn Sergeant Adurri not to leave the place he was. I
knew he was at the home of some girlfriends he had made during his stay at the camp.

In the meantime, I with one of my men went out to look for the corporal. While searching for him, I asked
the guard what had happened at the camp while I was in Florence. He told me that the corporal and the
sergeant had had a terrible quarrel which ended by the sergeant prohibiting the corporal to leave the
cantonment that night.

The corporal was a lad from Piedmont and as I said before not very intelligent. He was very much aware
of the fact that he was not equal to the sergeant in any respect. The sergeant on the other bend instead of
helping the lad was always amazing him and bringing him up to the fact that he was stupid, illiterate and
illegitimate as in fact he was.
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On that particular afternoon Sergeant Adurri must have been especially mean to him because the corporal
when I left him to go to Florence less than six hours previous to this incident was in good spirits and
feeling fine.

Corporal Edilio during the time he had been at Santomato had met a nice girl with whom he was engaged
to marry as soon as the government gave him his discharge papers.

Every night he spend all of his spare time at her house and being forced to remain indoors by the Sergeant
might have incited him to do the rash deed he had set out to do.

The guards and I searched the surrounding country for him among the high corn and bushes which were
plentiful. Then I thought that maybe he had gone to his sweetheart’s house so both of us went there. She
was home but unaware of what had or was happening. Then we asked her if she had seen him, she
imagined something was wrong. The man with us told her and she went into hysterics. Then the three of
us proceeded to look again to find him, Three of us would walk in the small paths, between bushes,
grains, etc., and the search continued for over an hour. She would lead and was followed by myself and
then came the guard. Both she and I called and yelled the Corporal’s name at the top of our voices. She
was crying and very nervous.

After a long search we saw him in the distance on the other side of the big ditch,

Both the girl and I ran to him, hut upon his seeing that he had failed to get the sergeant, fired his rifle so
that he could kill himself. Just as I was running the last fifty feet, he placed the end of the rifle to his
throat and just as I was less than ten feet away from him on the other side of the ditch with a small stick
which he had in his hand, he pushed the trigger and fell mortally wounded. He died less than an hour
later.

When I got to him, the girl who was ahead of me had reached him. He just handed her a note and then
while struggling with her he committed his deed. The girl fell into a dead faint as she was at his feet when
he pushed the trigger and I was within two feet from reaching his rifle before he shot himself. Both were
in the ditch which was ankle high with mud.

The exact location where this incident occurred was less than four hundred feet from the camp. The
Corporal having chosen a spot where Sergeant Adurri was sure to pass on his way to camp from
Santomato. While we were searching for the corporal, Sergeant
Adurri having been informed was returning to the camp. He arrived at the scene less than three minutes
after the suicide.

Being so near camp, I immediately sent for eight prisoners to help carry the corporal who was now in a
sea of blood to camp while some of the others with one of the guards carried the girl who seemed lifeless,
to her home.

She did not revive for five hours. We brought the corporal to camp in a blanket. He was breathing
heavily but I figured he had not much time to live. He was bleeding badly.

Adurri and I figured that by some method we must find way to get him immediately to the hospital at
Pistoia.

Just at the time of our discussion a rig drawn by two horses having four seats passed our camp on its way
to Pistoia. We stopped it and commandeered the driver to take the dying man to Pistoia. In the rig were
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three passengers besides the driver and also a small girl. We told the passengers to get off immediately
and then the corporal was placed in there. Sergeant Adurri accompanied him to the hospital.

Both driver and passengers refused to do as Adurri and I commanded and only when we told them we
would use force did they obey. The poor little girl not over seven years of age was greatly impressed by
the confusion and by seeing an almost dead man dripping blood being taken away. The corporal died in
the rig before reaching the hospital.

The incident form the moment the shot was heard until over forty-eight hours later cause a great
excitement in the surrounding country. Hundreds of curious people came from nearby towns and even
from Pistoia.

The first thing that night the Military Police from Montale came. They investigated and we had to answer
many questions and signed different papers.

As I had been at Santomato camp a little over twenty-four hours, I could, of course, not give them much
information. Nor was I in any way held the least bit responsible. The following day officers from Pistoia,
Borile, and Florence came to investigate, but
as Sergeant Adurri knew everything about it, he was questioned the most. I was asked as to how it had
happened.

The Sergeant Adurri was not held responsible. He was nevertheless severely censured for the treatment he
accorded the corporal.

The morning after I went to Leontina, to see the Corporal’s sweetheart. I found her in bed very sick. She
gave me the note the corporal had given her just before he shot himself.

He stated that he had withstood as many insult and cruelties from Sergeant Adurri as he could possibly
stand. He could not stand any more and seeing that he was anyway not worthy of a good and nice girl as
she, he thought it best to end it all. But before doing that, he would just put an end to the man who made
life so miserable for him. He asked forgiveness and said that when she received that note he would
already be dead.

I was very sorry, not to say excited, at the loss of the corporal. Sergeant Adurri took it much cooler than
I. He said that he had no other recourse than to take his own life after seeing us, for he knew he would
have been court martial and shot anyway by the soldiers for attempted murder of a superior.

I had not much use for Adurri even before this tragic accident, but after it, I detested him.

Chapter 20 Camp Life at Santomato Returns to Normal

The camp being large, there were an innumerable amount of things to do and get straightened out. That it
was not until four days after the suicide that I felt I could do without him and told him he could go to
Florence if he wished. It was on the first of August and, therefore, started the month fresh for myself,

Here at Santomato with so many prisoners, the profit which I had through the sale of extra food to
prisoners, the buying of kindling wood, on laundry, cartage, also profit made on food I bought the
prisoners for the government, netted me quite a sum of money. During the month and a half I had the
camp I made a profit of 1000 lire or about 200 dollars.
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This profit was all legitimate, made mostly through resale of fruit and vegetables which I bought at the
market at Pistoia every day and resold to the prisoners. Much of it was also made by buying wood for
cooking much cheaper than the government maximum price.

Though at Santomato we were in no way dependent on civilians, I really enjoyed myself more than either
at Luogomano or Bucine.

I had an orderly who was a prisoner and could speak perfect Italian named John, or Giovanni. Be was a
young chap, very intelligent from Spalato in Dal Matia. His only duties were to fix up my room, clean my
clothes, shoes, bring me water to wash, and breakfast in bed. This was the easiest and best life I had ever
lived, though the responsibilities of feeding, clothing, giving work, keeping clean and well disciplined
sixty men all of which were older than myself and of which fifty were prisoners was nothing to be gay
about.

As already stated, these men contrary to my belief of their race, were orderly, well-behaved and
courteous. Much more so than the Germans I had in Luogomano or the Hungarians of Lupinari.

Their sergeant who was placed in charge by me when at work was a very educated and refined man.
During my stay there I took him out with me for long hikes around the nearby towns which he enjoyed
very much. this was strictly against the law as no prisoners were allowed to leave the cantonment except
when going to work or to the doctor or returning to Belvedere, and then they were to be accompanied by
an armed guard. Then men were all from Dalmatia and Yugoslavia. When the armistice came they would
be the first to return home because they were from a new nation much protected by President Wilson. But
just because of him and his partialities against Italy, Italy did not dare release them less they would be
drafted by the new Yugoslavian government and made to fight Italy again.

Contrary to what one would think they were openly in favor of Italy to get Dalmatia and felt bad because
their new government prompted by Wilson’s friendship made belligerent moves against Italy and thereby
delaying their return home.

Most of all prisoners of Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, Galicia, and others had been sent home only the
Yugoslavs remained.

While at Santomato, I received a present from the government of over 1000 lire for back salary I was to
receive while I was a prisoner. I certainly was very glad I got it, and it came in very handy later on my
return home.

