One-legged Italian Bersaglieri soldier Enrico Toti posing for a photograph with his bicycle, 1916. .

One-legged Italian Bersaglieri soldier Enrico Toti posing for a photograph with his bicycle, 1916.
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Today 108 years ago, on August 6, 1916, the incredible heroics of the one-legged Italian soldier Enrico Toti took place during the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo.
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Enrico Toti was born in Rome on August 20, 1882, being the son of a railway worker. Aged 14, Toti enlisted in the Italian Navy in 1896 and was involved in clashes with Eritrean pirates in the Red Sea in 1904. In 1905, Toti left the Navy and joined his father for work on the railways instead.
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On March 2, 1908, Enrico Toti became victim of a tragic accident. While working on a train, another train heading in his direction steered out of balance and hit his left leg into the train he was working on. Toti survived but was forced to have his left leg amputated, and from that moment having to rely on a crutch.
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Although Toti did not lose heart, as he dedicated his life to his studies, entrepreneurship and sports, in particular cycling.
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In 1911, he took a bicycle trip from Rome to Paris onwards to Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and finally the Lapland in Finland, returning to Rome via Russia and Austria-Hungary in June 1912. The following year, he drove a similar trip to Egypt, all while being one-legged.
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In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary and Toti immediately volunteered into the Italian Army, but he was rejected due to his disability. After being rejected a further two times, Toti decided to take matters into his own hands, as he took his bicycle and drove to the Isonzo Front in June 1915.
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He was soon arrested by the Italian military police and was forced to return to civilian life. In January 1916, with the help of the Duke of Aosta - commander of the Italian 3rd Army, he managed to join a Cyclist Battalion of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment. In April 1916, he was issued his own Adrian helmet, which he would soon use in battle.

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