Part Twenty-Five
Tirane
Ever since our landing, most of the combat was concentrated around the port of Tirane. Enemy units in pocket were getting low on supplies, which brought a relieve to our defenders, now under attack from only one side. But with the arrival of new units from north, the battle intensified, and first cracks began to appear in our defense. The casualties were high, and hardly any unit had more than a half of its original strength.
Heavy battles were also fought in the air. Italians had supremacy in quality and quantity, and inflicted heavy loses to our air forces, up to a point where all our air missions had to be called off. The enemy continued to bomb our troops unopposed. A modest anti aircraft defense in Tirane proved totally ineffective.
On 22nd December our reinforcements arrived. Three divisions were deployed directly in Tirane, and one division south of the pocket. The battle immediately started to turn in our favor. With the last strength, our troops launched a counterattack northeast of Tirane, and forced the enemy to break off their attack. Our defenders had finally received some much needed rest.
The pocket
While the battle of Tirane was raging, our troops were attacking the enemy pocket from south, slowly reducing its size. Our attack gained in strength with the arrival of fresh division and we advanced north, reached Tirane and cut the enemy pocket in two. There were now two pockets, with seven enemy divisions in western one, and three in the eastern one. What was more important, we established another land connection with our troops in Tirane. So even if the connection through Yugoslavia would fall, the defenders wouldn’t be cut off.
After the battle of Tirane ended, we attacked the western enemy pocket. Heavy fighting lasted until 5th January, when the last enemy unit surrendered.
In the meantime, a new attack on Tirane began.
Operations, December 1942 – January 1934
Yugoslav offensive
Almost all of our forces were engaged in battles around Tirane, which left other sectors of front vulnerable. Yugoslav troops exploited our weakness and started to advance south.
Front line, 5th January 1943
Allied invasion
In early December, Allied troops landed in France and captured Cherbourg. For some reason I had high hopes for this invasion, but after a few weeks in ended up like many others before, in failure.
