In early April 1945 the 4th Alpini Regiment of the 2nd Division Littorio held a long front running from Rifugio Benevolo near Rhêmes to La Forclaz, passing through several peaks including the Roc de Belleface and Traversette.

On 10 April, the French captured the Roc de Belleface, but it was reoccupied by the Alpini and some German troops of the 100th Gebirgsjäger Regiment[2] the following day.

On April 25, the French 27th Alpine Infantry Division under General Eugène Molle [it] was preparing to enter Italian territory (Val d'Aosta) across the Little Saint Bernard.

Although they intended to blow up bridges and tunnels and render the highway (Statale 26) and railway unusable,[3] the commander of the 4th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Armando De Felice, threatened the German troops with retaliation to prevent demolitions.

[1] On 27 April, De Felice contacted Augusto Adam, the local leader of the partisans affiliated with the National Liberation Committee to secure his cooperation against any French invasion of Italian territory, which was given.