German winter offensive in Albania (1943–1944)
| German Winter Offensive in Albania (1943–1944) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II in Albania and the Albanian Civil War (1943-1944) | |||||||||
German soldiers in Albania, 1943 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
LANÇ SOE |
Germany Balli Kombëtar | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Enver Hoxha Mehmet Shehu Edmund Davies (POW) Arthur Nicholls † |
Maximilian von Weichs Mid'hat Frashëri | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
118th Jäger Division 100th Jäger Division 92nd Motorized Regiment 297th Infantry Division | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 35,000 soldiers |
45,000 soldiers 10,000 soldiers | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
1,000–2,876 killed 1,000–1,650 captured |
unknown unknown | ||||||||
The German Winter Offensive in Albania (1943–1944) (Albanian: Ofensiva Gjermane e Dimrit në Shqipëri; German: Deutsche Winteroffensive in Albanien), also known as the Winter Offensive (Albanian: Ofensiva e Dimrit; German: Winteroffensive) or the Winter campaign (Albanian: Fushata e Dimrit; German: Winterfeldzug), was a military campaign carried out by German forces during their occupation of Albania. The primary objective of this offensive was to secure southern Albania in case of a retreat. To successfully achieve this goal, the Germans needed to weaken the Albanian Partisan resistance, which had posed a significant challenge to their control in the region.