Chapter 21 An Offer From the YMCA

During the months of July, August and September, every time I went to Florence I would so to the
American YMCA comfort station and also their office, and there meet many of the American doughboys
who were traveling throughout Italy at half fare, being on furloughs from fifteen to thirty days from their
quarters in France.

Most of the boys I came in contact were very much surprised to hear me speak English as I did and
wearing an Italian military uniform. Many would ask me of the best sites of Florence. On one occasion I
accompanied five of them through the Uffici Gallery and Boboli Garden.

Once while talking with some of the boys at the YMCA headquarters, I attracted the attention of Mr.
________, Manager of the Florence office. He asked me into his private office and after some pleasant
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conversation asked me if I cared to make my home with him in Florence and become an interpreter for all
of the American boys and tourists who came to Florence. He made me the following proposition which I
refused,

I was to make my home at the Florentine YMCA, all expenses paid. I was to receive a salary of $1.00 per
day. I was to remain in the service of the Italian Army as Sergeant and also draw 60 cents per day from
the Italian Government.

I was not to be discharged from the military when my class was discharged; that meant I was to remain a
soldier indefinitely.

The YMCA was to see that proper arrangements were made with the government in order to do as stated.
I was always to remain in Army uniform. The YMCA would at a later time provide an automobile for me
of which I was to learn to drive end carry in it the tourists which I was to act as guide and interpreter.
These arrangements he said would be very good for me for in addition to the salaries from the YMCA and
from the Italian Government I was sure to make much money from tips from tourists.

The reason I refused such an alluring offer was that he demanded I sign a contract for a minimum of five
years. I had been over four years from home already and was very anxious to return, so naturally I had to
refuse the offer which was on August 11, 1919.

Chapter 22 Waiting for a Military Discharge

During the month of August, there was not much excitement except that during the last two weeks the
government had commenced to discharge military classes again after a long wait from March. The classes
were now being discharged as fast as possible, two classes per week. At that rate my class, that of 1894,
was due for discharge around the middle of September.

During my stay at Santomato, I went at three different times to Luogomano for periods of twenty-four to
forty-eight hours to see Josephine. Only a lovelorn fool, as I was in those days would have hiked to
Luogomano from Santomato as I did. The distance was 18 miles.

I had Cascini take me with the donkey and rig up to the foot of the mountains or high hills at Fognano,
which was about six miles from Santomato. The rest of the way I went afoot. I had to go all of the way up
to the top of the hills about 1500 feet high, but to get there were several miles of paths to follow. When on
top I had to get down to the valley again and then climb again to Luogomano. I usually made this trip in
two or two and one-half hours. I would reach Luogomano all wet with sweat and had to change clothes.

Before leaving Cascini, I would tell him when he could return to Luogomano with the rig and donkey to
take me back to the cantonment.

During these days we were making preparations to get married as soon as the law allowed after my
discharge from the Army. Of the lot of red tape end trouble we had to go through to get married, more
will be said later.

While at Santomato not only did I take an occasional trip to Luogomano but also went to see Tataglini
and was his guest for two days at Serravalle. Later Tartaglini retuned my visit and came to Santomato
and stayed with me for two days also. I certainly enjoyed every day of my stay at Santomato.
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Tartaglini was surprised at the size of my camp and the order which he found it in. The camp seemed to
run almost by itself.

Another time I spent over a day in Figlini my childhood town which was about eight miles away. I always
took my rig and donkey when I went away, sometimes I took Cascini with me. He was the guard I had
given charge of both rig and donkey.

On my return from Figline I brought with me a child (a boy of ten years of age). He was a son of a
playmate of mine when I was only a child myself before I came to America. His father, who I had known
twenty years before, had been killed at the front. His mother was very much afraid to let him come with
me to our camp, but with his insistence and his Grandmother’s approval I was able to overcome her
objections. In this way I had him with me for one week. Bino as his name was certainly was glad to be
able to come. It was a sort of an honor for him to tell his small pals he lived with soldiers.

I fixed a nice bunk for him in my room and he was made very comfortable. He was a playmate for all of
the prisoners. They liked him very much and he was very obedient, courteous and a good chap. He made
friends with everyone at the camp. During the evening after the prisoners were home from work, he
would enjoy himself with them. Of course, he ate our food which he liked very much. Every morning I
would take him to Pistoia with me with the donkey and cart and Cascini.

On Monday, September eighth, there was the yearly Fair at Prato, so I made an appointment with Beppina
to meet me there on that day. On that same day I took Bino home after having spent a wonderful week
with us. Before taking him home, I took him to see the Fair at Prato. We went there with our donkey and
a rig. With us was Cascini. After showing Bino a good time during the morning at the Fair, I had Cascini
accompany him home to Figline. I then met Bippina at her sister Yolanda’s house. Her cousins who had
been guests at Luogomano for a couple of months were also at Prato with her. They were going home to
San Gimignano with them were going her grandmother and sister Clamira. After spending a pleasant day
together at the Fair, I accompanied her relatives to Florence where they were to change trains for San
Gimignano. I spent the night at Florence and in the morning went to see the command at Belvedere. My
reason for going there was that knowing my class was going to be discharged from the Army within the
next ten days, I went to inform them that as soon as my class was being discharged I wanted to be
relieved at Santomato in order to be discharged too. I was told not to worry and that I would be taken
care of.

My days in the Army were now drawing to a close. I was glad after over four years to be able to be free
again, but in a way I was sorry to leave my cantonment and the men who had been so well-behaved while
I was in charge.

Before finishing up my career at Santomato, I had tried some of the easy life that was led by some of the
soldiers. My last month and a half was the easiest of my military career. Here as I have said, I had an
orderly, had a private room, special food, made extra money, had a rig and donkey at my disposal, and
one of the guards to drive if I should be too lazy. I left camp at any time, went to Florence, Prato, Pistoia,
Luogomano, etc., whenever I pleased. In the camp I had two cooks, one a prisoner who cooked for the
prisoners and an Italian who cooked for the guards and for myself. There was also a tailor, a prisoner,
who made me a military suit which fitted me - - - the suit which I still bold.

In every way during that time I led the life of a prince. On Friday, September twelfth, my class was
starting to be discharged. I knew that it was just a matter of a few days that I too would be given my
discharge.
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That happened the following day is but given briefly in my diary as that date, September thirteenth I went
to Pistoia in the morning to get money from the “Cansorzio”, also purchased food, paid the prisoners and
the guard at noon. I sent a card to Tartaglini. At 3:30 p.m. a messenger came with an order to take as soon
as possible all prisoners to Florence. I sent for the prisoners who were working and prepared all things. In
two carts I put all of our camp belongings and sent them to the station of Montale. We had three cars of
military train reserved for me. At 8:15 I left for Florence. I took the prisoners to Belvedere. How happy
everyone was!

A more detailed explanation of what actually happened on that day which was one of the happiest of days
was as follows: As already said, the day before my class was beginning to get its discharge from the
Army and I had a week previously informed the Marshall who by the way was the same as the one who
had reported me during my escape, he at Bucine, to send my relief as soon as my class was being
discharged. He was now my friend having forgotten the Bucine affair, be promised faithfully that he
would, so I was not surprised when the day after my class was beginning to be discharged to be told to go
to Florence. I was, however, much surprised to receive an order to break up camp.

Chapter 23 Closing Santomato

Luckily the same morning I had gone to Pistoia and received money which to pay the prisoners. It was as
stated about 3:30 p.m. when a private came from Belvedere with a letter stating that I with the entire
camp was to re-enter at Belvedere as soon as possible.

I took that as soon as possible to mean immediately and sent the cook out to call all of the prisoners who
were at work in the fields.

