The OSS in World War II Albania

World War II found Albania fighting a war within a war. In addition to the threat faced from the Germans, Albania was engaged in a civil war between the Nazi-sponsored Ballists and the Communist partisans led by Enver Hoxha. While America was reluctant to get involved in the civil conflict, the United States was naturally inclined to lend support to whoever fought the Nazis—even if that meant an alliance with the Communists. On a cold November night in 1943, Dale McAdoo (code named Tank) secretly landed on the Albanian coast with a team of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) agents, including Ismail Carapizzi, an Albanian guide and interpreter who would later be murdered. McAdoo’s team, the first of many to follow, set up a base of operations in a deep water level cave on the rocky Albanian coast that served the OSS as it carried out its mission of gathering intelligence to support the Allied war effort and harass the Germans. McAdoo was joined by Captain Tom Stefan (code name Art), an Albanian-speaking OSS officer from Boston, whose assignment was to join Hoxha at his remote mountain headquarters and bond with the reclusive Communist leader to benefit the OSS.
This volume describes how the OSS aided the Communist-led partisans in an attempt to weaken the Nazi cause in Albania and neighboring Italy. The book presents an in-depth look at the small core of hardened men who comprised these highly specialized teams, including each member’s background and his special fitness for his wartime role behind enemy lines. The American and British presence in Albania during World War II and the later deterioration of Hoxha’s relations with Captain Tom Stefan and the OSS mission are discussed in detail. Firsthand interviews with still-living participants and extensive onsite research make this book a unique resource for a little-known dramatic piece of World War II history.

Veteran journalist Peter Lucas worked for the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe. He lives in Westford, Massachusetts.

Peter Lucas
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 220
Bibliographic Info: 19 photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2967-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0943-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword by Fatos Tarifa      1
Preface      5
Note on Pronunciation      9
Key People and Organizations      11

1. Tank      15
2. Nick      38
3. Hudson      63
4. Tom      80
5. Nick, O’Keefe and Tom      104
6. North      120
7. Tirana      136
8. Victory      156
9. Home      184
Epilogue      196

Chapter Notes      199
Bibliography      205
Index      207

“fascinating…recommended”—Stone & Stone Second World War Books; “enjoyed it immensely”—The Boston Globe; “an in-depth look at the small core of hardened [Partisans]. Firsthand interviews with still-living participants and extensive onsite research make this a book a unique resource for a little-known dramatic piece of World War II history. It also gives the reader a grasp of why the US would insert a small number of OSS operative into what had previously been a British theater of war…clearly captured the essence of what it was like ‘back then’”—Tirana Times.