THE MOUNTAIN PASSES IN ITALY

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 2, 31 January 1944, Page 31

THE MOUNTAIN PASSES IN ITALY

The lofty alpine passes over the roof of Europe with their snows and

tunnels, are the Germans’ only means of heavy communication through the Alpine Wall which stands at their backs in Italy.

Some are the bastions of Switzerland and its superb, democratic neutrality. Through these, only economic supplies pass from Germany to Italy as befits a strict and legal neutrality. Over others lie the historic routes of conquerors in their invasions of Italy. Through these same passes the invader, no longer a conqueror, inevitably returns. All the principal rail-lines between Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Yugoslavia are double tracked. Only a few lines of secondary importance, like the Centovalli, and the Bernina lines between Italy and Switzerland, are single. There are six well-known railway-lines—-the Riviera, the Mont Cenis between Italy and France, the Simplon and the St. Gotthard between Italy and Switzerland, the Brenner and the Sudbahn between Italy and Austria and Yugoslavia.

In addition to these are the lesserknown lines which still are able to take a good deal of traffic, and have a very real military importance in the strategy

of the days ahead. These are the Breil (or Colle di Tenda) line between Turin and Nice, the San Candido (Innichen), the Tarvisio (Tarvis), and the Karawanken line, all between Italy and Austria, with the last two going also to Yugoslavia. Finally, a line from Fiume to Yugoslavia.

There is also some confusion about the roads crossing the Alps. Some of them lead as high as 8,000 ft., and many think they are inaccessible in wintertime, but they are kept open the whole year round, including the most important of all, now, the Brenner Road (4,200 ft.). Some of these roads follow the main railway-lines. Others, which in normal times are kept open the whole year round are— Pass Du Mont Genevre (6,100 ft.), the Maddalena or Argentera Pass (6,600 ft.), both between France and Italy : the Maloia Pass (6,000 ft.), in Switzerland, but starting on the Italian side ; the Spluegen Pass (7,000 ft.) between Switzerland and Italy, usually open in winter-time for transit of sledsonly, but not difficult to keep completely open ; the Resia Pass (5,000 ft.), and the Finstermunz Pass, which follow each other a very short distance on the same road and provide a communication between the Austrian and the Italian.

Tyrol, also the Mont Croce or Plocken Pass (4,500 ft.), which serves as a link between Carintia on the Austrian side and the Veneto on the Italian side.

Finally, at the eastern slopes of the Alps, we have a few roads leading to lesser altitudes than the others, but providing communication between Yugoslavia and the parts Italy annexed after the last war. The most important are the roads between Tolmino (near the

famous Caporetto, where Italy suffered a defeat in 1917) and Ljubljana in Yugoslavia, and a few other roads leading from Trieste into Yugoslavia. All these roads are open the whole year round. Another little link is a small railway-line starting from Dobbiaco, which is the next station after San Candido and going down to Pieve di Cadore and finally to Belluno.