Albania Armed Forces

Partisan Movements - Wehrmacht Deserters

Part of the German force which occupied Albania was composed of Wehrmacht recruits from the Caucasus region. The first Wehrmacht deserters went to Albanian Partisan units at the end of 1943 during the German Winter Offensive, but their numbers grew in the summer of 1944 during the German Summer Offensive. There was a great flow of Wehrmacht deserters during the end of conflict to Albania from September to October 1944 as German forces began withdrawing from Albania. In August 1944 a new unit was formed in Third Shock Brigade from some 40 Wehrmacht deserters (mostly Armenians and Turkmen). Some other 70 Armenians created their own unit attached to First Shock Brigade in September 1944. There were also other small groups of Wehrmacht deserters dispersed among Albanian partisan forces, composed of Germans, Austrians, Frenchmen, Czechs and Poles.

Armenians
Turkmen
Germans
Austrians
French
Czechs
​Poles
Third Shock Brigade