As soon a they re-entered in camp, I gave the Austrian sergeant complete charge of packing up all of the
prisoners blankets, sheets, clothing, shoes, mattress covers and all prisoners’ equipment, I gave him a list
of the quantity of each which was supposed to he in the camp. He checked over everything and made rolls
of all the equipment. He more than anyone else was responsible for leaving that night for Florence. The
guards just barely could get themselves ready - - - let alone help me.

The first thing I did after giving orders to break up camp was to go to a nearby farmer and ask for two
large farm carts drawn by oxen to be at the camp at 5:30 p.m. Then I took my donkey and rig and went to
the railway station of Montale. There I gave orders to the station master to telegraph to the railway station
at Pistoia that when the 3:00 p.m. military train passed there to vacate three cars so I could use them to go
to Florence with the prisoners, guards and equipment. After receiving an answer from the station master
of Pistoia that that would be done, I left and went to camp to see how things were coming along. I then
placed all of my belongings in a large sack with much food which was left and gave orders to Cascini to
remain after we were gone and with the donkey bring all of my belongings to Luogomano the following
day.

By the time all of the kitchen utensils and everything else was packed, the two oxen driven carts with the
farmers arrived. Everything was loaded in the carts, making them so heavy that it was hard for the oxen to
pull them. Luckily they came early for it took quite a while to load and the oxen are slow motion animals
which made it a longtime to get to the depot.

What most amazed me was with what rapidity and system everything was taken care of.

The prisoners were happy, figuring that in a few days they might go to their homes. With that in view
they worked all the harder. At 7:30 having everything packed and loaded and the teams had already left
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for the station, I lined up the prisoners with their personal belongings and by the short cut, went to the
railroad station. Everyone was glad and singing, many of the prisoners had been at Santomato over three
years.

Many of the friends having learned that we were leaving came to bid us goodbye. They were told I would
return the following day to fix up the financial affairs.

Many of the children of nearby farmers accompanied us to the station.

I left two guards only at our camp, me of them was Cascini who was to leave the next morning for
Josephine’s house at Luogomano with my personal belongings.
We reached the station before the slow moving oxen. Then everyone helped to unload the wagons and
place everything on the station platform where it could be easily loaded in the train.

After waiting about twenty minutes we were informed by the station master that the train had just left the
station of Pistoia about seven miles away and that three cars had been reserved for us. When the train
arrived we loaded all of the equipment in one car and in the other two placed the prisoners, the guards and
myself. I placed one man in the car with the equipment.

The cars, of course, were eight horse forty man variety. It took about fifteen or twenty minutes to load
everything. In the meantime, all of the soldiers in the rest of the cars were yelling at us to hurry. Most of
them were returning home with their discharge to southern Italy coming naturally from Northern Italy and
from the Front. Many of them got off and gave us a lift. Many of our friends and those of the prisoners
were at the station to see us off. After an uneventful trip of about one and a half hours, we arrived at the
Campo di Marte Station of Florence.

Here we got off. The officer in charge at the station sent some of his men to help unload all the equipment
and store it in a large room in the station. I kept one of my men there to see that it would not be taken.

Then with the rest of the guards I accompanied all of the prisoners to Belvedere. When we got there it
was after 11:00 p.m. The night officer at the Fort when I asked the sentry I wanted to go in jokingly said
he thought it was a small enemy army trying to invade the Fort at that hour of the night.

He said that he had had no orders that I was expected, and when I told him I received notice to break
camp at 3:30 p.m., he was very much surprised with what speed it was done.

I delivered the prisoners to him. He gave me a receipt and then I went back to town for the night and slept
in a hotel, feeling contented that within a day or so I would have my discharge.

Early the next morning I had a military truck go to the station for all of the material and equipment from
our camp. It was then brought up to Fort Belvedere and the Marshall who was very much surprised to see
me checked over everything and was lucky because everything that was there was on the list.

It took me all morning and part of the afternoon to get everything straightened up. Before dark having
finished everything at Fort Belvedere, I took a train for Santomato to get all the financial ends fixed up.

As I arrived at Santomato I found Cascini and Melloni whom I had left at the camp waiting for me.
Cascini had returned from Luogomano with the donkey. I slept that night in a nice straw bed in the barn
with our donkey.
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The morning of the fifteenth, I spent in Santomato and Pistoia in the latter town I went to agricultural
“CONSORZIO“ and fixed up final accounts. Then I returned to Santomato and paid up the laundress, the
doctor, the druggist, and the farmer who carted our belongings to the station. Then after everything was
finished, I said goodbye to all of my acquaintances and left for Prato and spent the rest of the day at
Yolanda’s house. I slept at a hotel in Prato, the one where I later went when I was married.

Cascini accompanied me to Prato with the donkey, the last I had. Cascini then returned to Santomato to
give the donkey in charge of a farmer. I told him to return to Port Belvedere after he had consigned the
animal to the farmer.

Early the next morning I left Prato for Florence and went to the office and had all the accounts
straightened. Just as I was leaving, having been relieved of all my duties and told to go to the command of
the 89th Infantry for my discharge, the Marshall hailed me and told me that I had to return to Santomato
to get a registered letter sent to me at the Post Office there with currency belonging to the prisoners.

As I was expecting to be discharged from the Army that day, I naturally felt bad about it, but being my
superior, there was nothing else to do but to obey. That day I was told that if I wanted my discharge the
following day, I would have to be vaccinated so I had to go through that also.

In the afternoon I left for Santomato Post Office which happened to be the last time I was there.

In those days after being forty-nine months under military rule it was a nerve-racking affair to have your
final discharge almost within grasp and then have it delayed twenty-four or forty-eight hours.

At Santomato, of course, the inhabitants were surprised to see me again. It was the third time they had
said goodbye to me. I left after a few hours and reached Florence too late to return to Fort Belvedere. I
stayed in town, went to a movie, and then to a hotel.

Early the morning of the seventeenth; I was again at the office with the money and registered letter. I was
sure that nothing would prevent me from getting my discharge that day. It was already written out on the
desk of Captain Biondi but it had to be signed by the Colonel of the 69th Infantry.

Chapter 24 Discharged at Last!

During the morning a messenger brought my discharge to the command of the 69th, and I went along
with him. After a few minutes wait, I went along with him and was then given my long-awaited honorable
discharge at 11:00 a.m., September seventeenth, just forty-nine months after arriving at Forli from
Florence to start on that long grind. Of course I was very glad. In the afternoon I was given 300 lire or
about 460.00 bonus for the service. Because at that time were given in the following manner. Fifty lire
was given to each man discharged for every year or fraction of service in the Army. I was in the army
just four years and one month, so I was entitled the same bonus for five years or 250 lire, the extra 50 lire
was given to all sergeants so that gave me a bonus of $60.00 similar as was had by the American
doughboys.

I was also entitled to a civilian suit given by the government to all men being discharged from the Army.
Those who preferred money rather than the suit were given 100 lire or $20.00 as the suit was a cheap
affair. I took the money in preference to the suit. Before leaving Florence for Prato and Luogomano, I
went to see about the passport. It seemed strange to walk the streets a free man, though I continued to
wear my military uniform for over two months longer, or until I reached home on December third. Before
leaving I went to say goodbye to all my prisoners especially the sergeant I was aided by so much.
 232

I left in the evening for Prato with my famous document in my pocket and also several hundred lire
richer.

After spending the night at Prato, early the next morning I left for Luogomano, going through Mercatale. I
made Luogomano my home except for short intervals until I was married.

Chapter 25 Getting the Papers to Get Married

The trouble and red tape I had to go through to get married no one can imagine.

Even before I left for the Santomato camp, I began to inquire and to get the necessary papers ready. But I
had not only papers for our marriage to get ready, but also passports and other similar documents in order
to be able to return to America as to the latter as far as I was concerned they were simple, but to get them
ready for my wife was another question. Quite reversed were the papers required for getting married, I
had a difficult time while my wife had it rather simple for she got them at Luicciana and the town, she
was born at San Gimignano.

