Bodies of WWI three Austrian soldiers found in Italian glacier

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bodies of WWI three Austrian soldiers found in Italian glacier

Posted: 8/22/2004 7:46:52 PM EDT

Last Update: Monday, August 23, 2004. 4:12am (AEST)

Bodies of WWI soldiers found in Italian glacier

The preserved bodies of three Austrian soldiers killed in World War I have been found at the foot of an Italian glacier, 86 years after their deaths, a museum in northern Italy said on Sunday.

They were found by Maurizio Vincenzi, the director of the military history museum at the small town of Peio in the Trentino region, member of a mountain rescue team and military history buff.

The bodies were found 3,400 metres up a mountain called San Matteo and are said to be exceptionally well preserved.

They had been spotted by Vincenzi as he scanned the glacier with binoculars and noticed marks on it.

The area was the scene of fighting between Austrian and Italian troops in 1918 and the Austrian soldiers would have belonged to a regiment based at Dimaro nearby.

It is believed that the men died when they were attacked with grenades.

Their bodies have been taken to a morgue in Peio and will be transferred to a military cemetery.

According to Vincenzi it is 80 years since the preserved body of a World War I soldier has been found.

Posted: 8/22/2004 7:48:20 PM EDT

[#1]

Ice to see you.

Posted: 8/22/2004 7:51:13 PM EDT

[#2]

Just chillin dude....

Posted: 8/22/2004 7:52:42 PM EDT

[#3]

cant wait to see that on the discovery channel.

Posted: 8/22/2004 7:57:55 PM EDT

[#4]

Dsirepsectful comments aside, pretty interesting.

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:00:06 PM EDT

[#5]

Wow.

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:01:44 PM EDT

[#6]

They took the chill pill.

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:02:40 PM EDT

[#7]

RIP

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:21:52 PM EDT

[#8]

Getting buried with honors, by any chance?

- BUCC_Guy

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:29:10 PM EDT

[#9]

thats pretty interesting. I'd like to know more about that. I hope the history or discovery channels do, do something on this.

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:31:04 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
thats pretty interesting. I'd like to know more about that. I hope the history or discovery channels do, do something on this.

+1

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:33:31 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Dsirepsectful comments aside, pretty interesting.

Chill out

Posted: 8/22/2004 8:34:21 PM EDT

[#12]

We should put this thread on ice.

Posted: 8/23/2004 7:29:06 AM EDT

[#13]

Pretty nasty fighting in the Alps in WWI. Ever read Mark Helprin's "A Soldier in the Great War"?

GunLvr

Posted: 8/23/2004 7:36:54 AM EDT

[#14]

3 new C&R's (M1895 Steyr-Mannlicher - I'd guess) about to join the market.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:04:59 AM EDT

[#15]

Imagine fighting in the Alps, or even more strenuous, the Himalyas and Kashmir. Outside Magazine did a story about how it is fighting at 15,000 feet.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:11:54 AM EDT

[#16]

May their soles now rest in peace.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:12:58 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Getting buried with honors, by any chance?

- BUCC_Guy

Of course. Austrian authorities has been contacted by the Italian ones. I don't know if those Austrian soldiers will be buried in a sacrary for Austrian fallen in Italy or in Austria.

Last time I was on the 1915-1918 war frontline on the Dolomites, there were Austrian Gebirsjagern and Italian Alpini that were restoring toghether trenches and shelters. On the top of a mountain in Val di Landro I saw with my eyes the distances between Austrian and Italian trenches: in a point the frontlines were only 50 or 70 meters distant...

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:16:07 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
They took the chill pill.

That's pretty cold, man.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:17:42 AM EDT

[#19]

I hope they aren't thawed out and turned into Austrian Super Soldiers.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:29:37 AM EDT

[#20]

If the soldiers had Glocks back then, I bet they'd still work.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:33:35 AM EDT

[#21]

The fighting between the Italians and Austrians was particularly bad, even by WWI standards. They lugged artillery up the mountains, in some cases, large pieces that would be considered extremely difficult by todays standards. Funny how 'what is possible' changes when you find that your enemy is doing it...

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:33:38 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
May their soles now rest in peace.

I don't know about their combat boots, but I hope their souls rest in peace.

Posted: 8/23/2004 8:36:46 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
If the soldiers had Glocks back then, I bet they'd still work.

They would have been equiped with M 95 Mannlichers. I'm not sure who carried sidearms, but they would have been Gasser Revolvers, Styer Hahn 1912s, and Roth Styer M1907s. For the record, the 1907 has a 'safe action' striker like a Glock.

Of these three, I don't have the Gasser, and the only ones I've ever seen were beaten, or the owner thought it was owned by Franz Ferdinand himself.

Posted: 8/23/2004 6:31:14 PM EDT

[#24]

Initally, some experts think that these men were killed by a grenade. If that's the case, it would be kind of uncommon. A small caliber mountain artillery piece or mortar would seem more likely. Time will tell.

Posted: 8/23/2004 7:50:44 PM EDT

[#25]

Imagine by a quirk of fate, more people know about you now that ever knew you your whole life.

Posted: 8/23/2004 7:54:43 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Imagine by a quirk of fate, more people know about you now that ever knew you your whole life.

Yup, I hope they don't make a mokery of this. These men are not a treasure like the iceman was. Find out who they were, then give them a proper burial.

Posted: 8/23/2004 9:14:00 PM EDT

[#27]

interesting. RIP

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1182506.htm

Posted: 8/23/2004 9:25:06 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
3 new C&R's (M1895 Steyr-Mannlicher - I'd guess) about to join the market.

Now THAT was 'cold'.

Posted: 8/24/2004 4:36:36 AM EDT

[#29]

wow. i wonder what condition their equipment was in? i wonder how many other things like that are waiting to be discovered throughout the world. there's still lots of planes missing from ww2, ships to be found, etc.

Posted: 8/24/2004 4:40:15 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Pretty nasty fighting in the Alps in WWI. Ever read Mark Helprin's "A Soldier in the Great War"?

GunLvr

Rommel's book is a nice place to start too.

Posted: 8/24/2004 4:45:57 AM EDT

[#31]

Hopefully this will bring about a thaw in relations.

Posted: 8/24/2004 4:50:37 AM EDT

[#32]

It's comforting to know that I won't be burning in Hell all by myself considering some of these comments!

Posted: 8/24/2004 4:57:09 AM EDT

[#33]

Hopefully they have some ID or letters that will allow thier families to finally put them to rest.

Posted: 8/24/2004 5:09:20 AM EDT

[#34]

http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/mspot/arc/beattie.html

Here's a link to the autopsies done on three members of the Frankilin Expedition who were buried in perma-frost in the mid' 1840's. They dug these guys up in the early 1990's after being dead and buried for 150 years. The preservation of the bodies was striking.

To autopsy them they had to thaw them. National Geographic had a great special on it at the time. They put the bodies in a a big tent (About the size of a GP Large) and heated it up with stoves. The bodies were placed on the ground inside and allowed to attain "Room temperature" gradually. Creepy as hell to watch because as they thawed they started to move a little as their long frozen joints loosened up.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bodies of WWI three Austrian soldiers found in Italian glacier

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