Gajur Dëralla was captain of the Luboten Battalion. The Luboten Battalion was a military division of the

Balli Kombëtar The Balli Kombëtar (literally ''National Front''), known as Balli, was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The move ...

which operated in Albania under Fascist Italy and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Biography

Early life

Dëralla was born in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

when his father was exiled by the Ottoman authority to Iraq after the failed attempt of the

League of Peja The League of Peja ( sq, Lidhja e Pejës), also known as League of İpek or Besa-Besë (Pledge for a Pledge) between Albanians, was an Albanian political organization established in 1899 in the city of İpek (now Peja), Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman ...

. Gajur was the son of Albanian patriot Mehmet Pashë Dërralla and brother of Halim Dëralla, involved in Albania's independence movement, and Hysen Dëralla, who would become a Major of the Luboten Battalion. Dëralla studied at the Yugoslav Military Academy. During his years at the military academy, Dëralla came into contact with Italian intelligence agency,

OVRA The OVRA, whose most probable name was Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism ( it, Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the ...

. Deralla left the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

and fled to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. In Albania, Dëralla enlisted as a regular soldier in the

Royal Albanian Army The Royal Albanian Army () was the army of the Albanian Kingdom and King Zog I of the Albanians from 1928 until 1939. Its commander-in-chief was King Zog; its commander General Xhemal Aranitasi; its Chief of Staff was General Gustav von Myrdacz ...

. On April 12, 1939, Italy occupied

. After the

Italian occupation of Albania Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, Deralla became an Officer in the Royal Italian Army.

Return to Tetovo

In 1941, Italian forces occupied

Vardar Banovina The Vardar Banovina, or Vardar Banate ( mk, Вардарска бановина, Vardarska banovina; sr, Вардарска бановина, translit=Vardarska Banovina; al, Banovina e Vardarit, italics=no), was a province ( banate) of the Kin ...

. Dëralla returned to

Tetovo Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...

, where he joined the Luboten Battalion as a captain. The battalion was responsible for securing the region from resistance groups, i.e.

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод� ...

. With the capitulation of Italy in 1943,

took control of the region.

Balli Kombëtar

Despite the Luboten Battalion being formed by the Italian forces, The

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

did not disband the battalion. Instead, the Luboten Battalion was incorporated into the

, strengthening its forces. The troops under Dëralla successfully repelled the

. Tetovo had the largest

base in Macedonia and was the centre of the Ballist movement in the region.

Death

At the end of 1943, the Luboten division was sent to Kičevo to help the Ballist (Balli Kombëtar) forces of Mefail Shehu against the

. The Luboten Battalion, augmented by additional troops from the Balli Kombëtar, to attack and dislodge partisan units fighting in Kicevo. En route to Kicevo, Petar Brajovic's partisan forces organised an ambush at Bukovici. When Dëralla and his forces went through Bukovici, the partisans successfully ambushed the battalion resulting in the death of Dëralla and his troops.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deralla, Gajur Albanian anti-communists Albanian collaborators with Fascist Italy Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Albanian people of World War II Albanian military personnel 1943 deaths 1909 births Balli Kombëtar People from Tetovo 20th-century Albanian people 20th-century Albanian military personnel Yugoslav Albanians Deaths by firearm in Albania