ITALY'S FIGHTING SPIRIT
"VICTORY OR DEATH." Rome interesting extracts from the letters of Italian soldiers to their relatives in New- Zealand, showing the spirit with •which the Italian' army is fighting, were read by Mr Paeni (Italian Consul at Auckland) during the interval at a concert in the Auckland Town Hall in aid of the Italian Red Cross. "We have fighting for five days continuously on Monte Santo, conquering positions and making many prisoners," wrote one soldier to his father., "We have climbed the tops of mountains B,oooft to 10,000 ft high, which only the nestling eagle has reached before us. And we have been doing some target-shooting, very calmly and quietly, the targets being, as you know, the faces of our enemies. Wo are asked to take strongly-fortiflcd trenches, made of cement; but lam under the impression that if thev had been made of steel they could not have resisted the impetus of our men. When we see the cap of the Austrians rise up before us the blood boils in our veins. What with our brother the rifle and our sister the bayonet, we feel ourselves irresistible. We only remember that if we do not win this war Italy and her Allies will die for ever. But wo will won, don't fret!" " I have been in the Libyan -war, but this is another world," wrote another soldier. "Hero wo feel ourselves; here it is a question of liberating our brothers, and go on fighting to preserve those principles of liberty and justice Which oar forefathers fought so much, to secure for Its '»
Another Italian soldier, a volunteer, wrote: " Here I am, dear mother, as a volunteer, fighting at k6fc against the hateful, the barbarous, enemy who years ago took our dear dad away from us. I must revenge him. Wo must take Trieste. No fear is shown or felt of Lady Death. Wo all want to be heroes, if. possible. Wo all have our blow to give, and if our dreams could come true our cannons -would bore through the mountains. If I. die, remember me. If I live, I will tell you some
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Evening Star, Issue 16550, 9 October 1917, Page 6
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356ITALY'S FIGHTING SPIRIT Evening Star, Issue 16550, 9 October 1917, Page 6
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