On September third I went to the Mayor of Luicciana where we intended to get married and told him that
I could get no documents from America that would prove that I was single and that he would have to take
my word for it as had my fiancée. He told me he could not under any circumstances marry us if I did not
have such a certificate. I did not know what to do so I thought of a ploy to apply for a certificate of that
nature from the city of Prato where I had lived as a child before coming to America and where I knew I
was still inscribed as a citizen.

I went there and as luck would have it that after a few days of waiting it was given to me. But that was
only one of many documents that I had to have.

Another was my birth certificate which I got at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, also a birth certificate from
the church which I got at the Baptistery at Florence. Then a certificate of my parents which had to come
from Forli. There were others which I do not remember. I also had to go to the Bishop of Pistoia to get
from him a certificate that I was single because the one given me by the civil authorities was not
recognized by the church. Josephine also had to get her different documents. It must be remembered that
all of these documents are not given immediately when applied for, many of them came after several
weeks.

Along with this we had the passports to worry about which in Italy was very hard and complicated a
procedure to get.

They would not issue one to Josephine until after we were married and that put a crimp in our plans, as
we intended to leave for America shortly after we were married. It took usually two or three months to get
a passport.

So even before I was released from the Army, I persuaded the authorities to give Josephine a passport
separate from mine. And it was made out as if we had been married, but they would not hand it to me
until we had our marriage license. To this I agreed and after much hardship, we got our passports one
week after we were married.

About the end of September after having made any trips to Prato, Florence, Pistoia, Cantagallo, and
Luicciana, I was lucky to have all of the necessary documents in my hands, also those of Josephine. I
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brought them to the city hall of Luicciana where I knew they would be kept for three weeks before we
could get married, a duplicate copy of each went to the city hall of Prato which was considered my home.

Then publications were mailed in the billboards of both of the town halls and had to remain there as I
have said three weeks. These notices stated that Josephine and I intended to marry each other and that if
there were any objections to the union to report
it.

While all of this was going on, at the church of Luogomano for three successive Sundays the same thing
was being said to those attending mass.

With all of these rules conformed with and all the time which to prepare, there is very little chance of a
girl or man marrying one who is already married. Besides the wedding was well advertised by both the
church and the civil authorities. I, in the meantime, when not running around for documents was
spending my days at Luogomano with Josephine and her family.

I also spent much time with the priest with whom I was living. I had the guest room at his home where I
slept almost one month and did not want a cent for his troubles.

I had breakfast and many times suppers with him. In the evening after I had left Josephine’s house, he and
I would stay up until the small hours of the morning playing checkers and talking of America. He was one
of the very few patriotic priests I ever met. I had wedding announcements printed for us in Florence and
then mailed them to all of our relatives and friends. They were rather fancy and my father-in-law-to-be
scolded me for wasting so much money.

Chapter 26 Visiting the Relatives in Turin – one last time

I knew that we would leave Italy at Naples so it would have been impossible to see my cousins in Turin
after we were married so I decided to go to them before getting married to say goodbye to them.

Josephine, her sister Clara and I left Luogomano on October third. We went to Figline and Prato and after
passing a pleasant evening with them and their sister Yolanda at Prato, I left them and went to a hotel to
sleep. The next morning the three of us went to the Bishop of Pistoia. While at Pistoia we did some
shopping, and the things we purchased was the wedding ring. On our way back from Pistoia, the girls got
off at Prato while I proceeded to Florence. While there I bought a present for the priest, went to see about
our passports, wedding announcements and early the following morning, I left Prato for Turin by the way
of Bologna and Milan. The trip though long was very nice. I left Prato at 7:00 a.m. of October fifth and
arrived at 12:30 p.m. of October sixth at Turin.

At Bani di Posetta before reaching Bologna, our train naturally stopped for a few minutes. We met a train
going in the opposite direction towards Florence. There were several American Red Cross nurses on
board or rather at the station waiting for the train to leave. I spent a pleasant five minutes with them
talking about America. They gave me two packages of Fatima cigarettes.

At Bologna the terminal of our train, we had to wait over three hours for the train to Bologna and Milan.
These three hours I spent walking through the town. Bologna is the ninth largest town in Italy, being just
a little smaller than Florence, which ranks eighth and a little larger than Venice, which is tenth on the list.
Bologna has a trifle over 300,000 inhabitants. Though I have passed Bologna so many times during the
four years that I was in the Army and many times even went in it, I never really got a chance to see it.
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Bologna without a doubt was the most important Military city in Italy during the war. It was there that all
of the different branches or corps of the Army, Navy and aviation had their main headquarters. Every
piece of mail, which entered or went out of Italy, also all of the domestic mail was censured there. The
wireless apparatus at Bologna was the best in Italy. All food, clothing, etc., for the soldiers were first
shipped to Bologna and from there to regiments or battalions in the front that needed it.

The three hours I had to wait for the train I made the most of. I went to see St. Michael’s Church, one of
the oldest in Bologna. Then I walked through the loggias of which Bologna is noted for. The city was
very clean and well kept. In walking through the well-kept streets, one would only see soldiers of all
corps and all ranks.

The civilians of Bologna speak a dialect similar to my relatives in Forli. In fact it is less than forty miles
north of Forli. It is there that the world famous bologna sausage gets its name, being made here in great
quantities.

While walking around the city, I came across a group of five American soldiers playing baseball. That
was the first and only time I saw baseball played in Italy. Naturally when I saw them, I stopped and
watched them and forgot al about sightseeing and almost missed my train. I was invited by the boys to
join the game and I might have done so had there not been such a mob of both Italian soldiers and
civilians watching. It must be remembered that I still had a uniform on. Nevertheless, I enjoyed
conversing with them as they played.

Returning to the station just in time to catch the train for Milan, I proceeded for my destination. I arrived
at last at 1:30 a.m. and had to wait until 6:00 a.m. for a train for Turin. I spent most of the time at the
railway station sending out cards and writing letters. At 6:00 a.m. I left Milan and six and one half hours
later I arrived at Turin.

I went to my aunt and cousins’ house and found them at the table having dinner. They were a bit surprised
to be able to see me and much more surprised when I told them I would be married in ten days.

I spent three pleasant days with them, took in some of the sites I had missed on my previous visit. Turin is
the fourth largest city Italy and has a population of over one-half million people. Just Milan, Naples and
Rome are larger. Next to Rome and Florence, I think Turin is the prettiest city in Italy.

I was sorry to leave Turin and my relatives, which I am not sure of ever seeing again. In fact, both my
aunt and uncle are now dead (1926) only my cousins live alone in that city.

From here began my long series of goodbyes to all of my friends and relatives I had made during my
fifty-two months stay in Italy.

Before 1eaving my cousin Assuntina and I went to a jewelry store and bought a present for my cousin
Guerrino of Bertinoro, who was now one year old. Assuntina and I are Godparents of Guerrino.

At 11:40 a.m. of October ninth I left Turin to the station I was accompanied by my cousin Enrico. I spent
two hours at Genoa, went to the barber and then went to see the Christopher Columbus monument. It was
very pretty. I did not get much time to see too much of Genoa as I wanted as I had to leave by express
train for Pisa.
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The scenery from Genoa to Pisa as already mentioned is about the finest I have ever seen. From Genoa to
Chiavai we passed the shipbuilding region of Italy, in which Italy now ranks second to England in the
world in this industry.

I wanted to get off at Viareggio, which is considered one of the most important bathing and summer
resorts in Italy. But it was raining hard when I passed through there so I proceeded on to Pisa.

I got to Pisa after midnight, then went to a hotel for the night. The next morning I did not linger long at
Pisa as I had seen it or at least the famous four architectural masterpieces on a previous trip so I took an
early train for Lucca.

