Forsaken Albania

By Artan Lame
Vlora, June 1920. The Albanians, who forgot to take a camera with them, the day they proclaimed Independence in 1912, naturally were to forget again, eight years later, when, at the beginning of June 1920, they began the first attacks against the Italian garrisons, located around Vlora. This must be the reason that there are no photographs from the Vlora War, although it continued for about two months. Precisely for this reason, you can imagine my joy on discovering the above photograph (although not very good quality), of a group of Albanian fighters, posing in front of the frame of an aircraft they had shot down. I recalled that this event has also been recorded in the folk songs of the area, something that really must have stunned the Albanians at the time, unaccustomed as they were with the sight of an aircraft, which they used to call, “kite”, and even more so when to shoot down an aircraft with rifles was an event for Europe itself, at the time, let alone for the inhabitants of the hills of Salaria. On the frame of the aircraft you can distinguish the identification number “43” and the sign of the Italian Air Force, three circles, green, white and red. Two of the fighters hold the national flag , while behind them you can see a mule waiting to be packed with items. The photograph sums up the entire logic of this war, and in particular, its two main instigators: the Flag and the Mule. The flag as the symbol of the national awakening, constitutes the main instigating factor of the Albanians in this effort, which won back for the Homeland, one of its main cities; and the Mule, where no time has been wasted it in getting the animal to the site, to load it with anything of value from stripping the plane, symbolizing the trophies of battle, the other instigating factor.
Don’t forget that the Italian garrison in Vlora is the last remnant of the Italian Army in the Balkans, which had operated in the zone, from Vlora to Selonica, during the years of the World War. In the depots of this garrison there were stocks of weapons, logistic materials. Clothing, food etc, of the troops that had not been transferred back to Italy. This material constituted much sought after war trophies and an irresistible instigation for the local peasants, who had suffered so much during all the years of fighting in the recently ended World War One.
77 years later, the Albanians once again attacked army barracks. The only difference was that seeing there were no Italian barracks they attacked the military depots of their own State.