The soldiers behaved magnificently, as however might have been expected of the heroes they were. There was not the slightest sign anywhere of any disposition to “swagger” or show off either on the part of the officers or men; they simply came in quietly and took possession of Gorizia like an army of gentlemen.
To the inhabitants caged up in their houses, and peeping from their shuttered windows, the remarkable scene could have been little short of a revelation. This unostentatious entry of the Italian troops must indeed have been very different to what they had expected.
I tried to picture in my mind what would have taken place had the Austrians succeeded in getting into Vicenza!
Strange and unexpected incidents could be witnessed everywhere. In a narrow side street I saw a regiment coming along, the men marching like athletes; at their head was the Colonel, a fine, grey-haired old fellow as alert in bearing as any of his subalterns.
The men were halted, and there was a hurried consultation of the map. The Colonel was evidently in a quandary. I understood he was in doubt as to which was the quickest way out of the city to get to San Marco.
To my surprise, then, a young Italian girl came from one of the houses and boldly gave him the necessary information, whilst out of the windows all round one saw eyes glaring down on her with impotent fury.
In the street where this took place many of the houses had been damaged by shells, and in several instances the shop fronts were so wrecked that everything that was left intact could have been easily got at through the broken windows; it only meant putting your hand in and helping yourself, since there was no one that day to stop you, and several of the shops had quite tempting displays of goods, yet I did not hear of a single case of looting; this, I fancy, was evidence of a remarkable state of affairs, and which reflected additional credit on the soldiers.
A curious little scene was witnessed at the Town Hall when the representatives of the Italian Government took over the place and the municipal archives.
A number of Gorizia’s civil dignitaries, together with their womenfolk, put in an appearance. Many of the people had not seen each other for days during the height of the fighting, and their joy at meeting again, though under such altered circumstances, was quite touching, and there was a lot of embracing and weeping.
One or two of the younger women were smartly dressed and very good looking. They looked a bit nervous at first, but this soon wore off when they found we meant them no harm.