Dominic Sandbrook

It starts raining as soon as they set off, so they're all completely sodden and waterlogged.

They draw their swords.

There's a band.

They're shouting, Savoy, which is their kind of war cry at the house of Savoy.

They start to go off uphill.

They're all carrying backpacks that are 35 kilograms in weight.

What are they taking?

Pots.

pasta are they eating pasta by this point or isn't that invented by americans in 1958 1964 yeah yeah invented in st louis missouri but isn't that the way with all italian dishes i gather so that's what i vaguely remember

No, but 35 kilograms.

You've got the weight of two suitcases, two full suitcases on your back, staggering up this limestone.

It's raining.

Soon the sun's going to come out and then you'll be steaming or whatever.

What the hell are they taking?

Anyway, they stagger up this hill.

Then the Austrians start shooting at them.

Most of the officers were killed straight away.

The men are all scrambling around on their hands and knees to take cover.

And De Stolfo said, in a whirl of death and glory, within a few moments, the epic Garibaldian style of warfare is crushed and consigned to the shadows of history.

And basically there's then another rainstorm which stops the battle and the Italian survivors sort of stagger back down the hill with their backpacks and they're back to where they started.