VII Hospital train CRI

Italian Red Cross ( a strange fan)

Flexible fan Italy 1915
Single page of paper
sticks 15 plus 2
height cm 19
spread cm 35

painted wooden sticks with vegetable theme at the throats, the sticks of head are painted and cut. The page printed on paper has a curious scene of “ rascal children” who seem to have exceeded with the wine. The interesting thing of this fan, otherwise of no value, is in the recto where Italian Red Cross marks are present and another one with the script VII TRENO OSPEDALE; in the space of the sticks then, from left to right, various signatures and sentences appear. With a pencil, maybe later added, , Mestre – 8 - VII - 915; then three signatures follow, then the script Ci salvi! Brontolando!! ,other two signatures and then <  verso Gorizia > and a monogram  on the same line, other four signatures follow belonging to the medical staff sent to the war where the first Isonzo battle had just finished (23th  June-7th  July 1915). The present scripts show us with precision the 3 front lines they were directed to: the Carso and Gorizia kept by Gen. Boroevic ( of whom we can see the portrait in the fan Austrian Red Cross). We thank the staff of the Historical Archive of the Red Cross,  Com. Claudio Amato and Mar. Mauro Tolomei, author of the research, who have allowed to find the Role of the VII Treno Ospedale with the names of the responsible of the formation of the convoy to Bologna, two of whom are recognizable on the fan.
Historical notes:
The scripts on the fan make us imagine the trust he had who directed the front line, Gorizia was conquered just on 9th August 1916 during the VI battle. In the nine battle of Isonzo, there were 120.630 dead and 310.940 wounded just in the Italian army.