THE ALPINE BATTLEFRONT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 125, 13 February 1918, Page 5

THE ALPINE BATTLEFRONT

WINTER CAMPAIGNING TROOPS FARING WELL London, February 11. Mr. Warner Allen, the British war ■ correspondent, in a dispatch describing the Alpine battlefront, says the position is 12,000 feet above the sea. Tha Alpine troops scale these heights daily, with the thermometer zero. Blinding blizzards drive the snow through the smallest chinks in tlio huts, and men who leavo shelter cannot even breathe. All activity in bad weather is confined'to 'tunnels cut ill the snow or the "glacier ice. . When tho weather is fine the troops live in. the healthiest conditions. Tho only ■disease is frostbite, and only five men are on the sick list out of 1500. Aerial cables alone make mountain wnrfaro possiblo. The officers telephone for anything required, and it is supplied in a few hours. Tho best food is essential; fresh butter and fruit, which are unprocurable in Milan, ar» served to the troops. Both sides are compelled to husband their, ammunition. Shells are never used against isolated groups; henco it is possible to stroll about in full view of the enemy. Tho King and Queen of Belgium have arrived in the war zone on a visit to tho King and Queen of Italy. King Albert and King Victor, Emmanuel inspected the Trentino front trenches and the l'iave lines.-—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ITALIANS IN AUSTRALIA CALLED UP. Melbourne, February 12. All Italian subjects residing in Australia have been notified to report to the Consul for military service—Presß Assn.