Page - 399 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

On the Isonzo and in the Sette Comuni 399 of British and French aircraft were used, which were flown as reconnaissance planes, fighters and bombers.947 During the first weeks, only one biplane and two monoplanes appeared over the Isonzo, which were used to monitor the artillery and which were af- fectionately nicknamed ‘Franzl’, ‘Seppl’ and ‘Bombenschani’.948 The Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops also had little to offer, however, and only put four aviation companies to use with reconnaissance aircraft, and with two fighters per company. However, a construction programme was simultaneously begun that was designed to provide Aus- tria-Hungary with relative superiority in the air. In one area, this was already secured, namely in terms of naval aviation. Here, Italy only had three aircraft at all that were suitable for an aviation battle, while the Imperial and Royal naval aviators with their ‘Lohner L’ type flying boats started from new bases on the Adriatic coast and domi- nated the air space over the sea and the areas close the coast.949 When considering the advantages and disadvantages, the war experience among the Imperial and Royal troops also proved highly significant, and it very soon became ev- ident that a mode of operation that had already been tried and tested could not sim- ply be offset by patriotism, courage and iron discipline. The concept of setting morale against machine guns had always been one that led to infinite losses. Therefore, if there was one thing that could be determined after just a short period of time, it was the fact that Italy was almost nowhere able to put its considerable superiority to use. It also cost effort to even force the soldiers to fight at all. While the Italians immediately began to play off their superior artillery, the infantry took up positions and entire brigades remained inactive in their staging areas for up to five days. The Italian leadership began to dismiss commanders, but success continued to elude them. Italy’s allies, who had anticipated a decisive offensive by a fully replenished, well-rested army and as a result a gradual relief for the Allied front, expressed their disappointment accordingly. However, it was not only the army that was a disappointment. Even more than this, the Entente powers must have regarded it as an unexpected setback that the Italian Fleet at first failed to make an appearance. In the discussions regarding the naval war, it had been agreed that the Allied fleets should become active immediately. As soon as the First Fleet dominated the lower Adriatic, the Second was to follow behind. The hope was then that the Imperial and Royal Navy would be forced into a decisive battle.950 The First Fleet, a fighting power that was superior to the Imperial and Royal units in every way, sat waiting for day ‘X’ in the naval bases at Taranto and Brindisi. This was by no means the case with the Imperial and Royal Navy. It had been kept ready for this day by the commander of the fleet, Admiral Haus, and was to justify its existence by issuing a powerful sign of life. Haus had already begun on 19 May to have the approach routes monitored that would probably be used by the Italian Fleet in case of an attack. The air base at Kumbor in the Bay of Kotor was to report the movements of the Entente fleet beyond the Adriatic. However, the naval aviators were able to bring