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Cranston Fine Arts  Landscape Art and Artists Countries Italy  Piave |
[UP] - Cities - Lazio - River Aniene - Piave - Po - River Tiber - Lake Como - Mount Etna - Mount Vesuvius - Buildings and Landmarks - Bay of Naples - Brenner Pass - Pantelleria - Sicily - Dolomites - Apennines |
| Piave Landscape Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings |
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| Text for the above items : |
Drachen Slayer by Ivan Berryman. The last Austro-Hungarian offensive on the Italian Front, known as the Battle of the Piave River, started on June 15th 1918 with 57 Austro-Hungarian divisions ranged against 58 Italian, 3 British and 2 French who were entrenched along the whole of the front line from the Asiago Plateau in the Alps, along the Piave river, to the marshes at the eastern end of the Venetian lagoon. After initial successes in crossing the Piave in numerous places and establishing shallow bridgeheads from Montello to the Adriatic, the Austro-Hungarian offensive was brought to an abrupt halt, not least by a change in the weather that brought torrential rain and flooding of the Piave which, fuelled by the melting snow of the Alps, swept away bridges, pontoons, barges, horses and men. As the Austro-Hungarians attempted to supply their forward lines with men, weapons, ammunition and materials, the Italian artillery, consisting of 5,500 cannons and trench mortars continued to pound them, directed by the Drachen observation balloons of the 11° Sezione which were in place close to the Italian coastline. Flik 41J's top ace Hauptmann Godwin von Brumowski, flying his notorious red Albatros D.III (Oef) 135.209 replete with white skulls emblazoned on the fuselage, was on hand however, sending one of the balloons down in flames near Passerella on the fifth day of the offensive, its observer, probably Tenente M Zanini, making his escape by parachute. This was Brumowski's 33rd victory of the war and his 34th was to follow just minutes later when he shared in the destruction of an Italian SAML S.2 that was strafing troops on the ground. |
Duel Above the Piave by Ivan Berryman. The most successful fighter ace of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force in World War One, Godwin von Brumowski was to end the war credited with 35 air victories (including 12 shared), plus a further eight unconfirmed. On 23rd November 1917, flying in company with Frank Linke-Crawford, Oblt Brumowski shared in the destruction of two Italian Nieuport scouts near the mouth of the Piave River, as depicted here, flying Albatros D.III (Oeffag)153.45 of Flik 41J bearing his personalised skull motif and all-red colour scheme applied over the original mottled factory finish. Frank Linke Crawford's Albatros can be seen circling in the distance. |
The Maestro Strikes Again by Ivan Berryman. With Albatros 153.52 written off in a crash in February 1918, Hauptmann Godwin von Brumowski's final red mount was Albatros D.III (Oef) 153.209 with which he despatched an observation balloon and an Ansaldo SVA.5 on the same day on 19th June 1918, the latter belching flames before plunging into the bank of the |
Josef Kiss by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Flying from Pergine airfield in Northern Italy some time in March 1918, Offz Stv Josef Kiss is depicted on patrol over the Piave in Albatros DIII (Oef) 153.186, his aircraft carrying the personalised 'medal' decoration overpainted with a white 'K'. Below him is the similar aircraft of Oblt Josef von Maier, also of Flik 55/J. Kiss was to attain a victory score of 19 aircraft destroyed before being killed in combat on 24th May 1918. |
The Last Victory by Ivan Berryman. The terrible battles that raged between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies on the Piave river in Northern Italy in June 1918 had already claimed many thousands of lives on both sides, but as the Italians drove the Austro-Hungarians back, things were to take a defining turn for the worse, as torrential rain and melting snow caused the river to flood, sweeping away bridges, boats and men alike. The Italians continued to bombard their retreating enemy and rake them with machine gun fire as they tried to cross. Italian and Allied aircraft too joined in the ruthless destruction of the beaten Austro-Hungarian forces and soon only one pontoon bridge remained. On 20th June, an Italian SIA.7b attempted to bomb this final lifeline, but its efforts were thwarted by the red Albatros D.III (Oef) of Hauptmann Godwin von Brumowski who immediately downed the intruder to claim his 35th - and final confirmed victory, despite his own aircraft being hit no less than 37 times. An estimated 60,000 Austro-Hungarian troops are believed to have perished during the retreat across the Piave, surely one of WW1's most tragic episodes. |
Close Combat - The 31st Victory by Ivan Berryman. Barely 300m above the distinctively meandering Piave River on 17th April 1918, an intense aerial battle took place between Sopwith Camels of 28 Sqn RFC and pilots of Flik 41J of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force near Arcade, north east of Venice. The Commander of Flik 41J, Godwin von Brumowski, the Austro-Hungarian 'Ace of Aces', dueled with Lieutenant W C Hargrave, flying Camel B6342, a battle in which the distinctive red Albatros D.III (Oef) 153.45, emblazoned with its identifying skull motifs gained the upper hand, sending Lt Hargrave's machine to the ground to claim victory number 31. This 'kill' was shared that day with Oblt Friedrich Navratil, the first of his 10 victories, whose aircraft can be seen in the distance. |
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