Memories of War: Fort Campolongo

Fort Campolongo, built between 1912 and 1914 on the eponymous peak, at 1720 meters above sea level (on the edge a steep face that towers above the middle Astico Valley), was very similar to the nearby Forte Verena; together with the latter, this was considered one of the best fortresses built by the Kingdom of Italy on the Asiago Plateau.

Like Verena, Fort Campolongo was armed with four modern 149 mm steel guns (Mod. L35) in revolving armored cupolas, built by Schneider, 15 or 18 cm thick (each weighing 22.5 tons), as well as four 75 mm bronze guns and four Maxim machine guns for close defense. The 149 guns were mainly focused against Fort Luserna, its "neighbor" on the other side of the border (the two fortresses were only 6 km apart), and could also keep the Astico Valley under control.

The fort was also providedd with an observatory with armored cupola, in the same body of the main battery. Barracks and warehouses, built in a sheltered position away from enemy fire, were connected to the fort by a postern. These buildings were built with stone, while the main body of the fortress (whose volume was 3500 cubic meters), distributed on three floors (two floors above ground, one underground) and partially excavated in the rock, was built in (not reinforced) concrete. Overall, the fortified complex occupied an area of about 10,000 square meters; overhangs were its natural defenses to the south and west, while on the northern and eastern sides were a defensive wall and a moat.

Fort Campolongo was part of the Third Sector (Asiago-Schio) of the Agno-Assa Barrage, along with forts Verena and Corbin (from which Campolongo was 5 and 6 km apart, respectively).

The history of Fort Campolongo was also similar to that of Fort Verena: in the first weeks of the war the fort, in cooperation with a battery of 280 mm howitzers located nearby, bombarded with impunity the neighbouring Austro-Hungarian fortifications, causing them serious damage (especially to Fort Luserna, where there commander suffered a nervous breakdown and the fort had to be prevented from surrendering). The fire was opened on May 24, 1915 and continued without pause in the following days, at such a rate that on May 30, one of the four 149 mm guns exploded due to a squib load, killing two men and wounding two more.

The situation deteriorated on June 6, 1915, when a Austro-Hungarian 305 mm howitzer, located on the ridge of Cost'Alta (Millegrobbe), began to shell the fortress, causing serious damage. As for Verena, a few days of bombing were enough to show the vulnerability of the fortress to heavy howitzers; by 12 June Fort Campolongo was effectively out of action, and on July 2 the three surviving 149 mm guns were removed and transferred to more sheltered positions.

The final act came in May 1916, when the Austro-Hungarian offensive known as "Strafexpedition" began: on May 19, a few days after the start of the offensive, Fort Campolongo came under fire not only from 305 howitzers, but also from 381 (nicknamed "Barbara") and 420 mm (located at Malga Laghetto) howitzers, which brought its end. The garrison suffered no losses, but all the main body was ruined; the armored domes, long deprived of their guns, were ripped, torn, flipped. After the fall of Monte Costesin, which occurred on May 21 after fierce defense by the Ivrea and Lambro Brigades, the remains of the now untenable fort had to be abandoned. On May 22, 1916 Fort Campolongo was occupied by units of the III Corps of the Austro-Hungarian Army.

After the end of the Battle of Asiago, the ruins of Fort Campolongo remained in Austro-Hungarian hands till the end of the war. Already on July 2, 1916, a report of the III Army Corps reported that Fort Campolongo, as well as Verena, was too damaged to be of any use.

After restoration work in 2008-2009, Fort Campolongo is now freely accessible; it can be reached on foot, with a half-hour walk on a dirt road.

Water cistern for the supply of the fortress, located along the road. The cistern was used again during the restoration work, nearly a century after its building.