GUERRILLA WARFARE IN ALBANIA

Southland Times, Issue 24338, 20 January 1941, Page 10

GUERRILLA WARFARE IN ALBANIA

TWO BRITONS ACT AS LEADERS

Two British former inspectors of Albanian police have been acting as Colonel Lawrences in Albania’s mountainous border country. That is, at any rate, the story that Albanian deserters told as they reached the safety of the borders.

Sir Jocelyn Percy was the head of a mission of over a dozen British officers in King Zog’s day, who organized his police force. The new Colonel Lawrences were two of the twelve.

These two men have been the organizers and leaders of serious and daring guerrilla exploits inside Albania. They know the wild country intimately and they speak the language. Italian troops on the move have been held up. Roads have been dynamited and bridges cut. Telephones between isolated blockhouses and military police posts have also been cut.

Co-operating with the new Lawrences are scores of former King Zog officers of gendarmerie and non-commissioned officers who are assisted and concealed by the Italian-hating people. The Italians know of the presence in Albania of these two Britons, it is alleged, but they are unable to hunt them down owing to the hostility of the peasants.