<– Part 212 – August 11, 1918 | Part 213 – August 18, 1918 | Part 214 – August 25, 1918

The “highest battle in history” began August 13 on Punta San Matteo in Italy. An Austro-Hungarian artillery position had been fortified at the 2800m altitude peak, reachable only by a four-hour ice climb up a glacier, and able to shell the Italian supply lines. An Italian Alpini company scaled the peak, capturing half the Austrians, while the other half fled. The Italians have set about refortifying it, but the embarrassment to the Austro-Hungarian Empire demands that they retake it.

Near Ailette, in Franch, French general Charles Mangin attacked a weak point in the German lines on August 17, taking 2,000 prisoners and suffering 360 casualties, having attacked along a 12-mile front, and advancing over one mile.