Bodies of WWI soldiers found in Italian glacier

[thedrifter]

Last Update: Monday, August 23, 2004. 4:12am (AEST)

Bodies of WWI soldiers found in Italian glacier


The preserved bodies of three Austrian soldiers killed in World War I have been found at the foot of an Italian glacier, 86 years after their deaths, a museum in northern Italy said on Sunday.

They were found by Maurizio Vincenzi, the director of the military history museum at the small town of Peio in the Trentino region, member of a mountain rescue team and military history buff.

The bodies were found 3,400 metres up a mountain called San Matteo and are said to be exceptionally well preserved.

They had been spotted by Vincenzi as he scanned the glacier with binoculars and noticed marks on it.

The area was the scene of fighting between Austrian and Italian troops in 1918 and the Austrian soldiers would have belonged to a regiment based at Dimaro nearby.

It is believed that the men died when they were attacked with grenades.

Their bodies have been taken to a morgue in Peio and will be transferred to a military cemetery.

According to Vincenzi it is 80 years since the preserved body of a World War I soldier has been found.

--AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...8/s1182506.htm


Ellie

[ivalis]

Perhaps its been 80 yrs since a body of a WWI soldier has been discovered. There were several bodies of flu victums found in permafrost in Norway from that period. There's an interesting study that hopefully the remains will provide information about the flu that killed millions during that period.