Vigo di Fassa War Cemetery

In the earliers phases of the war, the dead of the Dolomites Front were buried in small cemeteries created not far from the frontline. Already after a few months, however, their number had increased so much that it was decided to create larger cemeteries in the nearby valleys.

Vigo di Fassa (Vich in Ladin language), a village not far from the Marmolada Group frontline, was selected in 1915 to “house” one cemetery for Austro-Hungarian fallen (the village was, back then, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) from the Marmolada-Alpe Lusia sector of the front. The cemetery, designed by Prof. Sachs, was built outside the village; the workforce was composed of men of the 179^th Infantry Brigade and a large number of Russian prisoners captured on the Eastern Front.

By late 1917, when the battle of Caporetto and the retreat of the Italian troops to the Piave River and Mount Grappa ended the fighting in the Dolomites, 318 men were buried in this cemetery.

In 1931, 43 of the dead were exhumed and returned to their hometowns, and in 1942, after the elimination of the Predazzo War Cemetery, 388 war dead from that cemetery were reburied in Vigo di Fassa. Today, 663 men rest in this cemetery.

Gravestone commemorating six Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed on the Costabella Group on 5 March 1917.

Here lies soldier Franz Kafka.

Gasser Depot

Forcella Gasser Depot is a small pass in the Lagazuoi-Fanis Group, at a height of 2,558 m (8,392 ft) on the western side of the Travenanzes Valley. In this position, behind a large rocky spur that sheltered them from Italian artillery fire, the Austro-Hungarian forces built in July 1916 an entire village (part of the Travenanzes Valley defense system), mostly in caves they dug in the rock. This stronghold, which included some depots (as its name points out) and some 75 mm guns, was manned by three platoons of the 167^th Landsturm Regiment; its commander, in July 1916, was Lieutenant Obrist. The stronghold owed its name to its “inventor”, Sergeant-Major Gasser.

Due to subsequent developments of the situation on the Tofane Group, Gasser Depot later came under Italian fire anyway.

In the night between 2o and 21 October 1916 an Italian surprise attack, carried out by Alpini of the Monte Pelmo Battalion (7^th Alpini Regiment) under Sub-Lieutenant Soave after receiving information from two Austro-Hungarian deserters, led to the destruction of an advanced guard post on the Gasser Depot and the capture of 13 or 18 Austro-Hungarians.

Except for minor actions like this, typical of mountain warfare in the Dolomites Front, there were no important events involving the Gasser Depot; the stronghold was abandoned in October-November 1917, like the rest of the Dolomites front, following the battle of Caporetto.

The remains of some the wooden shelters and bunk beds built inside the caves of this position are still relatively well-preserved after a century; they can be reached on foot from Falzarego Pass, in about a couple of hours, with a small deviation from the main path that leads to Forcella Grande and the Tomaselli via ferrata. 

View of the mountains facing the Gasser Depot: on the right the Fanis Group, with Punta Sud (left, 2,989 m) and Punta Fanis Nord (right, 2,969 m).

Overview of the rocky spur from the opposite side of the valley; the caves at its base are clearly visible. The mountain behind the spur is the Tofana di Rozes (3,225 m, 10,580 ft).