One Son's Father - Retrospective of My Father's Service in World War 1 - PART 1

This is a personal history of my father's time spent in World War 1. My father was an Italian who served in the Brigata Macerata from 1915 until 1919. He was in the 121st Infantry Regiment (Reggimento di Fanteria). He fought in the Isonzo (1915-1916), the White War (1916-1918), the Piave (1918) and in the ultimate Battle of Vittorio Veneto (1918) against the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Americans (and indeed the British, French, and others) probably do not know this war in Italy so much. Well, here is a little history lesson (in several parts) to remedy that ignorance. The story begins in Teramo Province in Abruzzo. The story starts out slowly with typical rural Italian life

Clouds of War

The Old Life

On June 28, 1914, the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince, Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was to affect the lives of millions of young men throughout the world. One of those young men was my father. He was a 19 year old son of a contadino (farmer who either owned some land or worked for others not owning the land, like a sharecropper). His mother had died in approximately 1900, leaving my grandfather to fend for three young children – my uncle age 7, my father age 5, and my aunt, age 2. 

By 1909 my grandfather had remarried and had two additional sons born in 1909 and in 1913. Later two other children would be born – a daughter in 1916 and a final son in 1919 - to complete the family.

My father would have likely been working with his father helping him farm and take care of this family. The story passed down is that my grandfather was a type of sharecropper, a system known as the mezzadria. Large landowners (padroni) would divide their land into sections and allow other families to live on it and grow crops. Half (or some other percentage) of the produce (or the revenue from the sales of such) would go to the landowner. My family by the accounts of my aunt did well enough. A typical farmer in Abruzzo would have produced all the food needed to feed his family. Four or five people could survive on the produce of one ettaro (hectare - about two and a half acres) of land. The family took care of everything, like a small family-run farm. Generally, everyone knew how to do everything, but everyone had their specific tasks. Their plot would have grown a large variety of vegetables the same as are seen in farmers’ markets today, including carrots, potatoes, beets, garlic, onions, radishes, turnips, artichokes, tomatoes, eggplant, asparagus, fennel, chard, spinach, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, peppers, beans, lentils, chickpeas, zucchini and other types of squash, and peppers. Years later in America my father would grow many of the same vegetables in his backyard plot. Whereas our “American” neighbors would have a yard of flowers and grass, our backyard was filled with vegetables (every square foot).  In addition to the vegetables, wheat and corn was probably grown.  Then they would have had fruit trees: apples, pears, apricots, peaches, figs. Every family had its own livestock - chickens, pigs, rabbits, sheep and cows (for both milk and meat). Extra eggs, vegetables and fruit would have been sold at the markets in old Atri or in new and growing Pineto. 

Sharecropping spread from the late Middle Ages in various parts of Europe, as a productive relationship framed by the feudal system. In Lombard feudal society it was the "manente": an agricultural worker who resided on land that he did not own, which he cultivated and whose profits he shared with the owner. [See Treccani.it - ​​Online encyclopedias , Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 15 March 2011.] Since then, November 11 was the expiration date of all agricultural contracts, including mezzadria contracts, when all the activities related to the previous ended & to which a new year would begin. "Fare San Martino" literally meant moving, if the sharecropping contract was not renewed; vice versa, if it was. This became a feast day; people began to sample the new wine, oil & chestnuts etc.

Every farming family also had its vines to grow Montepulciano or Trebbiano grapes for making wine and olive trees to produce oil. Wheat, corn and olives were brought to local water mills for grinding. Chestnuts were also used to make flour, especially important for farms that were not suitable for growing grain. Much of the grain had to be dried and stored on the upper floor of the houses and barns to keep the animals fed during the winter months.

Life Changing Events

It would seem that the family would, in rural Abruzzo, have had little reason to much notice world events ongoing in 1914, with one exception.  The older brother was already serving in the Italian Army.

