Ph2 - 23 Div Asiago & Rear Area: Mar-May 1918
*A VIEW LOOKING SOUTH ACROSS THE ASIAGO PLATEAU FEATURE - THE BRITISH LINE RUNNING APPROX EAST-WEST FROM PENNAR ALONG THE WOOD LINE JUST SOUTH OF AVE AND DUE WEST - HIGH FEATURES IN THIS SECTOR INCL MT KABERLABA(1221m) & MT TORLE(1200m)*
Latest Situation : As at 9th May 1918.
For new followers of Harry and 9th Yorks & Lancs Regiment in Italy, the background to the deployment from France of the British Italian Expeditionary Force (IEF) in Autumn 1917 and initial weeks in Italy can be found by clicking on the Phase 1 link below. In late March 1918, 23 Division was re-assigned from its ‘Phase 1’ deployment, in the Montello region West of Venice, to the Asiago plateau feature in the mountains and on to a new ‘Phase 2’.
Phase 2 - The Asiago Plateau
The Asiago plateau is described as a strategically important geographical 'step' down from the Alps to the Venetian Plain and N Italy. This was certainly not lost on Austro-Hungarian high command who viewed it as a viable route into N Italy and a pivot for success in being able to potentially 'turn the flank' of the Italian Army and seize key cities and railway assets. They had tried to do just this in 1916 but the Italian line held.
In March 1918, the Front Line was held by the Italians when the IEF was re-tasked and ordered to deploy to positions on the Asiago Plateau. The plateau is rather bowl-like in the middle and from the 'sump' at Asiago there are 2-3 large forested geographical spurs that run N-S between Asiago and Lusiana with several 1200-1300m+ high peaks. What appears to have been a honeycomb of small roadways and tracks provided access North up to the front line – providing routes up the valleys between these spurs and peaks and through the forest and woods via inter-connecting routes such as the Boscon Switch.
Unlike the Phase 1 'line' fixed neatly astride the River Piave to which the Italians had withdrawn after the Isonzu, the front line up at Asiago appears quite varied in terms of its path through forest areas and steep and undulating features. There is a slight air of 'chance' that the establishment of this sector of the front was resultant on where fighting forces had clashed earlier - not solely tactical ground considerations and choice. The divisional rear areas will have been very tight, space wise, particularly busy will have been the limited routes up the side of the plateau from the Sarcedo side. Imagine bringing up the artillery guns; ammunition trucks; horses; rations and other equipment and supplies....? These routes just 'may' have been organised on a designated 'up & down' one way basis to avoid log jams during the handover/ takeover of units.... e.g. one horse set and ammo cart suddenly subject to panic could have had serious consequences for those following below.
According to maps of the Front Lines now obtained, Asiago itself at this point was in enemy hands - the enemy front line running c.9.5 kms across the plateau from just South of Roana at Ambrosini and Canove (roughly West-East) skirting the southern tip of Asiago at Ave towards the back (NW side) of Mt Grappa. The British line ran from just North of Cavrari & Cesuna due East via Poslen and Pennar. The names of some localities mentioned in the 9th Y&L Battalion War Diary (e.g. Granezza) are not readily identifiable and were most probably very small local habitations. Granezza will have been a very busy military echelon (admin) hub just North of Lusiana and a huge tented encampment. Thankfully some excellent material has been kindly forwarded by a blog follower based at Asiago itself which has helped clarify dispositions better.
.......So let's go back to the arrrival of the boys in late March having marched to the town of Sarcedo just below the Asiago Plateau....... One of the best bits of recent news for them will have been their Company Sergeant Major announcing that they were moving from Sarcedo on the edge of the Venetian plain up to Granezza by wagon.... yes, craning necks, looking up almost vertically to the top of that ridge towering above them, ''a motorised military truck...no 'shank's pony' (i.e. on foot) this time''!! .... thank goodness for that, they will all have thought… morale will have sky-rocketed in a flash !!
