The III Assault Division of the Albanian National Liberation Army was formed. The following were lined up: XII Assault Brigade, XIV Assault Brigade, XIX Assault Brigade. In the framework of the general mission of the Albanian National Liberation Army for the complete liberation of Albania, the units of the III Assault Division moved to the mission of liberating the main cities of Southern Albania. During the month of October, carrying out fierce battles with the forces of the German occupier and the collaborationist forces, it liberated Saranda, Delvina and Vlora and the entire southwestern part of Albania. On October 30, 1944, two units of the III Assault Division (XIV Assault Brigade, XIX Assault Brigade) took on the task of securing the land and sea border of the country from Peshkopi to Gjirokastra to Vlora, while the XII and XIII Assault Brigades took on the task of hitting the German columns on the Elbasan-Durrës road, in aid of the forces fighting for the liberation of Tirana. On December 14, 1944, having in its composition the XIV Assault Brigade, the XVI Assault Brigade and the XIX Assault Brigade, the III Assault Division was deployed in Central Albania with its center in Elbasan. The headquarters of the III Assault Division were directed by commander Islam Radovica and commissar Pandi Kristo. (In the photo: Partisans of Division III in the first days after the liberation of Fier, 1944.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 492-493.
Photo: © Central State Archives
Graphic processing: AHCF
