WW1 Italian Armistice 100 years ago today
The First World War in Italy ended 100 years ago today with the signing of the Armistice of Villa Giusti.
Signed on the 3rd of November, the cease-fire was to take effect the following day, but the Austro-Hungarian high command made its forces stop fighting on 3 November.
My Great Uncle Ted fought with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and was involved in the fighting that eventually led to the Italian armistice.
I think he may also have fought in France, Egypt, and Gallipoli, but there were three battalions and I don't know which one he was in. More research needed.
In Italy, Great Uncle Arthur had gone from trench warfare to mountain warfare. Men didn't live in dugouts and fight from trenches; instead they fought from cracks and crevices in the rock. When artillery shells struck, not only did the soldiers from both sides get showered by shrapnel, they were sprayed with deadly shards of stone as well.
Pictures from a family album discovered after my Granny died.
From the Italian campaign, Venice Church after bombardment by the enemy, 1915.
Venice Hospital, September 1917.
Uncle Ted, (arrowed) possibly on board a troop ship, possibly going to or from Gallipoli.
Thankfully he survived and I met him a few times, but he never talked about the Great War. Nobody ever did in our family hence my lack of knowledge about him.
What horrors these men must have seen.
Red for the blood that was spilled.
Black for the mourning of those left behind.
Green for the new growth on the fields of battle.
The leaf at eleven o'clock, symbolising the time when the guns fell silent.