Fort Sommo

Fort Sommo, also known as Fort Sommo Alto, is an Austro-Hungarian fort built in the Lavarone-Folgaria group, a group of forts built between the municipalities of Lavarone and Folgaria in Northern Italy. Fort Sommo was called an "Intermediate Work” which meant that it was not the heavily armed forts of Lusern and Verle, but was not as weakly armed and armored as a roadblock. The fort was built between 1911 and September 25, 1914. Sommo was built to gap the distance between forts Sebastiano and Serrada. Overall, Sommo was considered the weakest of the seven forts of the Lavarone-Folgaria group in regard to arms and armor. The fortifications in the Lavarone-Folgaria group were also built to keep back the Italians while Austrian troops assembled for an attack against Veneto.

A drawing showing the layout of the fort and its firing angles. Infantry Work "S" is the bottom group and "R" is the one on the right.

Construction

The fort was supposed to have 2 10cm howitzers in casemates facing towards Fort Serrada, but this was scrapped in favor of 2 10cm howitzers in 25cm thick rotatable armored domes placed 140ft apart. 2 more Tower Howitzers (T.H) were planned, but due to the ballooning costs, they were placed in the casemate battery. The fort was built out of concrete and reinforced by steel, with 3 distinct parts. There was the casemate battery, and 2 smaller infantry works "S" and "R" near the fort. Only the top floor was above ground, and the rear of the fort was dug into the rock. 3 out of 4 sides were covered by earth, while the 4th was partially exposed to fit more guns facing towards the Italian Border.

Casemate block

The casemate block is a rectangle shape and is anchored to the natural rock on each end. The 3 floors were the basement, the 1st floor, and the 2nd floor, which housed the 10cm howitzers. Also on top of the fort was a rotatable observation stand and an armored machine gun dome.

The basement consisted of:

• 2 supply rooms
• A standby room
• A rechargeable battery
• A generator room
• A workshop
• A fuel depot
• 1 staircase to the 1st floor

In the rear of the basement, a tunnel led to the infantry works “R” and “S”. There was also a postern which replaced the no longer usable front entrance after the Italians shelled it during the war.

The 1st floor consisted of:

• The original entrance with a machine gun casemate covering the entrance,
• A casemate with 2 machine guns covering the surrounding trenches

• A kitchen
• An infirmary
• A doctors office
• An emergency exit
• 2 standby rooms
• A commander's suite
• A telephone room
• A tomb for 6 coffins
• 1 staircase to the upper floor

The upper floor consisted of:

• A optical signal station for communicating with Fort Serrada
• 4 ammo magazines, 2 with lifts to the howitzers above
• 2 soldiers quarters
• An officers room
• A staircase
• An emergency exit

On the 2nd floor there was a continuous corridor with entrances to the howitzers and the observation dome.

Infantry works

Complex “R” consisted of 2 adjacent bunkers "behind" Fort Sommo, using their sides viewed from the fort to denote which one. They are connected to each other and Sommo by a rock postern. The bunkers had the job of controlling the Val Orsana.

Complex “S”, just like Complex “R”, consists of 2 bunkers and is connected to the casemate block by a postern. The 2 bunkers are called “Front” and “Trench”, Complex “S” had the job of guarding the Coe pass, as well as the access road.

Armament

• 2 10cm T.H M9 Howitzers mounted in the casemate block
• 3 armored domes with 2 machine guns each in the casemate block
• 1 rotating observation stand with a machine gun in the casemate block
• 2 armored domes with 1 dome having a machine gun, and 1 having 2 machine guns  in Complex “R”’s right bunker
• 1 armored casemate with 2 machine guns in Complex “R”’s left bunker
• 2 armored domes, 1 with a machine gun, and 1 with 2 machine guns in Complex “S”’s front bunker
• 1 armored dome with 2 machine guns in Complex “S”’ trench bunker
• 2 21cm spotlights in R left
• 1 35cm spotlight in R right
• 1 21cm spotlight in complex S front

Crew

The fort was supposed to be crewed by State Shooter Regiment No.I “Trento”, but since the unit was on the Eastern Front when the war broke out an emergency crew was taken from State Shooter Regiment No.II “Bolzano” The wartime crew in May 1915 was 8 officers and 162 enlisted men. In preparation for the Battle of Asiago, 25 officers and 56 enlisted men were stationed at the fort.

World War I

During WWI, Fort Sommo wasn’t attacked by Italian infantry and the shelling was rather superficial compared to the shelling of forts Lusern and Verle. Starting in May 1915, 28cm batteries fired 1400 shells at Sommo. The most intense shelling period was from August 25 to October 7, 1915. In this time, 712 shells landed on the fort's grounds, with only 49 shells hitting the buildings. Of these 11 were on the armored domes, which the shells couldn’t puncture. On August 30, 1915, a hole was punctured in the pre-armor of the rotating observation turret, although this was a dud. The shell then protruded from the pre-armor by 17cm. The Italians posted a battery of 14.9cm guns 4.5mi away on Col Santo. These guns began shelling the surrounding trenches, as well as the access road. To combat this, a postern was drilled through the rock to a protected part of the road. When the Austro-Hungarian army collapsed at the end of 1918, Sommo continued firing to cover their retreat until the ammunition was exhausted.

Post-war to today

Forte Sommo as of 2009.

Because of the lack of heavy shelling, the fort is in good condition compared to Lusern and Verle. Despite fort being scrapped for steel in the 1930s, the blasts were used sparingly compared to other forts. The fort was decommissioned on August 12, 1927. Even after the war, the fort was still armed with its steel domes and guns. In 1961, the municipality of Folgaria purchased Sommo and began renovating it. The fort can be entered because a staircase was installed leading to the various levels.