My favorite photo from WWI is an Austro-Hungarian sentry guarding the tunnels beneath the Marmolada glacier on the Italian Front. A network of tunnels called "ice city" was built with barracks and kitchens, protecting hundreds of soldiers from cold weather and snow storms!
Some more interesting photos of soldiers guarding the Marmolada glacier and working on the tunnels bellow.
The Italian Front in general is very picturesque and overlooked part of WWI. Austria-Hungary and Italy taking the war to the Alps, soldiers fighting on the rooftops of Europe. The conditions were very difficult!
The plan of the "ice city"! Building a barracks complex beneath a glacier was a genius idea by Austrian engineer Leo Dahl. The digging of the tunnels began in the summer of 1916 and took 10 months to complete. 12km of tunnels overall, stationing around 200 soldiers.
Soldiers stationed in the ice city. The ice tunnels protected soldiers from avalanches and snow storms. While most other WWI soldiers lived in muddy trenches, these guys were literally chilling in a glacier.
View of the Marmolada glacier from the Italian positions.
Two more incredible photos of Austro-Hungarian sentries guarding the Marmolada glacier complex during WWI.
@LandsknechtPike wypipol thangs
@LandsknechtPike Still guarding the snow peaks
@LandsknechtPike An unlikely war front, no doubt...
@LandsknechtPike Most casualties were related to avalanches and weather events in the end, in what was the highest battlefield ever in European history. A frozen line, literally, for years.
@LandsknechtPike such a brutal front - more people died from cold, rock shrapnels, landslides, or fall, than actual bullets...
@LandsknechtPike Such a cool piece of history. Hope to visit it someday. And easily my favorite Isonzo map, lol
@LandsknechtPike this is one of the most insane campaigns that’s ever taken place in history and one of my favorite subjects.
