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'') was an Albanian nationalist, Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist, and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra a ...

which operated in Albania under

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Biography

Early life

Dëralla was born in

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

in 1909. 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 Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

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. Deralla left the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

and fled to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. In Albania, Dëralla enlisted as a regular soldier in the Royal Albanian Army. 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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Deralla became an Officer in the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

Return to Tetovo

In 1941, Italian forces occupied

Vardar Banovina The Vardar Banovina, or Vardar Banate ( Macedonian and ; ), was a province ( banate) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. History It was located in the southernmost part of the country, encompassing the whole of today's North Mace ...

. Dëralla returned to

, where he joined the Luboten Battalion as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. The battalion was responsible for securing the region from resistance groups, i.e.

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

. 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 Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

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 Kičevo ( ; , sq-definite, Kërçova) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, located in a valley in the south-eastern slopes of Mount Bistra, between the cities of Ohrid and Gostivar. The capital Skopje is 112 km away. The city ...

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