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The body of a young World War I officer has re-emerged from the ice of a glacier on the Italian Dolomites more than a century after he fell in battle, his uniform and equipment still intact.
The discovery was made at 3,120 metres (10,236 feet) in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northeast Italy, once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where the front line of the so-called “White War” cut through snow and rock between 1915 and 1918.
Carabinieri from Carisolo and the Alpine Rescue team of Madonna di Campiglio recovered the remains from the Vedretta di Lares glacier on Monday, 25th August.
A photograph released by investigators shows the soldier’s uniform preserved by the cold even though his body had long since decomposed, leaving him a silent witness beneath the ice.
This was one of the harshest battlefields of the First World War. After Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915, the front froze along the Adamello-Presanella massif, with the Austro-Hungarians dug into fortified tunnels above the glaciers and the Italians attacking uphill from the valleys.
Soldiers on both sides lived in snow caves, fought in avalanches, and endured temperatures that fell below minus 30.
The young man whose body has now been found almost certainly died during one of these fierce clashes, when the Austro-Hungarians held the glacier and the Italians launched repeated assaults.
His comrades had no chance to recover him in the chaos of battle, and as the fighting moved on, the snow covered him.
Over the decades, the glacier slowly absorbed him, preserving his kit and uniform in extraordinary condition even as his body decayed.
The remains have been transferred to the Superintendency for Cultural Heritage’s analysis laboratory in Trento, where specialists are carrying out autopsies and historical studies in the hope of reconstructing his identity.
Experts say the find is another reminder of the cost of the war fought on the glaciers, where thousands perished and many were never recovered. The soldier’s body has only now returned to light as the glacier retreats.
(Mike Leidig / newsX)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Spotter: Ivica Stojanovski
Byline Commisioning Editor: Mike Leidig
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Picture Editor: Zorica Stojkovik
Byline Copychecker: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Illustrator: Simona Kitanovska
Byline News Editor: Mike Leidig
Geography: Trentino
Subject: History, Archaeology, Military, Society
T4 Editor Story Rating: 7
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 7
T4 Total rating: 7
