Selle Pass, Punta delle Selle, Punta Alochet

The Selle Pass (Passo delle Selle, 2,528 m, 8,293 ft) divides the Monzoni Group (west of the pass) from the Costabella Group (east of the pass) and is therefore the main passage through a mountain barrier that divides the San Pellegrino Valley from the Monzoni Valley.

On 25 May 1915 (the day after Italy’s entry in World War I), after reconnaissance by Alpini units of the Val Cordevole Battalion, Bersaglieri of the 18^th Battalion (3^rd Bersaglieri Regiment) occupied the San Pellegrino Pass (1,918 m, 6,292 ft) without making contact with the enemy. The small Austro-Hungarian forces in the area, in fact, had retreated to the more defendable Selle Pass and the Monzoni and Costabella groups. The main peaks of the Monzoni Group in Austro-Hungarian hands were, from east to west: Punta delle Selle (2,593 m, 8,507 ft), Punta Alochet (2,582 m, 8,471 ft), Spiz de Tariciogn (2,647 m, 8,634 ft) and Cima Malinverno (2,636 m, 8,638 ft). 

Nevertheless, the Austro-Hungarian forces in the area were so small (a few Standschützen and Landsturm troops, mostly middle-aged men whom had not been called up in 1914) that, had the Italian commands ordered a resolute attack, they would almost certainly have overcome the still weak defense (there were no fortifications yet), overflowing through the Fassa Valley. Instead, they ordered extreme caution and little advance, in order not to compromise the defensive stance. This allowed German reinforcements of the Alpenkorps to come to help the Austro-Hungarians, and gave them time to fortify the Selle Pass, Monzoni, and Costabella.

The only significant action against the Selle Pass and Monzoni Group took place between 17 and 18 June 1915. A platoon of an Alpini from the Val Cordevole Battalion (7^th Alpini Regiment), under cover of night and fog, took by surprise the nine Standschützen who guarded Punta Alochet, and captured the peak. A simultaneous surprise attack by Bersaglieri (20^th Bersaglieri Battalion, whom also participated in the attack on Punta Alochet) led to the capture of the Selle Pass, forcing the Austro-Hungarian garrison to retreat towards the Monzoni Valley; units of Bersaglieri went down the valley beyond the pass and nearly reached the Torquato Taramelli mountain hut (2,046 m), down in the Monzoni Valley. From there, had they managed to create a bridgehead and continue the advance, they could have reached the Fassa Valley, subverting the entire frontline of that sector; contemporary attacks against the Costabella Group, however, failed, compromising their position.

The Bersaglieri who had captured Punta Alochet waved the Italian flag in rejoicing, but this drew the attention of all the Austro-Hungarian artillery in the sector, which concentrated fire on this peak, slaughtering the Italian troops. At Selle Pass, elite Alpenkorps units came to the help of the Austro-Hungarians, attacking the Italians with machine guns, and finally drawing them off the pass; the men on Punta Alochet thus became isolated, and the peak was recaptured by Landsturm troops. 281 Bersaglieri were killed, most of them at Selle Pass and near the Taramelli mountain hut, and the others had to retreat to their starting positions.

Two lower elevation in the grasslands below the Selle Pass, Sas dal Musc (2,230 m) and Colifon (2,370 m), had also been captured during these attacks; Italian troops kept these positions and fortified them.

Italian attacks during the following years were mostly directed against the Costabella Group, instead of the Monzoni and Selle Pass. In the hollow beyond Selle Pass, Austro-Hungarian forces built a village of huts and depots to supply their positions on Monzoni and Costabella groups.

The whole sector was abandoned in November 1917, with the general Italian retreat from the Dolomites following the battle of Caporetto.

Shelter for Italian troops in the grasslands below the Selle Pass, defiladed from Austro-Hungarian fire.

The interior is now flooded.

The path towards the Selle Pass.

Small memorial of barbed wire on the Selle Pass.

The Selle Pass, Bergvagabunden Hütte and Punta delle Selle seen from nearby Piccolo Lastei.

On the ridge towards Punta delle Selle.

Cave dug by Austro-Hungarian troops.

Remains of huts built by Austro-Hungarian troops.

Remains of Austro-Hungarian shelters.

The Costabella Group seen from near Punta delle Selle; the closest mountain is Piccolo Lastei.

Punta Alochet seen from Punta delle Selle.

Panorama from Punta delle Selle.

Remains of wooden shelters.

Towards Punta Alochet.

Austro-Hungarian gun embrasure, manned by Landesschützen.

Interior of the gun emplacement.

Towards Punta Alochet, remains of Austro-Hungarian position.

"Austrian gun emplacement"

Remains of wooden buildings on Punta Alochet.

The small summit cross of Punta Alochet.

Panorama from Punta Alochet.

Cave dug during the war, now obstructed.

Remains of Austro-Hungarian positions.

Plaques, in Italian and German, commemorating the men killed on both sides in the Italian assault of 17-18 June 1915.

Austro-Hungarian gun embrasure.

View from the embrasure.

"Position - Austrian first line"

"All of them had the face of Christ in the helmet's livid halo/ all of them carried the symbol of torment in the cross of the bayonet / and in their pockets the bread of the last supper/ and in their throats the weeping of the last farewell"

An Italian position in the grasslands between Selle Pass and San Pellegrino Pass.