At Lucca I spent over a half day. I went first of all to see the famous Palazzo Bernardini, which is in front
of Bernardini Square.

It is an enormous building built in the 14th Century of typical Italian architecture. I was let in and shown
around by the master of the house. He showed me large rooms with antique furniture, armored suits worn
by my ancestors and different historical data pertaining to the origin of the Bernardini family. Though I
was in an Italian Army uniform, I told him I came from America. He was very kind and we very sorry I
could not remain there for one day to wait for Count Bernardini to whom the building belongs. Count
Bernardini he told was very kind and would have certainly appreciated it very much if I had remained to
see him.

After leaving the palace, I walked around to see the city of Lucca, which has about 50,000 people. The
cathedral or “Duomo” as it is called is one of the best buildings in Lucca. Lucca was much on the order
of Prato in Pistoia only larger.

At 1:30 p.m. I took a train for Florence and at 4:00 p.m. arrived at Prato the starting point of the trip
having gone 935 kilometers or over 560 miles. As usual when I arrived at Prato, I went to a hotel to sleep,
taking in a movie before going to bed.

The next day, October eleventh, I returned to Luogomano on the same day we sent out our wedding
announcements. The wedding having been decided for October eighteenth for civil and October
nineteenth for religious.

Up to the last day we did not know when we could get married because of the red tape. I had to go to
Florence again on the day before the wedding to get some missing paper before we were sure we could
get married.

Chapter 27 Two Weddings and a Departure

On October seventeenth when I went to Florence I was also able to get our passport. But most of all I was
glad to get the missing certificate and then had to have it okayed by the authorities at Prato. From there I
brought it to Luicciana where I was told we could get married the next day if we so wished, and so we
wished. There isn’t much to say about the ceremony at the city hall. There were only my father-in-law,
my sister-in-law, Clara, my wife and I. We met two of my father-in-law’s friends at Luicciana who were
called in for witnesses. The mayor and the assistant mayor Becchi who was secretary at Luogomano
estate were out of town so the second assistant mayor went through the formula to tie the knot. Then all
of us signed a book with my name first, then all signed the marriage license, which was given to me.
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Then we returned home and prepared for an elaborate ceremony the next day in church. The priest and
my wife decided it was to be at high mass on the next day Sunday, October nineteenth (I had little to say
as legally we were already married).
Not to be at all egotistical, but the truth was that our wedding had caused quite a comment among the
natives. Everyone knows how curious and gabby country people are with regards to other people’s affairs;
well the natives of that region were even more than the average.

Having met and married my wife in little more than four months, then being one of their community but
also not even living in Italy, had caused much gossip. Many, especially the women, claimed that I was
already married and had a wife and children in America and cautioned my wife-to-be to beware. Others
to whom I had referred to the prisoners’ clothing that I burned up and saw no use for me.

Our affair had not only caused gossip at Luogomano but also at Cantagallo and Lucciano and all farmers
about 6 kilometers from Luogomano.

So on the Sunday morning of October nineteenth, the big ordeal came. The priest with whom I had lived
with all of this time naturally performed the ceremony.

At 10:00 a.m. the church, which is usually empty except for a few old people, was full, not even standing
room was available. There were many more who were unable to get in and stood by the doorway and out
on the lawn. Many of the men were shocked because I was discharged from the Army and I still wore the
Army uniform and even was married with it on. I had no civilian suit so I had to keep my uniform on.

Two local boys acted as witnesses, we had no bridesmaids, flower girls, best man, etc. The most tedious
part of the ceremony was kneeling down in front of the altar for about two hours while mass was
celebrated. If I remember right, I had blisters on my knees for several days afterwards. Afterwards we
received best wishes from the priest and a few of the gossips who had become convinced since I married
the girl I couldn’t be as bad as I was painted to be.

After the wedding, my wife and I according to the local custom passed out candy and cookies to the small
children in the neighborhood. We had a rather nice wedding dinner - - - besides the family were also our
two witnesses one with his fiancée. After dinner my wife and I accompanied by Nello, one of the
witnesses with my sister in law Clara and the other witness Adriano with his fiancée went to Cantagallo
where my wife had several friends. We passed the afternoon there visiting and saying goodbye to all of
her friends.

The next day, October twentieth, proved to be a sad one because of my wife leaving her home where she
had lived since she was two years of age. Though we said good-bye to Luogomano, her father and sister
Clara promised to come to Prato to see us off for Naples on our return from our honeymoon trip to San
Gimignano, Forli and Bertinoro.

It was sad to see my wife cry as we were going down the hill of Luogomano and then up again to
Migliana and from there to Vaino where we took a cab for Prato. Her sister Clara and an elderly woman,
the mother of our witness Adriano, accompanied us as far as Migliana. It was late in the afternoon when
to got to Prato. We received a room in the best hotel and then went to my wife’s sister Yolanda’s house
for supper. This made her forget her being away from home for a while.

After an early breakfast, the next morning we took a cab and went to Figline when we spent the whole
day with my parents friends and with family and relatives of Nino who I had at Santomato with me. We
spent a pleasant day in my brother Mario’s birthplace. We had a nice dinner at Mrs. Mercantini our old
 237

neighbor across the street. We delayed our leaving Figline so what when finally ready to leave there were
no more cabs leaving for Prato so we had to walk more than half of the way in the dusty woods before
reaching Coianno where we were able to get a cab for our hotel at Prato. Before leaving Figline, of
course, came the sad goodbyes, which for the following two weeks never ceased.

The next morning on October twenty-second right after breakfast we left Prato for Florence. We spent the
morning at Florence shopping and also went to the American Consul.

In the afternoon we left for Poggibonsi in the province of Siena. This region was entirely new to me but it
was and is one of the most fertile in Italy. The vineyards here are known throughout the world.

On our arrival at Poggibonsi we took a cab for San Gimignano. The town where my wife was born and
the former home of her parents. She still had all of her relatives in this city, both on her father and her
mothers’ side.

It was about 8:30 p.m. when we pulled in unexpectedly at the home of her aunt and uncle, her aunt being
her father’s sister.

I had met them all except her aunt at Luogomano during the summer. They were informed about our
wedding and received us exceedingly well. Two daughters both of whom I met at Luogomano during
their vacation during the summer were there. My wife’s youngest sister Clamira and her grandmother
were also at their house at that time.

We remained four days at San Gimignano during this time. We saw all of my wife’s relatives and I saw
the interesting town of San Gimignano.

The old historic town of San Gimignano now counts about 12,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a hill about
8 kilometers from the railway station of Poggibonsi.

This town is one of the most frequented of the small towns of Italy by tourists of all nations, but mostly
English and German before the war. Its uniqueness is its many towers. In fact it is known the world over
as the “City of Towers”. It is a very old town having been founded by the Romans. Later In the 12th and
15th century it became one of the art centers of the world. The towers of San Gimignano are of different
heights about 75 to over 300 feet. These towers of which I went to the top of most of them, especially the
high ones, were used for lookouts during the middle ages when one family fought against another.

Not only is the town noted for its towers but also for its churches. In LeSollegiate Church, the largest in
San Gimignano are paintings and frescoes of the most important masters of Italy, such as Ghirlandairo,
Benozzo, Pollaiolo, etc. Most of it was done at the end of the 15th Century, though the church was built
and first mass celebrated on November 21, 1148, or almost 800 years ago.

The church of St. Agostino was also very old and historical with many frescoes.

They had a municipal building, a hospital and last but not least a museum, where many antique objects,
paintings, sculptures, etc., are kept. The museum for such a small town easily rivals that of large
American cities. The buildings are all old and quaint. They are narrow and crooked and also on an incline.

