In the district of Vlora, the “Battle of Drashovica” took place, the first frontal battle of the Albanian National Liberation Army and the territorial volunteer forces against the German invaders. The headquarters of Operational Zone I, which directed and led the combat operations, decided to attack the strong German garrison, which was in the fields of Drashovica and Mavrova; the goal was to free the 6,000 Italian soldiers and officers disarmed by the Germans and imprisoned in the Mavrova concentration camp, as well as to take or destroy the enemy’s war material. The attack began on September 15, after brief artillery preparation. The partisan battalions “Ismail Qemali” and “Halim Xhelo” attacked the enemy forces in the fortified area of the barracks, at the Drashovica bridge, while the territorial volunteer battalions attacked the enemy forces in the field of Mavrova. In the morning, the enemy forces were close to complete annihilation, but they were helped by about two battalions accompanied by armored vehicles from the direction of Vlora and then another force from Tepelena, which were able to join the enemy forces fighting in siege. For two or three days, the partisan forces fought hard to break the enemy’s operation. Faced with numerous enemy forces, the Operational Headquarters ordered the withdrawal of partisan forces to the mountains of Çika, as well as the return of territorial volunteer forces to their regions. In these battles, which lasted over 20 days, the enemy had over 200 killed and captured, in addition to the wounded. From the partisan and territorial forces, 20 partisans fell on the battlefield and over 50 were injured. September 15 is celebrated as one of the most marked dates of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War in the district of Vlora. (In the photo: Memorial dedicated to the “Battle of Drashovica“.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1545.
Graphic processing: AHCF
