Skanderbeg was an Albanian
military unit assigned to the 14th Italian Army Corps, composed of Albanian soldiers recruited in Albania
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. This unit participated in the Italian counteroffensive against insurgents in
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
, during the
Uprising in Montenegro in 1941.
Skanderbeg was composed of four battalions
and had the strength of one division
or two regiments.
Uprising in Montenegro
During the Italian offensive this military unit operated on the territory between
Skadar Lake
Lake Skadar ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, ; sq, Liqeni i Shkodrës, ) also called Lake Scutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern ...
,
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
and
Ulcinj
Ulcinj ( cyrl, Улцињ, ; ) is a town on the southern coast of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 10,707 (2011), the majority being Albanians.
As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic co ...
.
On 15 July 1941, two days after the outbreak of the uprising, the supreme command of Italian forces in Albania decided to support Italian forces in Montenegro by moving Skanderbeg to Ulcinj. On 17 July
Biroli ordered Skanderbeg to seize area on the border between Albania and Montenegro, without crossing it. On 22 July Skanderbeg participated in cleansing action in Mikulići, near Bar.
The first military engagement of this unit was on 4 August 1941 in the area assigned to
Division Venezia.
Skanderbeg was engaged as vanguard of Italian divisions.
After the suppression of the uprising, Skanderbeg was assigned to
9th Army, together with several military units that initially belonged to the 14th Army Corps.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skanderbeg
Albania in World War II
Military units and formations of World War II
Military units and formations established in 1941
Montenegro in World War II