White Friday (1916)

Gran Poz summit avalanches

In August 1916, the Austro-Hungarian army built wooden barracks for the 1st Battalion of the Imperial Rifle Regiment Nr. III on the Gran Poz summit of Mount Marmolada, roughly 11,000 feet up. The site was chosen for its defensive advantages: it sat along rock cliffs, safe from direct enemy fire and beyond the range of high-angle mortars. By December, heavy snow and a sudden thaw set the stage for avalanches.

Snow piled 8 to 12 meters deep on the summit from the start of the month. Captain Rudolf Schmid, commanding the battalion, saw the growing danger and asked his superior, Field Marshal Lieutenant Ludwig Goiginger of the 60th Infantry Division, for permission to abandon the position. The request was denied. Over the next eight days, more snow fell, cutting telephone lines and leaving each outpost isolated and short on supplies.

On December 13, 1916, at 5:30 a.m., more than 200,000 tons of snow and ice—roughly one million cubic meters—crashed down the mountain onto the barracks. The wooden structures gave way, crushing the soldiers inside. Of the 321 men there, 229 were Kaiserschützen mountain infantry and 102 were Bosnians from a support column.

Only a handful were rescued; 270 were buried alive. Just 40 bodies were ever recovered. Captain Schmid and his aide survived with minor injuries.

Did You Know?

• On the night of 13 December, an avalanche struck an Italian division of the 7th Alpini, overrunning their mountain barracks.
• The Italians called the disastrous day La Santa Lucia Nera after Saint Lucia.