Life as an Emigrant Soldier
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2025
This chapter traces the emigrant soldiers’ experiences after their arrival in Italy. For some, it was their first encounter with a country they had heard so much about and many had the opportunity to engage in sightseeing before enlistment. Others were devastated to be swept off to the front without having the chance to see their parents and families. Returning from abroad to comply with a mobilisation order did not confer any special status on the emigrant soldiers. Once at the front lines, the mobilised emigrants suffered the same privations, injuries and hardship as all other Italian soldiers and officers. One of the major issues for those from South America and North Africa was the unfamiliar cold and snowy conditions they experienced. Others were disappointed to be stationed away from the front and that their service was not as exciting as they had expected. However, depending on their place of residence abroad and, in some cases, their pre-war occupations and language skills, the fact of their emigration did impact on their physical experience of combat and warfare. The chapter details the emigrant soldiers’ combat experiences, including gas attacks, the rout at Caporetto in 1917 and internment as prisoners of war.
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