The Battle of Caporetto, which began on October 24, 1917, is the most famous and most misunderstood battle of the Italian front. At Caporetto, the Italian Army suffered one of the most stunning defeats of the entire First World War. Italian casualties totaled 40,000 dead and wounded, over 280,000 prisoners and 3,150 artillery pieces captured[1]. The Italian army was reduced in size by one half, from 65 infantry divisions to 33 and the Italian province of Friuli was abandoned to the enemy along with much of the Veneto Province. Today, more than eighty years after the event, Italians still say "It was a Caporetto." to mean "It was a complete disaster".
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