ITALIAN OFFICER'S LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 15908, 14 September 1915, Page 4

ITALIAN OFFICER'S LETTER.

Ours is a war of eagles (wrote Lieutenant Domenico Palazzoli to friends in England); a contest that rises to a sublime epic of grandeur. We are fighting at an altitude of 6.CCOft. The majestic Alps are our battlefield. From valley to valley : from one summit to another, in the air, in the sky, the war thunders forth, and, shaken by its fury, the verv mountains seem to utter sobs of pain. A Dante, a Shakespeare, alone could represent the tremendous scene in all its awful grandeur. . * And what can I say of our soldiers, of our Alpini? I should have to recount ai thousand deeds of valor. Their steadfastness, their tenacity, their spirit of sacrifice are unparelleled. We have been fighting since the outbreak, of hostilities without a day's, repose. We sleep but little; even our brief rest is broken hv Austrian guns, and fighting goes on bv night as well as by day. The Austrian's are hard fighters; they'are indefatigable; they employ their artillery well; thev occupy formidable positions. They had studied carefully every detail, and possess a perfected technical machine, which is the result of decades of scientific preparation. One thing and one thing alone has Austria achieved well—her organisation for a war with Italy. This has been the fixed idea; the dream of the dead Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and of the military and clerical parties' in- the 'Dual Monarchy. Amid all her defeats in Serbia, and in Galicia, Austria has never.relaxed, even in the minutest particular, kny part of her imposing preparations for a war with Italy—preparations made Jo fall upon us when we were her ally, and when we, faithful to the treaty of alliance, allowed our frontiers to remain unfortified. A few days ago I and my company of Alpini executed a toilsome ascent of ninehours amid towering rocks. We had taken nothing but a little coffee, and when we had reached the appointed place we attacked the Austrian* with the bavonet without even five minutes* rest, for the military situation did not allow it. The enemy held positions above us; they fired on. us from behind their entrenchments. But my soldiers, despite their fatigue, nung , themselves with irresistible ardor on the Austrians. uttering their inspiring war cry of "Savoia! Savoia!" They appeared as if transfigured; .the protecting deities of their native land had infused an invincible energy into their weary bodies; fasting, worn- out bv the long climb, they fought like lions'until evening fell _ They dislodged the Austrians from their hiding places, put them to night, and entrenched themselves in impregnable positions. We suffered most grievous losses. My heroic battalion wa3 decimated, and I cannot describe to you my grief at the loss of my soldiers, many of whom were fathers of larsre families, and all emigrants—men of lowiv "condition who had returned to fight for Italy. But wo shall avenge our dead, and thev will live eternally in the igrateful memory of our people and of every free man; for they fell for divine liberty. The enemy's insensibility is almost criminal. When we attempt by night to recover our and their wounded, who invoke help \yith groans that freeze the heart, the Austrians fire upon us with a savage glee, so that in order not to incur other looses we are forced to abandon the poor wretches to their fate. The Austrians leavo their dead miburied. Our officers have suffered severely; for, unlike the Austrians, who always take cover Italian officers share every peril with their men, and even our superior officers expose themselves, as the major of my regiment does, to the enemy's fire.