ank the
Austrian machine guns began to spit fire, and red rockets went up
calling for the Artillery barrage. Many boats were hit and sank, and the
Bridging Detachments suffered severe casualties. One bridge, half built,
was set on fire, and one could see dark shadows, lit up by the glare
amid the darkness, darting forward to extinguish the flames. Fourteen
bridges were thrown across under heavy fire, and, as the Infantry began
to cross, Platoon after Platoon, the Austrian Machine Gunners fired at
the sound of their footsteps, and many Italians fell, especially
officers leading their men. But the crossing went on and, when dawn
broke, the attackers had a firm footing on the left bank of the river.
They swept round the flanks of those machine guns which had not yet been
put out of action, and making use of the subterranean passages which the
enemy had pierced in the cliffs for sheltered communication between the
higher and the lower levels of the mountain, began to pour forth upon
the crest of the ridge which overlooks the river. Then, as the advance
continued, the Austrian right wing above Canale gave way in confusion
and the Italians pressed forward on to the Bainsizza Plateau.

But their difficulties were tremendous. When they left the valley of the
Isonzo behind them, they entered a waterless land, without springs for
some four miles. In the early stages of the battle all water for the
troops had to be brought up by mules, and likewise all food, ammunition
and medical supplies, until the Engineers could get to work with
road-building on the left bank of the river. The Bainsizza Plateau
itself, lying amid a mass of barren mountains, contains woods, pastures,
springs, small villages, a few roads and many tracks. The Italians swept
over it on the 21st and 22nd of August, but soon found themselves once
more in difficult country. In the days that followed the advance was
slower and more spasmodic, but it still continued. By the 27th, 25,000
Austrian prisoners had been taken, together with a great quantity of
material, and several whole Austrian Divisions had ceased to exist.

It had been a wonderful feat of arms, finely conceived by the Staff,
magnificently executed by the rank and file. It opened out a great vista
of new possibilities, but, for the moment, it was over. Before any
further advance was practicable, the positions won had to be
consolidated, roads had to be built, dumps and stores of every kind to
be moved fo