Part One
Memorie.al / The document we publish in this article is a report by British Major Kemp, a very skilled military expert who participated in the organization of the First Partisan Brigade, led by Mehmet Shehu. He recounts in detail the circumstances of the creation of this brigade of about 700 men, well-armed by the Allied forces. Meanwhile, the British major testifies that this unit failed in the fight against the arrival of the Germans in August 1943, because it was not properly organized and its leaders acted against British advice. Kemp confirms that the organization of the brigade into battalions was absurd, because it offered no possibility for effective guerrilla warfare.
“Unfortunately,” notes the Western soldier, “the leadership of the National Liberation War used the word brigade or battalion only for propaganda purposes, while they never accepted the advantage of guerrilla warfare. “Later,” specifies Major Kemp, “we came to the conclusion that this form of organization was needed mostly to strike the forces of *Balli Kombëtar*, rather than the Nazi ones”!
On the other hand, he states that this brigade was formed for frontal combat, but it never succeeded. Among its failures, he mentions the first actions against the Germans on the Leskovik-Korçë road, the conflicts with the *Balli Kombëtar* bands, the numerous reprisals against the civilian population, etc.
Of particular interest, especially for field researchers are Major Kemp’s professional analyses of the combat methods of German and Italian forces in Albania. His report is part of the documents of the War Office Archive, where Kemp collected the work done in our country, from August 1943 to March 1944…!
THE DOCUMENT
Report on Albania August 1943 – March 1944.
Written by Major P.M.M. Kemp, Mission in Albania
At the beginning of August 1943, there were three British military missions in Albania known as “Consensus,” “Splinter,” and “Slender.” That same month, four other missions were infiltrated. The “Sculptor” mission, led by Major Tillman; “Sapling” led by Major Field; “Sconce” led by Major Seymour; and the “Stepmother” mission under my command.
Our tasks were simple: to kill Italians and Germans, to lower their morale as much as possible, to keep their forces occupied, to find arms and adequate support for the Albanian bands, regardless of their political affiliation, that were ready to fight the enemy, and to obtain as much information as possible on military and political matters.
I parachuted on August 10th to the “Consensus” mission, which was under the command of Major Maclean. With me was a paramilitary agent, Gregson Allcot, and the operator Roberts, who had arrived a month before me and was waiting for me. I parachuted into Shtyllë, a mountainous area that was a Muslim village about 10 miles southwest of Korçë.
When we arrived, the “Splinter” and “Slender” missions had moved to the north of the country, while the “Consensus” mission was engaged in organizing operations in the area of the Korçë-Leskovik road, which was one of the main communication links of the Germans with Greece. They were cooperating with the forces of the National Liberation Front and were in close contact with the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front, located 3 miles further on, in Vithkuq.
In cooperation with them, the training of the First Brigade, located in Vithkuq, was being carried out. Major Maclean was also in contact with some local leaders of Balli Kombëtar and was urging them to take part in actions against this road, under the direction of Captain Smiley.
A few days later, we organized a conference to define the areas where we would work, and then Major Seymour left for the Pezë area, Major Field left for Vlorë, and Major Tillman for Gjirokastër.
I stayed in this area to help Maclean deal with the National Liberation Front Committee. Our aim was that, as soon as we received permission from the command in Cairo, I would leave for Kosovo. By mid-August, the First Brigade was adequately prepared, armed with all equipment, and ready for operations.
It was commanded by Mehmet Shehu, capable and courageous, who had fought in the Spanish Civil War, where we had been opponents – a fact I never mentioned. The brigade was divided into 4 battalions of 150-200 men each, fairly well armed with mortars, light machine guns, and anti-tank rifles.
On August 20th, the brigade moved from Vithkuq towards Barmash on the Korçë-Leskovik road, together with Mehmet Shehu, who had planned the operations with us. A few days earlier, the National Liberation Front Committee had left Vithkuq to go to the Elbasan area, for greater security.
Maclean, Smiley, and Duffy followed the Brigade, while I gathered details to contact Professor Safet Butka, a powerful local leader of Balli Kombëtar, who had had some problems with the partisans.
This was my first experience of the hostility spreading between the National Liberation Front and the right-wing Balli Kombëtar, led by local landowners. After meeting Professor Butka and doing my best to reassure him about his concern, I joined Maclean’s group in the evening.
The road passed through mountains and swamps, making it suitable for ambushes. The plan was for Mehmet Shehu to move his brigade during the night and position the partisans on both sides of the valley overlooking the road, after ground scouts reported that there were no enemies in that area.
Lt. Duffy went with a group to destroy the bridge to Berat, south of Leskovik. Thus, as soon as the enemy appeared from the southern part of the Korçë road, it would be closed off by the partisans and then shot at from both sides of the valley. On the other hand, Duffy would blow up the bridge to Berat, closing the road to the south. The plan did not go as intended.
Duffy reached Berat, but saw that the bridge was well protected and impossible to blow up. Meanwhile, one of the partisan battalions, while trying to cross the road, came under fire from a German post that had been placed after our check.
We discovered it was only a single platoon of 20 Germans.
Major Maclean, Captain Smiley, and I spent the whole day trying to convince Mehmet Shehu to attack those 20 Germans and adopt a new plan, but Mehmet, influenced also by his battalion commanders, refused and withdrew the battalion to Vithkuq. There were 700 well-armed and trained partisans, intimidated and frightened by 20 Germans.
The next day, Captain Smiley returned to Shtyllë, while Major Maclean and I, together with two Albanians, shot a German staff car that was out in front on reconnaissance. This staff car was going to Korçë alone, ahead of an approaching large German column.
I believe we killed 3 or 4 Germans, although my weapon jammed during the attack. In any case, we were delayed and forced to flee amid bullets from the approaching column. On the way back to Shtyllë, we passed through several villages controlled by Balli Kombëtar forces, and we were refused food or shelter because they feared German reprisals, having heard about our actions. In fact, in one village, the people were so angry that we thought we should leave quickly, otherwise we would be shot. We reached Shtyllë in the evening. In the morning, an Italian force of 1,000 troops, well equipped with 2 155mm guns and 2 more 65mm guns, launched an operation towards Vithkuq and Shtyllë, but they did not know that 700 partisans, well-armed and occupying favorable positions, were waiting for them.
On the first day they thoroughly cleared both villages, and on the second day they took the hills overlooking Vithkuq, with difficulty pushing the partisans from their positions; had the partisans been more determined, the Italians would have found it impossible to break through.
I spent the whole day in contact with the front-line troops of the First Brigade. The Italians took these positions from us on the morning of the next day, and during the afternoon their troops advanced with the help of light artillery, mortar fire, and two aircraft.
The partisans found it impossible to succeed and withdrew with few losses. That same morning we moved the headquarters from Shtyllë to a safer place in the woods, burying any equipment we could not carry. During the morning we tried to do something before the Italians entered Shtyllë.
We decided to blow up the path we had used, but we did not succeed, and Duffy and Jenkins nearly lost their lives. The Italians burned both villages, Shtyllë and Vithkuq, while the inhabitants managed to flee to the hills. Those who could not were killed by the Italians. Then they withdrew towards Korçë./ Memorie.al
To be continued in the next issue