But, before climbing up into the trucks and ascending the mountain via a myriad of precipitous, hairpin-bends and narrow lanes, let's just take stock of one or two aspects of life and what it has been like for Harry and the boys in their secret world at infantry platoon level on the ground!
1. A 'Fly On The Wall' view of life at platoon level.
First, imagine the scene in billets..... down time, off duty, will have been a jewel in the crown for the boys. Billets will have been many and varied and certainly not posh B&Bs! More likely to have been buildings belonging to public services; farm sheds co-opted by the Italian military for the purpose or tents. The boys themselves will all have had an acute and well honed sense of personal organisation and on being given the order to fall out with 'raw plates of meat' (their sore feet after a march) and move into their accommodation, every man jack will have moved quickly to eye up and secure the most comfy 'pitch' first! After their experiences in the mud and blood of Flanders, these lads have got survival in a confined space down to a fine art.
Also, during all the marches and re-locations thus far, they have had to carry ALL their worldly goods on their person! Weapons; magazines and ammunition scalings are heavy enough items, as are boots; steel pots (helmets); puttees (wrapped around the shins); 'webbing' belts with pouches and the serge khaki uniforms. But the pandora's box will have been each man's back pack and what he was able to pack, how he packed it and how heavy it was! Okay, if he had a mate in the CQMS's team he 'might' have managed to 'cadge' a favour and get something in one of the horse & cart details but the likelihood was that personal effects were safest on person.
So, the cigarettes; pack of cards; writing stuff; letters / photos from home; washing & shaving kit; weapon & boot cleaning kits; spare clothes; sleeping mat 'et al' all had a place and all unnecessary bits would have been ditched ages ago.
Don't be fooled into thinking that being 'fallen out' meant feet up time either..... the routine was intense and there will have been a myriad of fatigues and duty rosters including 'spud bashing' in the field cookhouse; washing up pots; area cleaning; sanitary cleaning details plus 24/7 overnight sentry duties in every location. When the lads could actually get their heads down...yes, they won't have needed any second invitation!
Every platoon is a mini community made up of a huge array of characters. There will have been the comics and jokers; the bossy 'barrack room lawyer'; the rather morose / quiet lad and the negative 'whinger', always cribbing about anything and everything but ready to spring into action with the rest when it was time for action. No doubt the platoon had its artist and cartoonist who will have quietly doodled and worked up b&w pencil works of art into a scrap book depicting his mates and bosses in funny situations! There will have been the Walter Mitty and story tellers no doubt sharing their dreams of a night out down town Venice with copious beers and a pretty Italian girl on the arm!
The platoon dynamics and natural disciplines in 9 Y&L will have worked itself through and early episodes of kit theft and lads being 'rubber-dicked' for an extra duty etc (a term meaning having one pulled over them by another soldier) will now be long gone.
The longer serving boys will be the platoon 'prefect' equivalent and new recruits.... affectionately known as 'red ar_es' (due to being wet behind the ears and inexperienced etc) will have caught on in quick time! All this said, the cement binding these lads together will have been the unit & sub-unit camaraderie and bonds built up during WWI. The longer serving men have seen good mates and horses blown to bits in front of their eyes in artillery barrages and / or taken out by sniper fire whilst on stretcher bearing duty......they are thankful their name wasn't on it..... so, yes, the complete focus is on a common enemy and they all know they have to pull together to overcome. In infantry battalions there is fierce loyalty to ones Platoon & Company and hence inter platoon / company / Battn events helps to bring the best out of the lads and weld them together.
2. Route Marches.
Situation..... imagine you are a staff officer in 23rd Division and you have just received orders to move...... up to the Front line. Where exactly? how far? routing? billets? quality of roads? availability / type of transport? .... you have c.20,000 men plus horses, forage; wagons; artillery pieces; ammunition; rations; medics; vets; postmen etc etc .... Question........what 'order of march' (which brigades / Bns do we need to get there first?......how are you going to organise it & coordinate it? What are your start point(s); timings; detailed order of march; feeding and en route security arrangements.... plus who will control & signpost the route?......
