IR 30

A fairly rare and much sought for badge is the IR 30 badge with the image of the Salcano railway bridge. The defense lines of the Monarchy on the Italian front followed basically the Isonzo river from the Adriatic sea up to the Alps. This line was somewhat backwards from the state borders. Two important bridge heads were kept by the A-H Army: Görz and Tolmein-St Lucia. Both of them were attacked continuously by the Italians. The Görz bridge head extended to the Mt Sabotino hill over the town Görz on the Western bank of the river. Opposite to it lies another hill Mt San Gabriele. The railway of the Isonzo valley crossed the river between these two hills. The badge depicts the viaduct over the Isonzo at the village Salcano (today Solkan, Slovenia). It was blown up by the A-H troops when they had to evacuate the Görz bridgehead in 1916.

The 30th Infantry Regiment from Lemberg was deployed in this front section in November 1915. Up till the evacuation of Görz in August 1916 they remained here subordinated to the 9th Infantry Division. They remained in the Italian front until September 1918. The badge shows the viaduct and the Western bank of the river with Mt Sabotino and Podgora hill in the background. The Salcano viaduct has been an impressive symbol of the Great War, many books have been decorated with its image. I also tried my hands to create a modern version with the Kappenabzeichen.