Another important thing to see at San Gimignano is the pretty girl. Nowhere have I ever seen such an
array of beauties between the age of 15 to 21 years. All, of course, have dark eyes, hair and rosy
complexions. No made up faces, nor even a trace of powder was seen on them. The girls towards evening
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would sort of parade around town in groups and converse with each other. That was their only leisure
hours as after dark they were to be in the house and all during the day they would be in the house doing
housework.

My wife’s cousins and uncles showed us a good time during the four days. I was taken to see every place
of interest in the town and also in the nearby village of St. Lucia. I would have very much liked to have
gone to Siena but we had no time.

Siena was only 30 kilometers from San Gimignano or rather Poggibonsi. Early in the morning of October
twenty-seventh at about 5:00 a.m. after having awakened everyone in the house and said goodbye to all of
them, my wife’s sister Clamira, her grandmother, my wife and I took a cab for Poggibonsi to the train.
The former two came with us to Florence and while we transferred to another train for Faenze and Forli,
they took another train for Prato where they were to wait until we returned from Forli.

Before the trains for Faenza on the old familiar route to Florence-Faenza, we stopped at the American
Consul and received my wife’s passport, which was the last obstacle in leaving for America.

On arriving at Forli with my wife, I went to see my relatives who were surprised at my being married,
though I had informed then almost two weeks before when I returned from Turin.

We remained at Forli just two and a half days where we passed a rather pleasant time with my relatives.
In the meantime, I gathered all of my belongings, which had accumulated at their house during my four
years of which it was a temporary home.

Early on the morning of October thirtieth we left Forli to spend the day at Ravenna. At Ravenna besides
having relatives living there, my wife’s cousin was also stationed there with those folks we lived with
while we were at San Gimignano. He was in the artillery at an armory in the city.

First we went to see him and then obtained a pass for the rest of the day to stay with us.

Then we went to visit my second cousin whom I had met in 1911 and again while wounded in the
hospital there at Ravenna in November 1916.

A nephew of hers was living with her. He was a captain in the artillery and was very courteous to us. We
had dinner at her house and then the five of us my wife’s cousin included went out sightseeing in
Ravenna.

The captain who was a native of that city knew all the principle things of interest in town - - - he showed
us around. Among the many things of interest were the different Byzantine churches, claimed to have
been erected before Rome was founded. The interior of St. Appolinere is still in excellent condition. We
also went to visit Dante’s tomb. It is not very large and in the center of town, not in a cemetery where one
would expect to find a tomb.

Dante ranks second to Homer as the greatest author that ever lived. He was the founder of the Italian
language. His Divine Comedy is considered the world’s greatest masterpiece.

The day we spent at Ravenna was one of the best of our honeymoon. We returned to Forli late but just in
time for supper at my uncle’s house. Of course, there were many more goodbyes when we left Ravenna.
 239

The following morning we left again for Bertinoro to my aunt’s house. During the three days we were at
Bertinoro the weather was against us and we had to remain indoors most of the time. We played around
with my cousin Guerrino who was one year old and whom I was godfather. I was sorry not to have been
able to show my wife the pretty scenery, which can be seen from Bertinoro because of the weather.

Of course, I met Bochini, Giorgiani and Lisotti. The former two who probably saved me from starvation
in Austria. Sirotti was in my regiment at the 131st and we had barely missed death by shell shots as
already stated in June 1916.

We had a farewell dinner at Serottis house. The meal was excellent, regular Romagnoli country meal,
which cannot be beat if done as Serotti’s mother, and sisters cooked it. Besides we spent a pleasant day
relating our past experiences together.

Monday morning, November third, after bidding both my relatives and friends goodbye we returned to
Forli.

We arrived at Forli by autobus et about 9:00 a.m. We spent the day preparing to leave Forli the next
morning, went to all of my friends and relatives for a final visit and had dinner at Tassinari’s house. That
day, November third, happened to be All Souls Day so with my aunt we went to the cemetery of Forli and
placed a wreath in the grave of my Grandfather (Bernardini) who died in 1915 and my Grandmother
(Bazzini) who died while I was at Lupinari.

We also walked around the cemetery to see the many beautiful tombs and monuments. The cemetery of
Forli is one of the prettiest in Italy and I had not seen an equal to it in America.

Early the next morning all of my relatives; uncles, aunts, and my grandfather (who is now dead) came to
the station to bid us goodbye.

Of all the places I had been in four years and five months in Italy, I can never forget the hospitality given
me by my relatives and friends of Forli.

Forli was my home during all of those years and even now though I was born in Florence, the art center of
the world, and spent my childhood only a few miles away from that famous city, I still claim that I am
from Forli when I am asked where I came from in Italy. The fact that it was the native home of both my
father and my mother I consider is ample reason to say that I, too, came from there.

Several of my friends also came to see us off. It was a very sad parting. The parting from friends and
relatives in all the different towns we went to made one feel unhappy even though we were on our
honeymoon.

It must be remembered that we were leaving with prospects of never returning.

We still had another parting scene coming when we were to leave my wife’s folks - - - father, sisters and
grandmother in Prato.

Leaving Forli by the usual route, we went to Florence where we did some shopping. Then on a late night
train we left Florence for Prato where we arrived at 1:00 a.m.

The next day, November fifth, from early in the morning until late at night we spent with my wife’s folks
at Prato. In the morning I forwarded our trunk to Naples. The last day with her folks was pleasant except
 240

for the thought of leaving them the next morning. We had dinner and supper together and we went to a
hotel that night.

Chapter 28 Finally Leaving for Naples and America

The following morning came the grief of my wife leaving her people. They were the first to leave. They
left at 10:00 a.m. for Luogomano with an autobus. We remained until evening in Prato and left at 5:00
p.m. for Florence. In the evening being, in the meantime, my wife went to say goodbye to many of her
friends in Prato.

We arrived in Florence just in time to miss the express for Rome. So, we had to wait for over six hours
for the next train.

That evening in Florence I took my wife to a theatre make her forget her leaving her people. It was after
1:00 a.m. when we left Florence for Rome. On that route I had been many times especially from Florence
to Bucine at night as I would have liked to get a last glimpse of the place where I had spent five happy
months.

At 9:00 a.m. we arrived in Rome. As my wife had never been there, I wanted very much for her to see it,
but she was already tired of traveling and she aid now that she was on her way to America she wanted to
get there as soon as possible. So all we did was to get a bite to eat and then at noon leave for Naples.
Here again I passed through my old familiar haunts of Ferentino and Frosinone where I was stationed
from February to May 1917. As we passed these towns in broad daylight, I was wishing I could be up
there for even one day to see all the friends I had made there.

At 8:00 p.m. we arrived at Naples all tired out. We found a hotel at 10 lire per night where we remained
one night.

The next day I went to the camp where all those leaving for America were quartered. I received a bad
shock. There men at that cantonment waiting to leave Naples for America who had been there over three
months and for different reasons never were able to leave.

This discouraged me very much I certainly could not wait that long for being sent home. 1 could not take
my wife to those dirty and ill-smelling cantonments even though there were a few men who had their
wives there with them.

With a heavy heart I entered the office with all of my documents such as passports, marriage license,
military discharge and others. The names of those leaving were posted on a bulletin board. Every day
new names would appear.

There were at least 800 who were making efforts to go to the United States at Naples at the time I was
there. I was told there was a steamer leaving Naples every ten days for New York. The next steamer
expected was the Pesaro.

I was so discouraged by the comments of the boys waiting who told me that under any circumstances I
could never expect to leave Naples for at least one month.

Naturally, I gave up my room at the hotel and went to board with an old Neapolitan woman recommended
by one of the waiters in the hotel. Our meals we had out and just for a room with a rickety old bed were
charged 9 lire per day or 100 lire for fifteen days. We paid in advance.
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The next day I went again to the office of the cantonment and received a pleasant surprise for I found my
wife’s and my name on the bulletin hoard as those listed to leave on the next steamer leaving Naples for
America. When some of the others asked me how it was that my name was placed on the list within
twenty-four hours all I could tell them that it was because all of my documents were in order. For that I
ought to have thanked the American Consul in Florence who told me just what documents were needed. I
was certainly glad that I was leaving for home with the next boat.