 

On July 28, a month after the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.  This set in motion a series of war declarations driven by alliances between major European countries:

•  Austria-Hungary had sought German (its ally) support for a war against Serbia in case of Russian “militarism”. Russia had close relations - almost as a protector - but no formal treaty with Serbia (both countries tied together by their large Slavic populations. Germany gave assurances of support. (July 5) This was weeks before the Austrian declaration of war;
•  Germany declared war against Russia (August 1);
•  Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance (with Austria and Germany) declares neutrality (August 3), claimed that its pact only applies to defensive actions. Italy’s actions seemed (to its citizens) that war would be avoided by Italy; 
•  France mobilized (August 1) in response to the declaration of war on Russia.  France had a military alliance with Russia:
•  Germany declared war on France. (August 3);
•  Germany invaded France through neutral Belgium. (August 4) In response the United Kingdom declared war on Germany (August 3) as a violation of the Treaty of London (1839) – guaranteeing Belgian neutrality;
•  Austria declared war on Russia. (August 6);
•  Serbia declared war on Germany. (August 6);
•  France declared war on Austria. (August 11);
•  the United Kingdom declared war on Austria. (August 12)

Despite war now raging in Belgium and France in the west of Europe and Russia in the east and Serbia in the southeast, everyday Italians seemed reasonably assured that war was not going to directly affect them. However, the Italian state was taking steps to defend against war. Luigi Cadorna, the Italian chief of staff, began to move troops to the Austrian border on August 21. It appears, however, that no formal mobilization order was issued. 

By September and October, an Italian interventionist (pro-war) movement was underway fueled by “Italia irredentia”. The elected government of Prime Minister Salandra (the majority of socialists and Giolittiani (followers of opposition party head Giolotti) were still neutralist, as well as a large share of Catholics) began to secretly probe which side would grant the best reward for Italy's entrance in the war and to fulfill Italy’s “Irredentia” claims. The government does not do anything but let the pro-war movement happen and take note of the situation. “Italia Irredentia” was keen to annex Italian-speaking portions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire such as Trentino (the South Tyrol), Trieste and Dalmatia (Istria), on the east coast of the Adriatic.

Diagram from the London Telegraph May 25, 1915 showing the areas of Trentino and Trieste Istria significant to Italy’s entry into the war. Most knew about Italy's general intentions despite the specific negotiations being secret.

Farmers and rural citizens such as my family could probably not have cared less about this, but eventually the interventionists succeeded and secret government negotiations ensued with the western allies as well as the Triple Entente, in a version of let’s make a best (for Italy) deal after a new Foreign Minister (Sidney Sonnino) is named in November.

On December 14, 1914, my father registered for the Liste di Leva (Draft) and was given a physical and other tests.  He was put into the 1st category, conscripted soldier, class of 1895, Teramo military district and left on “unlimited leave” (i.e., not inducted at this time). 

Less than a month later, on January 13, 1915, my father was left in provisional “unlimited leave” pending the discharge of brother to the matriculation under the terms of art. 6, of the law December 15, 1907. He was to report for presentations to arms with his class eight days after his brother's discharge. 

The Liste di Leva contain the names of all those young residents in an Italian province who were twenty years old and in phusical condition to go to the military service.   Conscription of all males at the age of eighteen was instituted in Italy in 1862, shortly after Italy became a nation. Every Italian male was and still is required to report to the draft board for a physical exam. Within the recruitment plan of 1907, all able-bodied men were chargeable for call-up in 3 classes between the ages of nineteen and thirty-eight years. The first class spent 2 years on active duty, 6 in the reserve, 4 in the Mobile Militia, and 7 in the Territorial Militia. The 2nd class spent 6 months on active duty, 7 and 1 / 2 years in the reserve, and the same periods in the militia as class one. The 3rd class spent all 19 years in the Territorial Militia, however having received no training.

It is unknown when my Uncle was ultimately (if ever) discharged (or his class 1 or 2) – given the imminent war.  It is also unknown if either brother would have any idea that Italy would soon be at war.  Life went on for the average rural Italian - good and bad. For example, on this same day in January (13th), a violent earthquake shook the Abruzzi, Lazio and Campania, with the main center in Marsica, about 125 km away from where my family lived, Mutignano, which felt the tremors. Over 370 municipalities were damaged and 50 thousand people perished. 

On March 22, my father turned 20 and became eligible for military service under the 1907 law but for his brother’s on-going service.  By this time it is inevitable to the government that Italy will enter the war.  However, the average citizens do not know this.  The government conducted all negotiations in secret. In fact on March 28, an Italian royal decree prohibits the publication of military news until June 30.  Recognizing the seemingly inevitable, Austria established new fortifications around the capital, Vienna, and the forts near Trentino and the Isonzo (Italian border areas) were armed.

