Twelve skeletonized bodies were recovered in a mass grave above the Tonale pass by the archaeological heritage office of the Superintendence for cultural heritage of the Autonomous Province of Trento, in agreement with the General Commissioner for the honors of the fallen of the Ministry of Defense which has the exclusive competence of the recovery of human remains belonging to soldiers.
It all started with a diary
The archaeological investigation was born from a report by Sergio Boemgrandson of Ubaldo Ingravalle, officer of the Valcamonica battalion during the Great War. In fact, everything started from the officer’s diary, kept by his nephew, which reported the information of a mass grave containing dozens of soldiers who died in the First World War during what was called the ‘avalanche operation’ of 13 June 1918. Only the perseverance of Boem made it possible to demonstrate that this information was true and that in one of the grenade holes that can be glimpsed above the Tonale pass there were still the remains of twelve fallen soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army.
It is difficult to trace the identity of the fallen
“The bodies were arranged in different and very irregular positions in connection with the skeletal remains, elements of personal equipment were found including crampons, boots, gas mask cases, tools and other objects – the provincial administration said -. these three foil containers in which the paper matriculation sheets were kept: unfortunately their conditions leave little hope that we can trace the identity of the fallen. Hungarian “.
A ‘joint’ operation
The remains will be subjected to a bio-anthropological study by Professor Daniel Gaudio of the English University of Durham and then returned to Onorcaduti who, in agreement with the Austrian Black Cross, will allocate them to the military cemetery deemed most suitable. The operations were coordinated by the director of the archaeological heritage office, Franco Nicolis, in agreement with Onorcaduti. The excavation was carried out by archaeologists from the Quingentole Archaeological Society, in the province of Mantua. “The collaboration of the Municipality of Vermiglio was indispensable, in whose territory the site is located with the precious presence of its forest keepers – continues the note -.
Fundamental was the commitment of the staff of the Ossana Forestry Corps who for the entire period guaranteed the protection of the area and that of the carabinieri of the Vermiglio station who carried out the surveillance of the site and the surveillance of the remains, together with the other patrols. of the Carabinieri Company of Cles. Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Margoni, director of the Asiago Military Memorial, responsible for the territory of the discovery, participated as representative of the General Commissariat for Honors to the Fallen of the Ministry of Defense. Sergio Boem also attended some phases of the excavation, sharing with everyone the emotion of having demonstrated the truthfulness of what his grandfather had written “.