Forte Busa Grande

Fort Busa Grande is an Austro-Hungarian fort built between March and May of 1915. The fort had the aim of retiring the antiquated forts of Col De Le Benne and Tenna, which were nearby. The work on the fort was completed very quickly due to the use of Russian prisoners of war. They disarmed the outdated fort of Col De Le Bene and transferred its arms to the newly constructed Busa Grande. The fort was built at the extreme range of the Italian heavy artillery batteries at Porta Manazzo and the Sella Valley. The fort housed a battery of howitzers in a shell-proof cave. 2 10cm M05 guns and the observation dome from De Benne were placed here after being removed from their locations.

Busa Grande was equipped with a large amount of artillery, with eight 9 cm QF guns emplaced in three field batteries. Later, four 12 cm guns were emplaced in field batteries nearby. Busa Grande was an Austro-Hungarian fortification with its own electricity, water, small field hospital, ammo supply, a kitchen, and a telephone exchange. Supply was not a problem because the supply road from Pergine was out of sight of the Italian artillery.