On April 26, at a secret meeting held in England, representatives of the Italian government agreed to enter the war in return for financial help and the granting of land currently under the control of Austria-Hungary. This Treaty of London resulted in Britain granting an immediate loan of £50 million and a promise to support Italian territorial demands after the war. The negotiations with the Allies have been long and secret. In political Italy there are only three people in the know: Prime Minister Salandra, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sonnino and King Vittorio Emanuele III. Even the Parliament is kept in the dark. Then on May 3, Italy officially revoked the Triple Alliance.

Interventionist demonstration at the Spanish Steps in Rome (May 1915)

Intervention demonstrations in Italy keep increasing in number, size and location - impressive interventionist demonstrations were everywhere. In Rome Giolitti deputies are insulted and beaten up; in other places, as in Milan, there are physical conflicts with the neutralists. On May 13, knowing that the consensus of the elected parties is lacking Salandra presents his office’s resignation of the government to the King, who reserves the right to decide, and which is ultimately rejected on May 16.  These acts appeared to put the government over the top for intervention. Five days later, the Italian Senate unanimously approved the bill granting full war powers to the Government. The news causes the closure of the border between Italy and Austria-Hungary (including rail and telegraph). In Italian speaking Trieste (then in Austria), military law was proclaimed.  This vote is followed by the Parliament, under pressure from the interventionist demonstrations, for approval, with 407 votes in favor, 74 against and 1 abstention, for the bill conferring to the Government the extraordinary war powers. 

The Customs House at Trivignano Udine on the border with Austria, near the Torre River.

On May 22, Italy instituted a general military mobilization to increase the size of the military - R.D. May 22, 1915 Circular of the G.M., under which the King has decreed the general mobilization of the army and navy and the requisition of equipment. The mobilization was set for the next day.  With this communiqué King Vittorio Emanuele III prepares the country for the conflict.  In the provinces of Sondrio, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, Belluno, Udine, Venice, Treviso, Padua, Mantua, Ferrara and in those of the Adriatic, a state of war is proclaimed.  On May 23 Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, although not on the Germany (which will occur until 15 months later, August 28, 1916).

La Stampa, Turin: Headline of May 23, 1915 announcing the General Mobilization (War Declaration Not Yet Announced Until Later that Same Day)

Now my father’s life is about to change.  On June 1 he is called for active duty into the Italian Army, under mobilization by the R.D. May 22, 1915 Circular of the G.M. and arrived in the 14th Infantry Regiment (Pinerolo Brigade). The 14th Regiment is normally stationed in Foggia (Puglia), while the 13th (its brother regiment) is stationed in L’Aquila (Abruzzo). The history of Pinerolo indicates that between May – December this unit was at the front yet my father’s record does not show this. In some regard there would have to have been some basic training going on. It would appear therefore that he underwent several months of infantry training (addestramento di fanteria) with the 14th Regiment (at L'Aquila or Foggia).  Six months later on December 2, Angelo arrived in the War Zone, territory “declared in a state of war assigned to the 121st Infantry Regiment (RF). This unit was located at the front line at the Castelnuovo del Carso Sector.

Part of my father's Italian Military Record, the Ruolo Matricolare which records all the developments in a military career, from promotions to changes in status.

Under Italian conscription, a fraction of those suitable actually served in the army, e.g. in 1911 under 25 per cent of those eligible (each year) for military service were in fact called up. Consequently the active army consisted of regular officers – always in lower numbers than needed – in addition to class 1 recruits. To make situations even worse, the recruits were expected to review in each November, annually. On the other hand real military service was postponed until the subsequent March. Because the difference wasn’t, in reality, filled up with by class 2 soldiers under training, there was simply no army in being throughout the winter season. Even in summer several units had below 10% of their nominal strength.

Difficulties were worsened by a severe lack of non-commissioned officers (NCOs), who were typically drawn from Italy’s tiny literate lower middle class. Moreover, the Italian Army was still affected by the “mopping up” of Italo-Turkish War in Libya in 1911-12. There was a lack of equipment to replace that lost in this prior war.

In spite of this, the army did accomplish significant improvements during the prelude to World War One. By May 1915, General Cadorna, had mobilized 23,039 officers, 852,217 other ranks and 9,163 civilians. Italy joined the war with twelve army corps (constituting four armies) inside Italy, each with 2 active infantry divisions. The First and Fourth Armies were sent to the Trentino Front and the Second and Third Armies to the Isonzo Front.

