Forsaken Albania

By Artan Lame
Southern Albania, August 1949. Following World War Two, Greece was engulfed in the flames of civil strife that became more and more aggravated, until. in 1949. Stalin accepted to withdraw support for the communist partisan forces, hence respecting the Yalta Agreement which foresaw that Greece would remain under British influence. In these circumstances, within a short period of time, the Greek partisans took up positions of retreat, ending up grouped at the foot of Mt. Gramoz, the last area of their occupation. At this location, they repelled the attacks of the Monarchist Government Forces for some time, also enjoying secret assistance in the form of Soviet supplies smuggled in across the Albanian border. The government troops then crossed into Albanian territory, to sever this supply line and to hit the communist forces from behind. This marked the beginnings of the conflict between the Albanian Army, which protected its own borders and the Greek Army, a conflict which has gone down in history under the name of “The August Provocations.” The confrontations between the two sides continued at intervals from 2 August until 5 September 1949 in the zones of Billisht, Kapshtica, Leskovik and Konispol, causing Albania hundreds of civilian and military casualties and extensive material damage in border villages. The Greek monarchist forces also left behind dozens of soldiers killed on Albanian soil. The August Provocations remained the only series of armed confrontations in which the Albanian Army became involved in the post-World War Two period.
In the photograph you can see several Albanian soldiers carrying a casualty on a stretcher. On the back is the original caption, “Sergeant Gjon Marku, seriously wounded remained behind enemy lines for five days.”
In the other photograph there are two Albanian soldiers in position in a machine gun nest, watching the far side of the valley, where Greek troops were positioned. The machine gun is of Soviet make, and the first supplies of these guns had just arrived in Albania.
In this photograph there is a group of officers studying a military map. Their uniforms stand out made of a collection of different materials. Their helmets and belts are all Italian, naturally remnants of the First World War. Their uniforms are Soviet production, while their epaulettes are Yugoslav, final tokens of “the grand friendship” broken off a year earlier in 1948, while the soldier behind them is carrying a Soviet-made automatic gun. And even though they are “fitted out” in the manner of “wear whatever you can find”, these people resisted the pressure of the front and discharged their duty.