Page 173 - The Secret War in the Italian front in WWI (1915-1918)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Following the disappointing outcome of the agreement with the Allies, and in compliance with
assigned tasks, Sacco tried to interpret intercepted enemy dispatches on his own. O. Marchetti
explains: “we had no enemy code or chipher, it had not been possible to get them during peacetime
and nobody considered it useful to request their research to our agents. […] However, an Engineer
Corps Lieutenant, despite he had no knowledge of the German language, proved to be so brilliant
in his reasoning and deductions that, with the help of other officers, he managed to get some
plaintext fragments of intercepted encoded messages” .
64
Sacco’s efforts in cryptanalysis remained solitary throughout 1915. He did not get any help he
relieved of the burden to manage the development and operation of the radio network implemented
for carrying out interception and goniometric measurements.

8.5 ITALIAN RADIO OVER THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF WAR

evoluTIon of radIoTelegraPhy aPPlIcaTIons
Since the early months of war, the Italian Army realized the need of a more extensive radio usage,
including new applications, such as “air-to-ground communications and fast warnings about
enemy aircrafts approaching” .
65
Radio communications between
ground locations were specially
wanted in emergencies, when
bad weather interrupted physical
connections, or during artillery
fire systematically destroying
wire connections that could not
be quickly restored. Moreover,
locations in the mountains, difficult
to be reached via physical lines,
could be connected only by radio.
The demand of new radio
links conflicted with “limited
availability of equipment along
with the difficulty obtaining them
from Italian industry”. Therefore,
“while the national request of 8.8 A 500 W truck mounted transmitter. The rotating spark gap is
visible on the right (ISCAG Archive)
radiotelegraphic equipment for the
Army increases” , some measures
66
were adopted to to fill the gap, at least partially, between demand and offer, such as:
– the transfer to some army Corps and observers of stations previously assigned to Cavalry
Divisions;

64 O. Marchetti, op. cit., p. 87. Marchetti erroneously recalled Sacco was a Lieutenant.
65 Office of Chief of Staff, Technical Branch, Confidential circular letter, Subject: Ordinamento e dipendenza del Servizio
Radiotelegrafico (Organization and employment of radiotelegraphic service), 20 September 1015, ISCAG, Coll. 220.
66 Chief Inspector of the Military Radiotelegraphic Service, Relazione Tecnica sul Servizio Radiotelegrafico nell’Esercito
Operante durante la Guerra Italo - Austriaca (1915 -1918) (Technical report on the radiotelegraphic service of the army
during the Italo-Austrian war, 1915-1918), ISCAG, Coll. 242.

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