New Life

Many of the five million Italians who served in the First World War received their basic training before the war, during their compulsory military service. The inadequacy of infantry training in this period had already been highlighted by the war against the Turks for Libya in 1911-12. Italian conscripts trained in simplistic and rigid tactics found themselves facing small, mobile bands of motivated Turkish and Arab forces, which repeatedly inflicted tactical defeats on the Italians. The Italians were pressured into using cautious, hesitant tactics which were ill-suited to their ambitious strategic goals, and their ultimate victory was more due to the weakness of the Ottoman Empire than to Italian military prowess.  Even reform-minded critics such as Captain E. Bottini saw the Libyan war as “comforting proof of the success of our patiently developed educational work”.

In regards to the new troops who would eventually begin to comprise the bulk of the Italian Army as time passed, army authorities relied on a relatively decentralized system. The design and implementation of most training exercises was handled at brigade level or below. In 1915 officers responsible for training were given manuals of doctrine but little advice on how the desired outcomes were to be achieved or what were the best methods for informing and preparing the troops. Not until early 1917 were more specific instructions on how to train regularly issued from Supreme Command or Army.

  

Basic training was already somewhat flawed before 1915, but wartime bought new pressures: time, money, experienced instructors and equipment were all in short supply. Insufficient time was especially critical, since training, like rest and recreation, was rarely a priority for the army authorities in 1915-6. The need to get new men into the lines quickly often overrode other considerations.  Lt-Col. Francesco Rossi, of the 224° regiment (Etna Brigade), reported in June 1916 that:

“The unit is composed almost entirely of the class of 1896 whose hasty instruction (little more than three months) has not been sufficient to ensure an adequate preparation for the campaign, either with regard to technical training or with respect to physical endurance.”

Rossi concluded that after a necessary period of rest, to help overcome minor health problems and fitness-related injuries, his men required a week of intensive tactical training before returning to any kind of active service. Training was not just brief but it was often ineffective in tactical terms, rarely corresponding to the realities of trench warfare. Conscripted into an infantry regiment in August 1914, Gino Frontali described his experiences of basic training:

“We received our first lesson in ‘open order’ and ‘tactics.’ Our lieutenant explained in minute detail the essential rules: be silent, obey signals, always look at the officer in charge, adapt movements to the ground, use shelter in order to offer the smallest possible target, never drop vigilance and observation in order to guard against any surprise.”

This description suggests that trainers acknowledged the need for greater tactical sophistication than close-order drill alone would permit but emphasizing the need to follow the officer closely in all things left infantrymen lost and unable to proceed without leadership – if officers fell during combat, their men had no experience in taking the initiative themselves.

The acute shortage of experienced officers and NCOs who could conduct effective training was another cause of these problems. Alpini Lieutenant Garrone recorded that he was “daunted” by the scale of his task in training his men, and complained that he had been given insufficient guidance and support. Since officer training was itself weak on practical matters, tactical instruction and personnel-management, junior officers' task was an unenviable one.

Along with time and experienced instructors, the Italian army was critically short of equipment. Weapons handling and target practice, among the most fundamental elements of infantry training, were deeply flawed.  Any form of firing practice was difficult given the acute shortages of equipment. In August 1914 the Italian army had at its disposal 750,000 rifles of the 1891 model, supposed to be the standard, and no hand grenades at all. Training was therefore sometimes carried out with just one or two rifles per company, each man taking turns with the weapon. Gino Frontali described the situation in late 1914:

“Target practice suffered from a most serious defect. It was done in a great hurry… we fired two rounds (twelve shots each) every week. This exercise was sufficient to familiarize us with the use of the rifle, but not to establish any precision of aim. One saw progress only rarely. Those who [already] shot well, who had a passion for hunting, improved a little after the first lessons. The others, the majority, hit the target only rarely, and no-one seemed concerned about it.”

There are other rememberances of the training camp at Porretta near Modena and almost none of them is positive: "For two months in Modena and for one under the tent in Porretta I learned a few military things and certainly nothing of war" recalls for example Alberto Ghisalberti of the 42nd Infantry, and concludes: "At least we learned to pitch a tent!" Certainly the training that was provided by official cadres left most unprepared at the beginning of the war as training differed greatly from the reality of the front.

A panorama of a portion of the training camp (campo di addestramento) at Porretta (Modena)

The shortage of weapons with which to train also affected machine-gun units and the artillery, some of whom were forced to practice maneuvering their weapons with wooden models. Frontali reported an infantry major's comments in May 1915: “We have no machine guns, they are running courses for machine gunners using wooden guns, and none of the gunners have ever fired a shot using a real weapon.”