My next worry was how long it would be before our steamer came. We were told that the steamer
“America” would leave Naples before the steamer “Pesaro.”

We waited ten days at Naples for our steamer. During all of those days my wife and I traveled around the
town. Three days she was ill and we remained indoors.

On the second day we arrived at Naples we took a streetcar and went to a suburb of Naples called Guimo
Nevano where DeCristoferis whom I had been with at Breitensee in Austria lived. I went to see his
humble home.

His home was typical of the poor quarters of southern Italy. It was just one room consisting of bedroom
on one aide and kitchen on the other. There were also chickens and pigeons flying around, a goat and a
pig underneath the bed. There was no year nor much air with the exception of one small window and door
from the street.

We remained with him for half a day. Both he and his mother were very kind and generous with the little
they had to offer.

Our stay in Naples came during a time that happened to be more confusion and worse than there ever had
been before. Congressional elections were to be held throughout Italy on November sixteenth and all
different candidates were campaigning in all the squares, cafes and halls throughout the city.

Naples and southern Italy are normally conservative and monarchical; in this election the Socialist and
Communist candidates were very strong. There were many squabbles throughout the city so that it was
really dangerous to be out nights.

The second night in our rooms we heard shots in a coffee shop below us and then I went down to see what
bed happened, there was a mob, which had fought; two had been killed and two wounded. There was
commotion all through the town until after Election Day.

Except for three days that Josephine was ill, we took long strolls and saw the better quarters of the city.
Even though Naples had very nice stations on the whole, I did not like it anywhere near as much as any of
the other Italian cities.

One of the pretty sites was watching Mt. Vesuvius at night and seeing fire come out of its craters.

While in Naples, we would have had time to go to any number of the neighboring resorts which were
known all over the world such as Sacrento, Portici, Pompei, and others but we dared not leave for fear we
would miss our steamer for America. Every day we would report to the cantonment for information
regarding our departure.
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In the meantime, the expenses at Naples were rather stiff. Three meals a day at the restaurants besides
carfares and miscellaneous expenses put quite a dent in my pocket. I was afraid it would not last until I
got to Chicago.

Another good piece of luck I had was the following. When the soldiers were discharged a military decree
came out that ill men coming to Italy for military service from a foreign country were entitled to a return
trip to where they came from. This part of the decree I assumed before leaving the States. The decree also
stated that men who brought their wives with them, the wives were also entitled to free return trip. The
same held good for soldiers who came from a foreign country end married in Italy during the war and
while in service.

My case was entirely different. I married almost one year after the Armistice and one month after my
discharge so according to the decree my wife was not entitled to free passage to America.

At Luicciana before leaving for our honeymoon trip, the secretary made a certificate for my wife to travel
by train to Naples free of charge. Of course, I being sergeant and being entitled to second-class passage
no naturally her ticket was made likewise.

But even with this, I was pretty uncertain that when once we got to Naples I would be given the bad news
that my wife would have to pay for herself. That meant that I would have to get from someplace, about
$350.00. With all the expenses I had when I left Florence for Naples, I had less than $250.00 with me.
So when I was given notice when I was leaving on the next steamer, I was doubly glad when I was told
that I need not pay my wife’s fare that the government was taking care of my wife and I all of the way to
Chicago.

During the ten days we were at Naples we were always expecting the steamer “America” but it did not
come until Sunday, November sixteenth on Election Day.

That evening during all of the excitement we went to see it. In fact we went on it. Later we came back to
our room to get our belongings to leave in the morning.

I was sorry now that I had engaged our room for fifteen days while we got only nine days use of it. For
the amount we paid for fifteen days we could have been much more comfortable in a hotel nine days.

Chapter 29 The Steamship ”America”

Naturally all of those leaving with the steamer “America” were jubilant. While thousands who had
already waited months to sail and were not yet able to do so were downhearted.

Being sergeant I was entitled to a second class berth for my wife and I, but all second class places were
already full and I was told that if I wanted second class berth I would have to wait until a steamer came
from Genoa with vacancies which meant either the next steamer or one within the next six months. After
consulting my wife we decided it was better to leave now and sleep in third class bunks than to wait
indefinitely at Naples for a second-class berth.

We were, however, promised regular second-class meals and allowed to remain at all times in second-
class decks and lounging rooms. This meant that we only had to be in third class just for the few hours of
the night.
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We had our dinner at our usual restaurant and had our last meal in Italy. During the morning we finished
our last minute shopping among the articles we purchased were two nice large blankets, which we used
during our trip instead of those which the steamer furnished.

In the afternoon we had our trunk sent to the steamer and then left our room and the city of Naples and
rent to the docks. The steamer was already full it seemed. But over one thousand more were let on.

The confusion and the noise while waiting in line no one can imagine. Most of them, of course, were
tolerant and happy because after such a long wait they were at least leaving for America.

The sergeants and marshalls who were entitled to second-class berths were let in first. About fifty of us
found space all together in a corner of steerage banks where we were told were our sleeping quarters.

Among the fifty there were only three women, wives of sergeants of which my wife was one. For these
we found a place in the women’s section, the three of them together.

The sleeping quarters of the third class on the American steamer were filthy and badly ventilated and
were very much similar to the third class on the Santa Anna on which I went to Europe in July 1915. The
conditions there had already been explained. Except for the inconvenience in sleeping bunks especially
for the three women, the trip was not too bad.

As soon as we got on board we ‘were notified that there was to be table setting for the fifty of us in
second class dining room with the regular second class food, but in order to be entitled to it, we had to get
an order from an official on land before the steamer left. I was the last to know about it having been told
by another sergeant.

The steamer was about to leave, but I went down the gangplank and looked for the official to give me the
okay on second-class treatment. When I returned the sailors were just pulling in the gangplank having
just made it in time.

The steamer left Naples at 1:30 p.m. Hundreds of people were at the dock to see us off. Many of these
were friends and relatives of those leaving, shouting farewell and weeping as the steamer slowly started
from the dock.

My wife was glad we were leaving as the days we had remained in Naples were not by any means
pleasant.

I, too, as the ship started to move looked at Naples and Mt. Vesuvius and to the four years, three months
and fourteen days that I had spent in Italy since arriving at Naples on August 3, 1913. In a way I was
sorry to leave the country which I had learned to like more then ever before, but I was also glad to be able
to return home. Thousands whom had left America as I did in 1915 had not been as fortunate as I and
were now lying in their graves at the Isonzo, the Piave, Trentino or in any number of the graves in
Austrian prison camps.

As we left there was large new moon. The sky was clear and we saw Vesuvius spit fire from its crater.

The parting from Naples was much different than when we left New York on July 22, 1915. This time all
were leaving their native land to seek a betterment in their adopted country. While before they were
leaving their adopted country to go home, so naturally all the festivities and celebrations we had when we
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left New York were lacking as we pulled out of Naples. Hundreds of passengers especially the women
were crying and would have gladly turned back if they could have done so.

As soon as we were out of sight of Naples the dinner bell rang and we went to get our first meal which
was very good.

Our gang, the fifty sergeants, made enough noise and raised more mirth than all the rest of the passengers
combined. We were all like college “kids.”

In the dining mess there was nine long tables, which had about twenty-five places, and also four smaller
tables for eight people at each. My wife and I ate at one of the small tables. We had at our table two other
sergeants with their wives and a single man. Ours was called the ladies table as the three ladies of our
gang sat at that table.

The sergeants having been used to giving orders kept the waiters on their toes all of the time. Mealtime
was the time which we enjoyed most.

