Chameria Battalion The Chameria battalion ( ) was a battalion of the National Anti - Fascist Liberation Army of Albania during the Second World War . It was formed from the organized resistance groups of Cham Albanians on 15 June 1943 and was renamed as the IV Chameria Group ( ) on October 1943 , which ceased to exist after the Liberation of Albania . It included at the time of its creation more than 500 armed troops , the vast majority of whom were Albanians from the Greek part of Chameria region and the rest from the Albanian part , and about 40 members of the Greek minority in Albania . Background . On April 7 , 1939 Italian troops invaded Albania . The operation was led by General Alfredo Guzzoni . Despite some stubborn resistance by some patriots , especially at Durrës , the Italians made short work of the Albanians . Durrës was captured on April 7 , Tirana the following day , Shkodër and Gjirokastër on April 9 , and almost the entire country by April 10 . Unwilling to become an Italian puppet , King Zog , his wife , Queen Geraldine Apponyi , and their infant son Leka fled to Greece and eventually to London . On April 12 , the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy " in personal union " by offering the Albanian crown to Victor Emmanuel III . Formation and renaming . In 15 June 1943 , members of unorganized resistance groups in Southern Albania and Northwestern Greece decided to create the Chameria battalion , during the meeting of the " Regional Committee of the National Anti - fascist Liberation Army " in Konispol . The decision was adopted on June 30 , 1943 , when three resistance groups were united . These groups included the Tahsini group based in Konispol , the Father Stathi Melani group based in Filiates , and the Alush Taka group based in Paramithia . Each group numbered about 170 - 180 members , from which only 75 were not Cham Albanians , of whom 35 were from Delvinë and 40 were members of the Greek minority in Albania . This battalion was the first big partisan organization in the Gjirokastër County ( which at that time included Gjirokastër , Sarandë and Delvinë districts ) and head as leader Haki Rushit Shehu from Konispol and as group leaders , Taho Mehmet Sejko from Filiates , Lefter Miço Talo from Ampelia ( ) , Ali Demi from Filiates and as political commissar , Qazim Kondi from Polyneri ( ) . On October 10 , 1943 , the battalion was renamed as " IV Chameria Group " , which had more than 2 thousand troops , about half of them were Cham Albanians , and the rest Albanians and Greeks from southern Albania . Contribution to the war . Chameria battalion was one of the main contributors in resistance to Italian and German forces in southern Albania . Four major battles are recorded to this battalion . At the end of 1943 , a group of Cham Albanians , led by Ali Demi , attacked a German garrison , in Vlora , Albania , killing 39 German troops and losing 12 members of the battalion , including Ali Demi himself . The second major operation was after September 8 , 1943 , when Italy capitulated , " Chameria battalion " entered Delvinë and disarmed the local regiment of the Italian Army , on September 12 , 1943 . The Italian source ( G . Bonomi - Sacrificio italiano in terra albanese - La Prora ; T . Scanagatta - Gli ultimi trenta giorini della divisione " Perugia " - Hoepli ; and others ) reports that on September 12 , 1943 in Delvine there was only the 2nd battalion of 129 Infantry Regiment " Perugia " . Not the whole regiment . And the battalion left Delvine , full armed , to " Argirocastro " called back from the Commander of the Division Gen . Chiminello . The same for the 3rd battalion in Giorgiokat . The third operation was in the region between Konispol and Sagiada , on the next day , when they tried to disarm the local regiment of the Italian army in Saranda . They were forced to back in Sagiada by the Italian army , but in a counter - offensive managed to seize the regiment , disarm them and take all army equipments of the regiment in Saranda . The same Italian source reports that In Saranda on September 13 , 1943 there was no Regiment but 3 . 500 Italian soldier from many different corps . All of them left to Corfù 09 / 13 / 1943 . There was no fight with the Chameria Battalion The fourth and final major operation occurred in the end October 1 , 1943 , when Chameria battalion managed to trap a squadre of German troops in the road between Filiates and Konispol and killed 12 Germans , taking their equipments . After being transformed into the " IV Chameria Group " , its members took part in operations of the VI , VII , VIII and XII brigades of the Albanian National Liberation Army not only in Albania , but also in Kosovo , Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia . Aftermath . IV " Ali Demi " battalion . In 1944 , Greek People ' s Liberation Army asked Cham Albanians living in Greece to create a battalion and to enlist in its ranks . Having a good relation with the Albanian Army , ELAS ' s and NAFLA ' s officers managed to persuade Chams to create armed forces under the ELAS army . In May 1944 , a group of local Cham Albanians , under the lead of " Chameria battalion " soldiers created the battalion named after Ali Demi , in the village Milea ( ) , which was included in the 15th regiment of Greek People ' s Liberation Army . At the time of its creation , it comprised 460 partisans , consisting of both Cham Albanians and Greeks . " Ali Demi " battalion was the second largest of ELAS in the area of Epirus . Being formed at the end of the war , the battalion had no considerable contribution in the liberation of Greece . More than 60 Chams were killed during a battle with German forces in Igoumenitsa . Other Cham Albanians were enlisted in VI , VII , IX and XI brigade of Greek People ' s Liberation Army , and fought in different mixed battalions of ELAS . After the war . In an attempt to establish an ethnically pure border region , the Chams were evicted from northern Greece by guerrilla forces under the command of General Napoleon Zervas acting under the instructions of allied officers . Muslim Cham Albanians that fled in Albania , were organised as refugees by the communist - led Albanian government . They formed a congress in 1946 , adopted a memorandum , accused Greece for their persecution , and asked the international community to react in order to return to their homeland and to acquire reparations . After their expulsion , the these vets of ELAS , and the Cham Albanians from Greece , who took part in Chameria battalion formed in Albania the " National Anti - Fascist Cham Committee " , which was disbanded in 1947 , when Cham Albanians lost their refugee status .