In May 1915, when its neutrality ended, Italy’s entire stock of machine guns was 618 (including those in use in Libya and not all in working order) compared with 1,500 for Austria-Hungary, 2,000 for France, and 3,000 for Germany when these countries had started to fight some 10 months previously.

The Italian Front Overview

When war came to Italy in May 1915, it opened up a third front for Austria-Hungary – the major front in Russia, the Serbian Front and now in Italy. The Italian Front covered about 600 km from the Swiss border to the Adriatic Sea – covering two areas, the Trentino (and Tyrol) in the west and the Carnia-Karst (Carso) in the east (the Isonzo).  The Austrian Command was unable to face its former ally with more than just a defense force - barely managing to garrison the new front. The Austro-Hungarian Command shortened the front, moving back the defensive lines along a system of trenches, caves and fortified shelters arranged in the previous months. 

The Austro-Hungarian Army was composed of three parts: the joint army ("Imperial and Royal Army" - kaiserlich und königliche Armee or k.u.k.), recruited from all parts of the country), the Imperial Austrian Landwehr and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd. In July 1914 the force included - 36,000 Officers, 414,000 NCOs and troops, 120,000 horses (estimate) and 1,200 artillery pieces.  After war was declared, the force had 3.35 million men (including the first call-up of the reserves and the 1914 recruits).

The Imperial Army had about 115,000 troops in the Isonzo/Carnia Front.  However, the size of that Army kept increasing as the Imperial Army was able to move troops from both the Serbian Front and the Russian front as these areas had turned into an Austrian and Austrian/German advantage with losses by both the Serbs and Russians in late 1914 and early 1915.  The Imperial Army moved its front lines in Italy to easily defensible positions on high ground essentially abandoning the lower valleys and plains (what little there were) of the political borders. There were few fortifications along the Isonzo front before 1914, so a defensive line based on field fortifications, wire and minefields, was hastily 

The Italian Army advances in May 1915 into areas abandoned by the Austrians for defensive positions in the higher mountains (blue) and the Austrian mountain defenses (red)

constructed, in particular around the plateaus of the Bainsizza (at Gorizia) and the Carso.  The Austrians hastily built powerful defenses in the area, using terrain to its advantage and literally blasting strong dugouts, trenches and gun-pits from the rocks. The Imperial Army essentially gave up a small amount of low-lying territory in return for a huge tactical advantage. To defeat the Austrians and drive them from these formidable positions the Italians would need considerable firepower (especially heavy artillery), competent leadership and NCOs, and effective tactics suited to such warfare. Italy had none of these.

The troops deployed in defense of the Tyrol amounted to about 35,000 men; the Tyrolean Standschützen companies were also mobilized.  In support of its ally, the German army also sent some departments, although when Italy entered the War, they did NOT declare war against Germany.  Similarly, the Austrians had built formidable defenses in these mountains as well.  In September 1914, the Austro-Hungarian General Staff commissioned General Franz Rohr to build the Tiroler Widerstands linie (Tyrolean resistance line [linea di resistenza Tirolese]), an uninterrupted entrenched line from Tonale to the Marmolada to be used in the event of a conflict with the Kingdom of Italy. About 20,000 civil workers were employed. Around Trento a new massive fortification was also set up.

The Italians on the other hand were interested in an offensive war in support of Italia irredentia. Cadorna had planned for the Italian army to take up a defensive stance in the Trentino, launching its 

 offensive across the river Isonzo, which snaked down to the Adriatic sea in the east, on two main directions: from the Cadore and from the Carnia.  The main attack fell to the left wing (2nd Army), its goals being Ljubljana and later Vienna, with Trieste as a secondary objective to be reached by the right wing (3rd Army).

Young Soldier - 1915

Arrival at the Front

On December 2, 1915, my father arrived in territory “declared in a state of war”, i.e. the war zone, to the 121st Infantry Regiment (RF). The unit was located at the front line at the Castelnuovo del Carso Sector.

One cannot imagine arriving at an area where people are waiting to kill you in battle. The young farm-boy who until some months ago had probably not ventured very far from his home in Abruzzo now ventured into Venezia and Fruili.  The following is an excerpt from a diary by someone probably much like my father who arrived in this same time frame in November 1915.  Domenico Bodon, a private with the Chieti Brigade (124th Infantry Regiment), who arrived behind the front lines at Ruda/Villa Vicentina on November 7, 1915 wrote:

We are very close to the front, all around houses are destroyed.

