The eighth battle of the Isonzo was the second of three short-
lived offensives launched on the Isonzo front in the autumn of
1916. The seventh battle, fought by the Italian Third Army had
ended after four days without making any significant progress.
For the eighth battle the Italian Second and Third Armies were
used. This gave the Italians 225 battalions, 26 dismounted
cavalry squadrons, 1,305 guns and 883 mortars. They faced 107
Austrian battalions supported by 538 guns. The Italian
bombardment began on 9 October. On 10 October the Italian
infantry attacked in heavy rain, and captured large parts of the
Austrian front line, along with 5,034 POWs. Mt. Sober, east of
Gorizia and Nova Vas on the Carso plateau were both captured.
The offensive had to be suspended on 11 October because of heavy
fog. It was renewed for one day on 12 October, and the Italians
were able to push the Austrians to the east of the River
Vallano, but at the end of the day the offensive was cancelled.
The Italians lost 24,000 men during