Shot by lightening
By: Archaeology Explorer
Tags: Ww1, Archaeologyexplorer, Vidéo, Archaeology Tv Show, Outdoors

Written by David Van De Velde

The first time I went to the Dolomites and visited the mountain Sasso di Stria, I was in awe of its beauty. Nature there is inspiring. It is a graceful environment where I felt safe while I climbed the Via Ferrata. Well, I might have lost a bit of pee when I looked down the sheer vertical drop while ascending it.

However, there is no war when I was there. But during World War I, that mountain had fangs! The Dolomites weren’t a place to mess with. A lot of people got killed because of its raw natural force. There were avalanches, burying the unwary. Soldiers died due to the cold or fell off a cliff while traveling in darkness. (Keller 2009, 265)

Now, this story will be about a particular one of these dangers. A killer I didn’t consider existed until I read about it in a World War I soldier’s diary.

Consider that the largest part of the Alpine front consists of mountainous terrain. It has heights between 1.000 and 2.000 meters above sea level. Sometimes even up to 4.000 meters. (Daniel Marc Segesser 2018, 573) Now, what could be so dangerous at this altitude?

Lightening! Imagine having a long metal rifle and waiting on the top of a mountain to stand guard while hearing thunder in the faraway sky. You could leave your weapon, saying: “Hell no. I am dropping that thing in a heartbeat and search for shelter!” But what about holding a telephone then? Is that safe? It should be, right?

On the top of the mountain, Dolomites, Italy

The mountains’ top was ideal for optimal radio communication that also unwittingly acted as a giant lightning rod. (Keller 2009, 267) Karl Hane can attest to that.

Like many soldiers, he knew of the dangers. (Daniel Marc Segesser 2018, 582) They all witnessed the lightning flashes that immersed the peak into a “sea of flames,” as written in the article ‘The Alps During the Great War.’ (Keller 2009, 267)

Hane, however, got to see the lightning show too close for comfort. He got struck by lightning and recorded the events in his diary at the hospital while the medical crew nursed him back to shape. (Daniel Marc Segesser 2018, 586)

And this is what he experienced. Hane saw a dark storm brewing from Monte Zugna. As a reaction, he ordered the officer cadet to turn off the telephone. Suddenly, Hane heard a loud noise and became aware of a feeling of a hot metal poke slicing down his leg. After a sense of searing pain, he felt his foot turn numb. At his side, the officer cadet lay dead and still holding the shell of the telephone. But he had survived. (Daniel Marc Segesser 2018, 586)

Hane’s foot recovered from the numbness. However, the grass they were standing on was left charred. For a short time, it had been on fire from the electrical impact. The lighting found its way through Hane’s loaded rifle without triggering it. His trousers, shirt even underpants went in tatters. (Daniel Marc Segesser 2018, 586–87) Hane got lucky!

So now you know. When in the mountains, throw away your cellphone when you hear thunder roaring. And don’t forget to toss those car keys too.

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Bibliography

Daniel Marc Segesser. 2018. “Fighting Where Nature Joins Forces with the Enemy: Nature, Living Conditions, and Their Representation in the War in the Alps 1915–1918.” The Hungarian Historical Review 7 (3): 568–593.

Keller, Tait. 2009. “The Mountains Roar: The Alps during the Great War.” Environmental History 14 (2): 253–274. https://doi.org/10.1093/envhis/14.2.253.