In a town where the train is forced to stop, there is a huge camp and in the middle, the Italian flag. 11 am.  The village is called Villa Vicentina, the last station as the train can no longer continue, because the enemy lays further on; I'm still on the train and without food since last night. We disembarked and the appeal is made to stay close to it. Nice weather. The cannon thunders continuously. It starts at 11 and a quarter. At one and a half we are facing the enemy on the spot where the shrapnel landed this morning. You can see the holes made without misfortune. Still wanting to eat and I find myself in a field full of mud. After 2 hours of waiting we were ordered to wait.

Oh God! In that mud, where, now traversed by other soldiers, you sank to the whole shoe. Patience! We planted the tent and meanwhile those of us 5, destined for this work, were free, went in search of straw, something to put down our poor bones. In the end everyone got sweaty and then he went to get the bedding getting 4 kilos for each one.

5 o'clock in the evening. We are at the end. Meanwhile, we talk with several companions who tell us the name of the locality is Ruda. The night comes and at 7 pm the ration came: a little pasta and a nice piece of meat, almost raw; but hunger is so great that we had to swallow it to pieces. The thirst began; and where in the night to find the water? A companion showed us the point and then we started splashing in the puddles. We reached the fountain and drank to fullness. And then a mess tin brought it to me under the curtain.

So here we are at night high, prepare the bed, we will say, without lighting matches, all groping. In the meantime, one was preparing, the other waiting, until the last one arrived to close. I was the last one.

In that time I was waiting, a show of the most gruesome presents itself to me. On the Isonzo front, there are always great reflections, but many, that run with their trajectory of long pieces, so that our, under that strong clear, could see the enemy pieces; and then the cannon that was ready fired with a tumult that in the middle of the night was disgusting. Know among other things that we are stationed near a cemetery. At the same time you can also see the shrapnel split in the air and then maybe do damage that I cannot explain now. In short, I was so impressed that I immediately went to bed with the idea that perhaps among those 4 sheets to stay safe.

It is unlikely that my father was thrown immediately into the front. On 14 December, the 121st RF is relieved at the front and goes back to the rear at Campolongo and Armelino, near Ruda. The Regiment remains there until January 2, 1916. So there was no combat in 1915 for my father.

While the Regiment is in the rear, one of the primary roles is to continue to train itself and its new members of the group such as my father. These young men are not yet soldati (soldiers) and know very little of what they are facing.  The 121st Regiment was part of the Macerata Brigade. The Brigade was established on March 1, 1915. The Brigade command and its brother 122nd Regiment were taken from the 12th Infantry Regiment; the 121st Regiment from the 93rd Regiment.

It is not known to which Battalion my father was assigned, either infantryman or special weapons or in a pioneer unit as a “genio” / “zappatori” or engineer/sapper. The Army’s basic unit was the “Regiment”. Each Regiment at full strength consisted of three “Battalions” (of 1000 men each, further divided into four “Companies” of 250 men.  Each Battalion had three rifle companies and one special weapons company generally with a machine gun squadron, a mortar squadron and a pioneer platoon, tasked with construction duties.

“Macellata” - Brief History of the Macerata Brigade in 1915 

The Macerata Brigade by the time my father reported had become known as the “Macellata” Brigade which means butchered/slaughtered – a play on the official name of the Brigade. This nickname is typical "gallows" humor of soldiers and the reason for this nickname becomes evident when the history of the Regiment in battle is uncovered.

The brigade fought in both the Second (August) and the Fourth (November) Battles of the Ionzo. These battles included brutal trench warfare at Redipuglia and the trenches Rocciosa, dei Morte and Razzi. These actions were recognized by the Italian high command and resulted in the award to the Brigade of the Medaglia d'argento al valor militare (which became part of the Brigade’s emblem).  The Brigade returns to the rear on December 14 to Campolongo and Armelino for the remainder of the month.  Total losses (deaths) for 1915 were 92 officers and 2,796 men constituting a loss of nearly half the Brigade and giving the Brigade the unfortunate “Macellata” nickname.

Medaglia d'argento al valor militare, Citation reads: With tremendous energy and tenacity they conquered and firmly maintained important positions on the Karst, … to the east of Polazzo and Castello Nuovo, …  July-November 1915 …