The “Battle of Vithkuqi” marked the first combat action involving the 1st Assault Brigade, the largest combat formation of the Albanian National Liberation Army up to that point. The Italian invaders aimed to eliminate the 1st Assault Brigade and the partisan forces of the Korça district operating in the Vithkuq area, deploying significant troops from the “Arezzo” division along with various tools and combat techniques. Their actions were further supported by a German division equipped with heavy artillery. In defense of Vithkuq, the forces of the 1st Assault Brigade, along with the Korça district battalions “Tomori” and “Qamil Panariti,” and the Vithkuq partisan detachment, totaled approximately 1,100 fighters. The fighting commenced in the morning of August 26th, and through a strategy of flexible defense, the partisans succeeded in forcing the Italian forces to withdraw from the Vithkuq area, thwarting their objectives. (In the photo: View from Vithkuqi.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1553.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vithkuqi
Graphic processing: AHCF
