When you get to the "Stage Command" it is a bit difficult to imagine that these peaceful places were witnesses of such an important part of the history of Italy. The small hamlet of Vallonara, in fact, saw in the years of the 1st World War a great ferment of activity, with great comings and goings of military units, vehicles and artillery. In the spring of 1916, when the Austro-Hungarians unleashed on the Vicentine Prealps the "Strafexpedition", it experienced the convulsive rush of men and means, sent to counter the serious threat to the Venetian plain, while the refugees of the Plateau came down from the mountains.
Like many other towns in the foothills of Vicenza, this village, surrounded by green hills, was one of the immediate rear of the front of the Plateau. Vallonara was the residence of large units that went up to the battlefields or came down to rest after months of bitter fighting. In 1915, at the beginning of the War, the Treviso Brigade stopped here, in 1916 there were the Infantry Brigades "Catanzaro" and "Arno", in 1918 the "Teramo", the "Lecce" and the 3 regiment Bersaglieri. But the most significant presence was without doubt the legendary Sassari Brigade, set aside in May 1917 in Vallonara and Marostica (151 - 151 Rgt), and in San Michele and Bassano del Grappa (152. Rgt).
There are precious testimonies in various works the "Sassari" officers, such as Leonardo Motzo, The intrepid Sardinians of the Sassari Brigade, Alfredo Graziani "Scopa" Sardinian Infantry in the shadow of the Tricolor and especially Emilio Lussu, the best known among all with his One year on the Plateau. The "Intrepid Sardinians" coming from the karst front had arrived on the plateau in the first days of June 1916, just in time to stop, at the cost of huge losses, the enemy advance to Monte Fior, Monte Spill and Castelgomberto. After the Italian counter-offensive they took up positions at Croce Sant'Antonio and Monte Zebio, where they remained throughout the winter, until the following spring. Finally, to compensate them for the winter labors and to animate them in view of the upcoming offensive more commonly known as the "Battle of Ortigara", the brigade was sent to rest in the plain.