For 9 Y&L lads, route march days start before dawn. Packing up; tidying up (always leaving billets better than when taken over is a given); breakfast; parades / inspections; horses to be harnessed up etc.... moving off under the RSM & CSMs to the start point and ensuring all sub units cross the Start Line (SL) at the appointed time.... no one lost or delayed as 8 Y&L are following us immediately behind.....
''By the left, quick march'' bellows CSM Smith under the watchful eyes of the RSM; Adjutant; Brigade release officer and Divisional staff officers.... ''let', 'aight', let, aight, left'' !! ''get your dressing in the middle rank, 9 platoon'' !!......
On such route marches the disciplines and speeds will vary. Harry and mates will see it firstly as a matter of pride that they don't fall out with sore feet or fatigue in front of so many staring eyes..... Secondly, those feet will be hurting like nothing on earth but...... falling out is a macho business and a mega 'no no'....!!
On quiet rural sectors the NCOs will give the lads licence to chat quietly and whistle and sing some local ditties - e.g.
''My girls a Yorkshire girl, Yorkshire through and through, my girls a Yorkshire lass, eee by gum she's a champion, though she's a factory lass and wears no fancy clothes, my girls a Yorkshire girl she's my little Yorkshire rose''......
When coming into villages and towns... well, picture the scene..... towns folk out watching avidly and cheering as the lads approach. Here the crisp sound of boots on cobbles and the discipline and natural 'swagger' of the lads has picked up - heads held high with hawk-like eager eyes of the lads vying for sight of pretty, shy and giggly, Italian girls who are there in support with families everyone displaying tremendous support and hailing their 'Inglisi' heroes!!
It's only 'when' those boots come off on foot inspection later that the pain from burning sores and blisters locks in. ''Lamin, Brown, Sedgwick, report to the duty medical orderly immediately for feet treatment''..... ''yes, sergeant'', all answer in unison.... !!
But 23 Division on the move on foot.....yes, just like a long army of ants stretched out across the Venetian Plain.... ! (Bear in mind also that the allied forces in Italy comprised some x55+ divisions too!).
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Now back to Sarcedo and the ascent up to the plateau and operations for Harry and the boys......
As covered in the battalion war diary, April 1918 was spent undertaking a programme of brigade tasks. These included periods manning the very front line trench positions facing the enemy including mounting Standing Patrols and Night Fighting Patrols in No Man's land. 9 Y&L will also have occupied reserve positions supporting the front line trenches as well being re-located back in the divisional rear admin area (echelon). Here they will have undergone unit administration, plus selected training activity. The reason for such a policy would have been to optimise focus and ensure units remained fresh, alert and that complacency did not creep in. Back at admin echelon, hygene including unit bathing, medical parades and kit / eqpt exchanges will most probably have featured as well as better food and training and zeroing of rifles on 25m rifle ranges set up in the woods will have been carried out. Weapon maintenance, cleaning and live firing to check sight alignment is bread and butter for every infantryman!
At the end of April the boys in the battalion will have been cheered to learn that they were embarking on a phase of R&R and training in a divisional / corps rear area back down on the Venetian Plain. Interestingly it looks as if the whole of Harry's brigade was programmed for R&R together and both 8th + 9th York & Lancs were co-located at the same encampment in Arzignano. The scope for good training and healthy inter-battalion sports matches, concerts and other recreational activities couldn't have been better. The boys will have been catching up with their letter writing, reading and other activities that are so difficult to maintain whilst on ops in the trenches.
Let's see what next week brings for the boys......
NB: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BACKGROUND & INTRODUCTION OF BRITISH FORCES (ITALIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE - IEF) IN ITALY IN AUTUMN 1917 CLICK ON THE PHASE 1 LINK BELOW.
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Thank you for reading this supporting narrative. You will appreciate that some names used and certain points of detail are not historical fact but have been used to help followers get a better feeling and understanding of what was likely to have been going on with the boys at ground level ....... JW
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