The evening leader., 1918-10-01
CAPTAIN TELLS
HOW HE HAL TED
ITALIAN FLIGHT
Wins Highest Military Recogni-
tion That Can Come to Sol
dier of His Country.
SAVES SARMYFROMAUsTRIANs
francesca Mario Guardabassi Gives
Graphic Picture of One Of the Moss
Thrilling and Romantic EpI-
sodes of the War.


sodes of the War.
New York.-Back of the meager Of
fetal dispatch announcing the award
by the Italian government of its sill
yer medal for valor, virtually the high
est military recognition that can come
TO an Italian soldier, is one of the
most thrilling and romantic episodes.
of the entire war; one which, In fact,
may be said to have had a distinct
and definite bearing upon the success
of the Italian arms
The cable message announcing the
award, and which was published I'm
America a few days ago, read:~
Awarded to First Lieut.. Che later
received his captaincy) Francesca
Mario Guardabassi of Perugia, while
on the staff of the commander of divi-
sion. Energetic co-operator of the
high command of the division, First
Lieutenant Guardabassi gave an adj
mirable proof of determination, energy
and bravery in very difficult circum-
stance during the drive from the Car
so to the Piave, firmly checking a sud-
den and threatening panic aroused
among the troops, Carso-Tagliamento
Bridge of Latisana, 26 October, 1917"
Captain (then first lieutenant)
Guardabassi, by his action, prevented
the Italian retreat from the Carso to
the Piave from becoming a disorderly
Sfn 1nI fVnfo
derly retirement, which enabled the
italian forces to reform and to make
their position on the Piave impregna-
BILE 1t was Captain Guardabassi who,
standing virtually alone on the bridge
head of Latisana, inspired the troops
OF the Third army to hold their ground
when overwhelmed with fear and
panic.
Is Here on Special Mission.
Captain Guardabassi, who at the
time was aid-de-camp of General Pc
tillo, divisional commander in the
Third army of Italy, in the last few
months has become a familiar figure
in New York. Following his achieve
ments on the Tagliamento he was
called to Rome and, because of his
wide knowledge Of America and Amer
leans, was sent to the United States
on a special mission from the Italian
government. Captain Guardabassi
was persuaded to tell the story of how
he won the decoration. It is best told
in his own words:
'You can imagine the spirit Of our
army last October" said he. "wheu
our generals of the Third army an
nounced that we were to fall back.
We had worked so hard to establish
our line on the Tagliamento, and we
were so proud. Now the orders came
that we were TO get back on the Pr
ave. There were no finer fellows in
the world than in the Third army, but
a wave of discouragement swept.
through the ranks. Were we to be
beaten?
''The Pave line was stronger-it
was our natural line. There we could
hold eff III" AuStrians coming down
from the north and prevent their
breaking into the italian plains. It
was only 40 miles back vet our army.
none of us, could realize this. It was
a retreat. And it became more and
more difficult to keep up the soldiers
to hold them together.
"The Third army numbered 100000.
1t was reduced during the campaign
from 100000 to 10000, but that was its
size when the retreat was ordered.
There were complications in the re-
treat. for down from the northwest
began to come detachments from the
Second army, mingling with our men,
tending to produce disorder.
Rain Makes Retreat Difficult.
Il shall never forget how it rained
during those, days. The Carso-Taglia.
mento region is marshy country.
we were was not far from the
sea. In the retreat we had to keep to
the roads. This made our falling back
all the harder.
II could never have done what had
to do had 1t not been for my general,
General Petillo, and the fact that I
was his aid-de-camp. Remember
that, besides the hurriedly retreating
soldiers pouring along the roads ev-
erywhere, disheartened and fearful, the
country people by thousands were re-
treating. Nobody knew what might
happen. The feeling was growing that
the war was lost That we would soon
make a new stand and brilliant one
along the Piave and later retrieve ev-
erything nobody realized. You could
not have told them that.
Fortunately, my general and I were
close to very important crossing Of
the Tagliamento, the bridge at Latis-
ano. Marshes were on every hand. In
reality there were two bridges, rail-
road bridge and one for foot passen-
gers. Soldiers and people were pour
ing oven the latter. 1t was seven
o'clock In the morning. The rain
driven air was filled with sense of
the unexpected and of gloom. At any
our men were likely to break
INTO panic.
Iscx-. - =