Battle of Durrës (1939)
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The Battle of Durrës was one of the main confrontations during the April 1939
Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania (April 7–12, 1939) was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...
. It took place on 7 April, the first day of the invasion, between the Italian invaders and the Albanian defenders and resulted in an Italian victory.


Opposing forces

The Italian Armed Forces committed 22,000 troops under General Alfredo Guzzoni to the invasion of Albania. The main force, tasked with capturing the capital
Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
, was placed under the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni and was to be landed at Durrës; it consisted of two battalions of the 3rd Regiment " Grenadiers of Sardinia", one battalion of the 47th Infantry Regiment, five
Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, whi ...
battalions (two belonging to the 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment and one each from the
3rd Bersaglieri Regiment The 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment ( it, 3° Reggimento Bersaglieri) is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Teulada in Sardinia. The regiment is part of the army's infantry corps' Bersaglieri speciality and operationally assigned to the Mecha ...
, 7th Bersaglieri Regiment, and
11th Bersaglieri Regiment The 11th Bersaglieri Regiment ( it, 11° Reggimento Bersaglieri) is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Orcenico Superiore in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. The regiment is part of the army's infantry corps' Bersaglieri speciality and ...
), two battalions of
L3/35 The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tan ...
tankettes A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting.
, one 65/17 mm battery and one 20/65 anti-aircraft battery, all under the command of General
Giovanni Messe Giovanni Messe (10 December 1883 – 18 December 1968) was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia, but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of Septemb ...
. The force, numbering about 4,700 men, was carried by ten transport ships (the requisitioned merchants ''Adriatico'', ''Argentario'', ''Barletta'', ''Palatino'', ''Toscana'' and ''Valsavoia'', the repair ship ''Quarnaro'', the seaplane carrier ''Giuseppe Miraglia'', used in this instance to carry tankettes, and the tankers ''Adige'' and ''Tirso'', that could also operate as landing ships), and the landing was supported by a naval force commanded by Admiral Ettore Sportiello and consisting of the heavy cruisers ''Zara'', ''Pola'', ''Fiume'', and ''Gorizia'', the destroyers ''Alfieri'', ''Oriani'', ''Gioberti'', and ''Carducci'', and the
torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s , , and . The Albanian defenders consisted of one Frontier Guard battalion, one Albanian Army battalion, a platoon of marines of the
Royal Albanian Navy Between 1914 and 1939, there were three separate Albanian navies. The first navy was short-lived, belonging to the Principality of Albania. The second Albanian Navy shared a similar fate, as it served the short-lived Albanian Republic. The third n ...
, and Engineer company, a mountain battery with two 75/13 mm guns (overall, 360 soldiers and 140 marines according to Albanian sources) as well as numerous volunteers armed only with small arms. The defenders were led by the commander of the Durrës Gendarmerie, Major
Abaz Kupi Abaz Kupi (6 August 1892 – 17 January 1976) or Abas Kupi. He was also known as Bazi i Canës. He was an Albanian military officer. Kupi was born in Krujë. He served as commander of the gendarmerie of the town of Kruja, and later of the to ...
, and Major Alibali of the Albanian Army. The "Prandaj" coastal battery (commanded by Major Gaqe Jorgo), armed with four 75/27 mm
Škoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
guns, supported the defenders, whose main armament otherwise consisted of rifles and three Schwarzlose machine guns. The four patrol boats which made up the Royal Albanian Navy were armed mainly with one 76 mm gun apiece when they were commissioned in 1926. However, at the time of the Italian invasion, their armament was reduced to one obsolete machine gun, as their main guns were landed to form a coastal battery on a nearby hill, overlooking Durrës.


Battle

The Italian warships arrived near Durrës in the afternoon of 6 April, whereas the transports carrying the landing forces arrived at 4:50 in the morning of April 7, with a 30-minute delay caused by the fog. Before the attack, a boat with twenty Italian officers was sent ashore, but the Albanians refused to grant them passage. An exchange of fire followed, and thus the battle ensued; the landing of the Italian force commenced at 5:25. Italian marines and troops disembarked and advanced in close formation, not expecting any resistance, as the town was illuminated and there seemed to be no sign of reaction. However, when the troops disembarked on the piers they were greeted by a barrage of rifle and machine gun fire by the defenders, lying in wait among the nearby harbour buildings, causing many casualties. A second Italian landing was carried out soon afterwards, with a greater number of troops. The Albanian defenders, however, took positions closer to the concrete breakwater of the harbor and waited for all Italians to disembark, then again opened fire with the machine guns. The third attack was successful, being supported by naval gunfire from the Italian warships; overall, fighting went on for a few hours, including in some cases hand-to-hand combat, and in the end the Albanian defenders began to fall back. By nine o'clock in the morning, all of Durrës was in Italian hands, after the Italians landed numerous small tanks and armored cars from one of their warships. The Albanian coastal battery was also active during the battle, shelling Italian positions. In the last hour of the battle, naval sergeant
Mujo Ulqinaku Mujo Ulqinaku (born Mujo Cakuli; 1896 – 7 April 1939) was an Albanian sergeant of the Royal Albanian Navy, known for his resistance on 7 April 1939 to the Italian forces during the Italian invasion of Albania. He was given the People's Hero ...
, one of the three Albanian machine gunners, was killed by a shell from an Italian warship.


Aftermath

The Albanians lost 51 men in the battle; Italian casualties are recorded as 25 killed and 97 wounded, although the Albanian side claims that Italian casualties were higher (up to 400 according to some claims).Owen Pearson, ''Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History, Volume I - Albania and King Zog'', I. B. Tauris Publishing, 2004, p. 445 The four patrol boats of the Royal Albanian Navy were captured by the Italians, as was the coastal battery. The fighting in Durrës saw the heaviest resistance encountered by any of the Italian landing forces in Albania. From Durrës, the Italian force marched towards Tirana, that was captured on the following day.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durrës (1939) Battles involving Albania Battles involving Italy Naval battles involving Italy Conflicts in 1939 1939 in Italy 1939 in Albania Military history of Italy during World War II Royal Albanian Army Albania–Italy military relations Invasions of Albania