Albanian Assignment: The Memoir of an SOE Agent in World War Two (The Extraordinary Life of Colonel David Smiley Book 1) by David Smiley

Author:David Smiley [Smiley, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2020-08-01T22:00:00+00:00

In case of an Allied landing the National Liberation Councils must be the real power. They must mobilize the whole people round them and should not allow other forces such as the Balli Kombëtar to exert any influence on the people… The National Liberation forces must begin from now on to assert themselves everywhere, and, when the landing takes place, they must present themselves to the Allies, through the National Liberation Councils as the only power of the Albanian people… The administration of Albania should be entirely in the hands of the Liberation Councils.

This was clearly the explanation for the reluctance of Mehmet Shehu to commit the 1st Partisan Brigade into any action against the Germans, and was written proof, if further proof was necessary, that the LNÇ had no intention of keeping the Mukaj Agreement.

This agreement came about in the following way. At the time of the Italian surrender in July 1943, a meeting was held in the house of Ihsan Bey Toptani at Topize. Toptani was a patriotic Albanian from a distinguished family, whose father had been a member of the first Albanian Regency Council after Albania became independent. He was not aligned with any particular political party and was in touch with the leaders of all parties, and so his house was a suitable neutral ground where they could all meet. However, the Italians got wind of the meeting and sent out troops and tanks to arrest those taking part, and the whole meeting had to be transferred to the village of Mukaj.

At the meeting the leaders of the LNÇ, including Abas Kupi, for at this time the LNÇ in theory was formed as a broad nationalist front, and the Balli Kombëtar all came to an understanding. On 2 August they signed an agreement, the most important points of which were: firstly, the setting up of a committee of twelve members (six from the LNÇ and six from the Balli Kombëtar), called ‘The Committee for the Salvation of Albania’; secondly, both parties agreed that they would fight against the German and Italian occupiers of their country until Albania was free; and thirdly, they agreed that after liberation the form of the regime would be determined by the people of Albania. This agreement was almost immediately denounced by the Central Council of the LNÇ. It was this action that caused Abas Kupi to leave the LNÇ in disgust and reactivate his own party, known as the Legality Movement, which became more commonly known as the Zogist Movement.

Passing through Ballist outposts, we again entered partisan-held territory, and reached the recently liberated town of Berat. An old citadel on a great rock dominated the picturesque houses of the town. It was full of partisans and Italians milling around, apparently oblivious to the proximity of the German troops who were gathering on the outskirts of the town. We stayed an uneasy two days there, sleeping in the biggest hotel, on whose front door was a sign in Albanian saying ‘Commissars only’; thus honoured, we were able to appreciate the hot baths that were available.

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