Eighth battle of the Isonzo, 9-12 October 1916

The eighth battle of the Isonzo was the second of three short-lived offensives launched on the Isonzo front in the autumn of 1916. The seventh battle, fought by the Italian Third Army had ended after four days without making any significant progress.

For the eighth battle the Italian Second and Third Armies were used. This gave the Italians 225 battalions, 26 dismounted cavalry squadrons, 1,305 guns and 883 mortars. They faced 107 Austrian battalions supported by 538 guns.

The Italian bombardment began on 9 October. On 10 October the Italian infantry attacked in heavy rain, and captured large parts of the Austrian front line, along with 5,034 POWs. Mt. Sober, east of Gorizia and Nova Vas on the Carso plateau were both captured.

The offensive had to be suspended on 11 October because of heavy fog. It was renewed for one day on 12 October, and the Italians were able to push the Austrians to the east of the River Vallano, but at the end of the day the offensive was cancelled. The Italians lost 24,000 men during the battle, most of them on 10 and 12 October, while capturing 8,200 POWs.

Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign, The Italian Front 1915-1918, John Macdonald with Zeljko Cimprié. An excellent study of the First World War on the Italian front, focusing on the twelve battles of the Isonzo, one of the most costly campaigns of the entire war. A good background to the campaign is followed by useful accounts of each of the battles, something quite difficult to find. [read full review]
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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (31 August 2007), Eighth battle of the Isonzo, 9-12 October 1916 , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_isonzo8.html

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