I-Spy Turin: memorial to a forgotten front

In the old days before we had the EU, European countries used to fight wars with each other. We know a lot about the horrors of the Western Front in the First World War, but there were other equally dreadful theatres we hear much less of.

The war memorial in Turin, pictured above, commemorates soldiers killed in one of them, the conflict between Austria and Italy, much of which was fought on the Alpine Front.

Italy entered the war late, in 1916. Having been an ally of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it switched sides to join Britain, France and Russia. Austria and Italy would lose a million men - 600,000 Italians and 400,000 Austrians - many of them in the mountains. One war correspondent said conditions there were worse even than 'in the blood-soaked mud of Flanders'.

In addition to the cold and the usual hazards of war, there were avalanches, sometimes set off deliberately as a weapon, sometimes triggered accidentally by artillery, and sometimes occurring naturally. After heavy snow in December of 1916, avalanches buried 10,000 soldiers in just two days.

Soldiers and avalanches

Hopes are fading for the 139 Pakistani soldiers and civilian contractors buried by an avalanche near the disputed Siachen glacier in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.    It engulfed a military camp 15,000 feet above sea level on April 7, and in some places, the snow is said to be 80 feet deep.

Hundreds of troops, as well as villagers equipped only with shovels, sniffer dogs and helicopters have been involved in the rescue effort, but it has been severely hampered by bad weather.   It was reported to be the worst avalanche in the area for 20 years.

Disputes over Kashmir have twice brought India and Pakistan to war, and the Siachen glacier has been dubbed the world’s highest battlefield.     In 2010, 24 Pakistani soldiers died there in an earlier avalanche.

During the First World War, thousands of soldiers were killed by avalanches in the Tyrol during the struggle between Italy and Austria.    On some occasions, they were started accidently by artillery explosions, but both sides also deliberately used them as a weapon.  (See also my blog of Feb 18, 2010.)

Avalanches

At least 38 people have been killed by an avalanche that buried a village in the remote Kohistan district in north-west Pakistan. Avalanches are common in the area, and heavy snow over the last fortnight has increased the danger.

Earlier this month, a series of avalanches struck the approach to the Salang tunnel in Afghanistan, burying more than two miles of road and killing at least 172 people. The Salang tunnel was the scene of a disastrous road crash in 1982 which cost the lives of up to 2,000 people. For more details, see A Disastrous History of the World.

The deadliest natural avalanche ever was probably the one that buried the town of Plurs in Switzerland in 1618, killing more than 2,400, but during World War One in the Tyrol, the Italian and Austrian armies each deliberately set off avalanches with explosives, and during one period of 48 hours, 10,000 soldiers were killed.

I mentioned in my blog of Feb 6 that my world disasters book has now been published in the United States as Disaster! My thanks to The Southern in Illinois which has written articles on the book:-

http://www.thesouthern.com/news/local/article_70ddf2ee-1ab6-11df-a631-001cc4c03286.html
http://www.thesouthern.com/news/local/article_6014bbfe-1a4e-11df-b826-001cc4c03286.html