Italians occupy Durrës

The British chronology of the war records under 20 December 1915 the landing of Italian troops at Durrës, the main port of central Albania. The Italian infantry did not, however, arrive there by ship, but came overland from Vlorë. According to the war history of the Savona Brigade, its headquarters and the 15th Infantry Regiment reached Durrës on 19 December, while the British official history says that by 20 December the Italians had brought an infantry brigade here from Vlorë. Eight heavy guns and an anti-aircraft battery were brought by sea, however, and a minefield was laid off the port. Some Italian works, based on the account of the corps commander, state that the regiment left Vlorë on 3 December and reached Durrës as early as 9 December.

A special corps in Albania

At the turn of November and December the Serbian army was retreating across the mountains towards the Albanian coast, and the Allies were pressing Rome to help feed it and take it off. The Italian government decided at the same time to strengthen its position in Albania, where it had held Vlorë since December 1914. A special corps was formed for operations in Albania, subordinate not to the commander-in-chief, General Luigi Cadorna, but directly to the minister of war, Vittorio Zupelli. Cadorna was opposed to sending troops across the Adriatic and regarded it as a dangerous dispersal of forces. General Emilio Bertotti took command of the corps by a decree of 1 December.

The first convoy sailed from Taranto on 2 December. Two days later the transport Re Umberto, carrying troops, struck a mine and sank off Vlorë. According to Italian works, by 12 December there were already about 28,000 men at Vlorë. The corps was to hold Vlorë and Durrës, receive and ship away the Austro-Hungarian prisoners whom the Serbs had brought with them, supply the Serbian army and shield it from the Austrians and hostile Albanians. The original plan was to carry the Savona Brigade to Durrës by sea, but the navy judged this too risky. Austro-Hungarian warships from Kotor had just begun raiding the Albanian ports. The brigade commander, General Domenico Guerrini, therefore led the 15th Regiment with two mountain batteries on foot along the coast, through marshes and rivers, preceded by Albanian armed men paid by the Italians.

Durrës

Durrës was ruled by Essad Pasha Toptani, who since 1914 had been prime minister and relied on Serbia, Italy and the rest of the Entente. His authority reached little further than the surroundings of the town. The Italians did not fully trust him, but they needed him, because successive columns of Serbs were coming down from the mountains through Durrës and its hinterland. According to the British official history a group of Serbian troops was already gathering near Tirana at that time, mainly the Royal Guard and units that had withdrawn westwards after the fall of Bitola. Durrës was to become their supply base and port of evacuation.

The Italians set about fortifying the port at once. They occupied the hills above the bay, set up batteries covering the sea approaches and laid a mine barrier. The British official history notes that they finished just in time. As early as 29 December an Austro-Hungarian squadron with the cruiser Helgoland attacked Durrës, and two of its destroyers sank on the new mines. The brigade’s second regiment, the 16th, reached Albania in January 1916, and General Giacinto Ferrero took command at Durrës.

After the Austrian conquest of Montenegro in January 1916, Durrës became the main port for the evacuation of the Serbs, and the last ship with Serbian soldiers sailed from here on 9 February. At the end of February the Italian garrison, about 9,000 men strong, itself had to evacuate under fire from the advancing Austro-Hungarian troops.