The Battles of Sasso di Sesto was a series of clashes between the Royal Italian Army and Austro-Hungarian Army for control of the Sasso di Sesto (Sextenstein) mountain in the Dolomite Alps of South Tyrol on the Italian front of World War I.
The Sasso di Sesto was occupied by the Italians in a courageous joint action of infantry and Alpini between 14 and 17 August 1915. The Italians advanced in the basin between the famous Tre cime di Lavaredo and the Sasso di Sesto under heavy fire, taking shelter among the boulders dotted throughout before finally capturing the mountain. The Austro-Hungarians tried several times to recapture it, and the fighting often turned into intense melee comba. The ultimate objective, the imposing Torre di Toblin, would remain in Austrian hands for the rest of the war.
In September 1915, Austrian Landesschützen were replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Von Paumgarten's troops, who received orders to retake the mountain, which was defended by the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment. The Austrians, backed by artillery, failed to penetrate the Italian defenses, as the Italians utilized their own artillery to repel the Austrian attacks on 30 October. On 1 November, the Austrians managed to capture the summit of the Sasso di Sesto and planted charges, but the Italians thwarted the sabotage plot and drove the Austrians back. The poor winter weather forced the Austrians to cease their attacks on the mountain for the year. In March 1917, a company of Tiroler Schuetzen from Innsbruck was deployed to replace the previous troops and conquer the summit, and the attack began on 11 April 1917. The Austrians took the sleeping Alpini by surprise, and the Austrians succeeded in capturing the Sasso after brutal hand-to-hand combat. The Italians launched a counterattack which forced the Austrians to retreat to the top of the summit, which the Austrians held until the end of the war.
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