General unpreparedness
Even in the North Garda area, the war had started with a general lack of preparation.
8oth officers an d enlisted men were highly dissatisfied due to the lack of material and equipment. This is how Maj. Giuseppe Caio, commander of the Val Chiese Battalion, described the situation in his military logbook:
«14th August: … We await cement to complete the block-houses at the outposts and the machine gun shelters. We still need more planks and other materials to start building the winter barracks … ».
«25th September: … Some cement has arrived. Stili awaiting barbed wire. Work continues on building the huts, armour plating and the trench covering, but we still await, it being en route, tarred cardboard to cover the huts an d troop shelters in the entrenchments. Second blankets distributed to the troops, stili tented, to protect them from the cold at night, the temperature having dropped somewhat … ».
The war was not expected to last very long, but with the arrival of September the weather became more changeable and the temperature fell considerably. At Passo Nota, Val Cerése and Passo Guìl, at an altitude of aver 1200 metres, the
soldiers were still living in tents. The situation was even worse at Pra delle Rose, Tuflungo, Corno della Ma rogna an d Tremalzo, which are all above the 1500 metre level.
Many soldiers found the situation very difficult when they reached the Tremosine plateau. Michele Rigillo, an officer in the territorial army, who ended up in Pregasio in September 1915, provides us with this important testimony:
« This wretched vili age perched on the bleak rock, which has the honour of housing a lieutenant colone/, commander of the 6th Battalion of the Territorio/ Militia, three captains, one lieutenant and three second lieutenants, in addition to about 200 troops, forced to live anywhere they can: fifty or so of them sleep in the church, and how they sleep! The bedding has turned into mud as it is so wet; the confessional has been torn to pieces and the planks are used to support the stinking straw, so that it does not invade the centre of the single nave, where one passes through the sad spectacle of
these unfortunate sleepers. The corporals have positioned themselves along the walls, on a kind of step formed of stone: the sergeant has made a makeshift bed for himself on the altar … ». Text by D. F.