The “America” was an old steamer of about 10,000 ton capacity and belonged to the Navigazione
Generale Italiana. It did not differ much from the Santa Anna of the Fabre Line.

On board there were approximately 1500 steerage passengers 120 second class and about 100 first class.
In the 120 of the second class, I included the fifty sergeants.

Most of the first and second-class passengers went on board at Genoa the day before the steamer arrived
at Naples. The first class passengers, of course, we had nothing to do with. They had their own rooms and
deck.

The second class passengers with whom we stayed except when we went to sleep were on the whole very
nice people. There were more women than men. Only a few of them were so stuck up as not to mingle
with us soldiers.

The steerage, or third class, were unfortunate and certainly had no accommodations and hardly enough
standing room in their decks which was the lowest and had the least ventilation. Nevertheless, they would
improvise many mandolin, harmonica and guitar orchestras and dance on the congested deck.

We on second class, had a small ballroom where most every night some of the ladies would play and
others dance and in this way we passed away our evenings.

The morning after leaving Naples we were off the coast of the Island of Sardinia. The beautiful scenery
we passed has already been explained on my way over to Italy. The third day we coasted Spain and
during the night we passed Gibraltar. Our steamer did not stop - - - not even for mail.

On the morning of the fourth day we saw the last of Europe, the Cape of Portugal. That day and the
following day, the sea was a bit rough but from the sixth day all through to the thirteenth day we had very
good weather and a calm sea.

After the fifth day our steamer went southwest to stay away from the storm areas. After leaving Europe
we sailed at the same latitude as Florida. It was only the last day as the steamer headed north towards
New York along the American Atlantic coast did we have our worst day at sea.
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On that day more than half of the passengers did not come to the dinner table, my wife was the only
woman at the table. It was really bad, the wind and rain made a furious storm.

At midocean I sent a telegram to my wife’s people informing them everything was fine.

Being the last full day at sea, that night, November thirtieth (our thirteenth since leaving Naples), we
celebrated our last supper. We had special food and the few who could stand the storm certainly enjoyed
themselves.

Chapter 30 The Shores of Sandy Hook and the Statue of Liberty

Early the next morning I was up to see the first sight of land. I kept a sharp lookout but it was not until
10:30 a.m. that we saw the shores of Sandy Hook.

At about 1:30 we passed the Statue of Liberty. About one hour before reaching the Statue of Liberty, a
motorboat came along side of us. It had the Pilot and newspaper correspondents.

One of the latter asked me if there happened to be a Count on board who was expected to arrive in
American on that ship. I told him I did not know of any. He was surprised at my English as I still had my
Italian Army uniform on. He then asked about some particulars about myself and said if I wanted my
picture in the paper in Chicago. I told him I did not mind and found two others who were also coming to
Chicago and he took a picture of us on board. He was an international news correspondent and
photographer. He said it would be in the Chicago Herald Examiner before we got to Chicago. However,
it as in the Chicago Evening Post on the day we arrived in Chicago.

As there had been a contagious disease on board, the doctor ordered our ship in quarantine, but luckily we
had only to remain there a few hours instead of weeks, as is usually the case. We were then ordered to
proceed to our docks.

It was after dark when we got there. It was too late for out-of-town passengers to leave the ship. So only
American citizens, residents of New York or vicinity were let out that night.

That night we slept for the first time in a second-class cabin having been vacated by those who had been
permitted out.

Early the next morning, December second, we got up, our papers all ready, and walked down the
gangplank into New York City.

As we left the steamer, we felt sorry for the steerage passengers who had to be sent to Ellis Island. They
looked at us rather enviously as we walked down the gangplank. Only the regular third class passengers
were sent to Ellis Island. All of the Italian soldiers, who were returning to America, like myself, were let
out as if we were American citizens.

It seemed strange to be again where one could speak and hear only the English language. It seemed that
New York had not changed much since I had left it in 1915. We had very little difficulty at customs and
did not have duty to pay. After leaving the customs office we had our trunk sent to the New York Central
Station and shipped to Chicago. After much fussing, we were let out of the Pier and walked for a long
while until we were tired through the streets of New York. Then we took a streetcar to the New York
Central Station, as we carried no 1uggage with us our valises were shipped to the station with our trunk.
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All during the afternoon we went sightseeing alone in New York. Then we went to a restaurant for
supper. We also bought food to eat on the train on the way to Chicago. Being in New York was the same
as being in Chicago for my wife, as she could not understand one word of what was being spoken. In
face she was more marveled about the way the English language was spoken than of the tall skyscrapers
we saw.

At 5:00 p.m. after sending a telegram home telling them at what station and time the train was due in
Chicago, we got a train and left New York City for Buffalo.

We got to Buffalo very late at night and here I was told that my ticket called for passage on the Michigan
Central Railroad instead of the New York Central. But as the train of Michigan Central stops at the
Illinois Central Station in Chicago I had sent a telegram that I would arrive at LaSalle Street Station, I
naturally felt sorry to have to switch trains. After much pleading with Buffalo officials, I was allowed to
proceed on the New York Central all of the way to Chicago.

Chapter 31 Home At Last

The trip was not the most pleasant one, staying over twenty-eight hours in day coaches is not pleasant.
We passed cities of Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, etc. It was very cold out and in some sections much snow.
The panorama we passed there was very much inferior of any in Italy or even Canada. At Cleveland we
stopped and had dinner at the station. After a long tedious journey we could at about 10:00 p.m. see the
lights of Chicago. We passed Englewood, our last stop, and a few minutes later were at the LaSalle Street
station. We got off and at the depot were my father, my sister Marie and brother Mario.

It was some consolation to see them again. Mario and I then went to the Illinois Central Station where
our baggage had come with the Michigan Central Railroad while my father, sister and wife remained at
the LaSalle Street Station.

After having my trunk shipped home we returned to LaSalle Street Station and then went home in a cab.
Through some misunderstanding of the telegram the whole family had been at the depot the night before
waiting for us. They did not realize that I had sent the telegram from New York and that it took over
twenty-eight hours to get to Chicago. At home at last we were reunited. My brothers and sisters had
grown so that I hardly knew them. My youngest sister, Dina, who was just one year old who was now
over five years of age was the age of Lina when I left home. Her death while I was in the Army was now
more apparent for after such a long absence the reunion of all of us would have been much more pleasant
if she had been there to welcome me. My arrival at home around midnight of December third made it just
four years, four months and fourteen days since I had left home in Milwaukee to join the Army. The next
morning I discarded my military uniform for all time.

CONCLUSION:

Bernard, having married in Italy, returned to Chicago. With very trying experiences, he established
himself well in his community, and his wife Josephine gave him two sons, Water and ten years later
Bernard, Jr. His earnest, lovable and helpful nature made him many friends. He helped found the Paul
Revere American Legion Post and had several social positions in Italo-American organizations.

He suffered stomach disorders from time to time and was crippled in an automobile accident, which left
him with a decided limp.
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Unfortunately, his ailments reached a climax in the summer of 1931 when he developed a liver condition
which was found to be cancerous. He never knew exactly his affliction. Everyone tried to help him.

Finally in desperation, his father and wife’s sister offered financial help and sent him to the Mayo Clinic
at Rochester, Minn.

Nothing could be done for the growth had struck a vital spot, so we returned to Chicago. He was placed
in Mother Cabrini Memorial Hospital where he died on August 11, 1931, at the age of 37.

He was mourned by many, including such organizations as the American Legion, the Italian Government,
the Marconi Society and political friends who were represented at the funeral. We was buried with
military honors at Mount Carmel in Hillside, Illinois.

Having conserved, compiled and printed this interesting manuscript which was written by my dear
brother Bernard and just adding a brief introduction and conclusion, I feel that this would be a sort of
biography to remember him by.

His youngest brother, RALPH A. BERNARDINI