The Battle of San Matteo took place in the late summer of 1918 on the San Matteo Peak (3678 m) and it is called by some authors the highest battle in history. It was fought during World War I.

At the beginning of 1918 Austro-Hungarian Empire troops set up a fortified position with small artillery pieces on the top of the San Matteo Peak, being able from their high position to bomb the road to the Gavia Pass and thus harassing the Italian supply convoys directed to the front line.

On August 13th 1918 a small group of Italian Alpini (307th Company, Battaglione Ortler) conducted a surprise attack taking the fortified position, half of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers were taken prisoner and the other half fleed to lower positions.

The loss of the San Matteo Peak was a scorn to Imperial Austria and reinforcement was immediately sent in the region while the Italians were still organizing their defence on the top of the peak.

On September 3rd 1918 the Austro-Hungarian started operation "Gemse", an attack aimed to retake the mountain. A large scale artillery bombardment, followed by the assault of at least 150 Kaiserschützen (3rd Regiment from Dimaro) was eventually successful and the lost position was reconquered. The Italian counter bombardment on the fortified positions, they already considered the mountain lost, caused many victims both between the defending Italian troops and the Austro-Ungarian ones.

It must be noted that the base of the peak lies at 2800m altitude, and that it takes a 4 hour climb on the ripid ice climbs of a glacier to reach the top.

The Austro-Hungarians lost 17 men in the battle and the Italians 10, this was the last Austro-Hungarian victory in WW1.

The armistice, concluded on November 3rd, 1918 at 15:00 at Villa Giusti (near Padova/Italy) ended the Alpine War in these mountains on November 4th, 1918 at 1500 h.

In the summer of 2004 the frozen bodies of three Kaiserschützen were found near the peak.

External links

• "BBC News report on the frozen bodies"
• "Un Capitano sepolto nel ghiaccio" a collection of letters written by 'Capitano Arnaldo Berni', the Italian captain that lead the conquest of Peak San Matteo, was wounded by the first Austrian bombardment and finally killed in the Italian bombardment. His body was never found.