The Battle of Gjorm ( sq, Beteja e Gjormit) was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

. The battle took place on January 1–2, 1943, in the areas of

Gjorm Gjorm is a village in the Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. It was part of the former municipality Brataj. At the 2015 local government reform, it became part of the municipality Selenicë. World War II During World War II, Gjorm was part of ...

, Vranisht, Dukat,

Tragjas Tragjas is a community in the Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Vlorë. History The village has been inhabited since ancient times where the ruins of the city of Sofa are lo ...

and Tërbaç in south-western Albania.

Prelude

After the occupation of the Kingdom of Albania by the

in 1939, several resistance groups were formed. The most important of these groups were

Balli Kombëtar The Balli Kombëtar (literally ''National Front''), known as Balli, was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The move ...

, a nationalist organization formed by Mit'hat Frashëri and

Ali Këlcyra Ali Bey Këlcyra (May 28, 1891 – September 24, 1963) born Ali Klissura, was an Albanian lord and a member of the Albanian parliament in the 1920s. He was co-founder with Mid'hat Frashëri of the Balli Kombëtar organization in 1942, and t ...

and the

Albanian National Liberation Front The National Liberation Movement ( sq, Lëvizja Nacional-Çlirimtare; or ''Lëvizja Antifashiste Nacional-Çlirimtare'' (LANÇ)), also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World ...

, which later became a communist group led by

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...

and

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanians, Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was Secretary (title)#First secretary, First Secretary of t ...

. Dukat and

became two of the centers of Balli Kombëtar, whose forces in the region were led by

Hysni Lepenica Hysni is an Albanian masculine given name and may refer to: * Hysni Curri (died 1925), Kosovar-Albanian military figure and revolutionary *Hysni Kapo (1915–1979), Albanian military commander and politician *Hysni Krasniqi Hysni Krasniqi (bor ...

, a military commander, and Skënder Muço, a prominent lawyer from

. Mehmet Shehu, a commander of the Albanian National Liberation Front, created a partisan unit in the wider region of Mallakastër. Beginning in mid-1942, there were frequent minor attacks against the Italian troops located in the area. In November 1942, these attacks intensified. The commander of the heavily armed Italian troops in the area, which initially numbered 2,000, was Colonel Franco Clementi.

Battle

The main battle, which lasted thirty-six hours, took place on January 1–2, 1943. The Albanian units were supported during the battle by 300 local volunteers. During the battle, the Italian army used

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

s as well as field guns and many

machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ...

. The battle ended with the decisive defeat of the Italians, who were completely routed from the battlefield, which came under Albanian control. A total of 186 Italian soldiers and officers were killed, including the commander of the Italian troops, Colonel Clementi, while hundreds were wounded and 80 were taken prisoner. Two Italian tanks were destroyed, while military equipment captured by the Albanians included three field guns, twenty-nine machine guns, large quantities of ammunition, and hundreds of rifles.

Aftermath

After being defeated and routed from the battlefield, the Italian army engaged in reprisals against the civilians of the five villages of Dukat, Gjorm, Trëbaç, Tragjas, and Vranisht. The Italian air force bombed the villages. During these attacks, there were many civilian victims including the mayor of Dukat, Shukri Cane. As a consequence of another

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

, Gjorm was also mortared until it was completely ruined. A 1981 painting by

Fatmir Haxhiu Fatmir Haxhiu (1927, in Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and ...

, entitled ''Gjorm War'' ( sq, Lufta e Gjormit), commemorates the Battle of Gjorm. The painting is on display in the National Historical Museum of Albania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjorm, Battle of Conflicts in 1943 1943 in Albania Military history of Albania during World War II Battles involving Balli Kombëtar Military history of Italy during World War II