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Albanian Assignment: The Memoir of an SOE Agent in World War Two (The Extraordinary Life of Colonel David Smiley Book 1) Kindle Edition

by David Smiley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 923 ratings
Albanian Assignment is one of the finest special forces memoirs to come out of the Second World War. Readers of Damien Lewis, Ben Macintyre and Patrick Leigh Fermor will be enthralled by this book.

In 1940 Winston Churchill established the Special Operations Executive to “set Europe ablaze.”

Three years later David Smiley and Billy McLean were parachuted into northern Greece and crossed the border into Albania to do just that.

For the next eight months Smiley mediated between the competing resistance factions and organised them to conduct ambushes and acts of sabotage on fascist armies and infrastructure.

His actions were rewarded with an immediate Military Cross, yet his work in Albania was not done. Soon after he had left the country tensions between the Albanian resistance movements had deteriorated into open conflict meaning that Smiley and McLean were once again forced to parachute into the country to reconcile the guerrilla forces whilst continuing the fight against the Nazi forces.

Smiley’s account of his time in Albania is a remarkable book that uncovers the operations and its difficulties of an SOE agent in one of the forgotten fronts of World War Two.

“David Smiley, a regular officer of the Blues, was an early arrival in the country. His memoir of the time he spent there deserves to become one of the classics of special operations literature” John Keegan, The Sunday Times

“wartime memoirs are often exaggerated and boastful, and sometimes the authors’ roles can safely be halved. But the writer here is an extremely modest man and the opposite precaution will be a help.” Patrick Leigh Fermor

“This engrossing memoir recounts British intelligence agent Smiley’s two missions in 1943 and 1944 to Albanian resistance fighters.” Library Journal

“David Smiley's tale of his war-time escapades in the SOE in Albania should have a broad appeal with its racy, comic and serious political aspects” Financial Times
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  1. Book 1 of 3
    The Extraordinary Life of Colonel David Smiley
  2. Print length
    216 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    August 2, 2020
  5. File size
    1.0 MB
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This engrossing memoir recounts British intelligence agent Smiley's two missions in 1943 and 1944 to Albanian resistance fighters. First with communist partisans and then with nationalist and monarchist groups, he helped organize and arm the Albanians against Italian and German occupation forces. By late 1943 the Albanian groups were falling into internecine civil war. Though Smiley professes indifference to politics, his sympathies are clearly with the anticommunists. This overly brief account, replete with high adventure, is told laconically. The policy of the London authorities and the murderous strife among Albanian factions are passed over, but various escapades with the guerrillas, by turns tragic, ludicrous, and touching, come wonderfully to life. Recommended for public and academic libraries. James B. Street, Santa Cruz P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

David Smiley was a British special forces and intelligence officer. He fought in the Second World War in Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Syria, Western Desert, and with Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Albania and Thailand.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088G15V81
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sapere Books (August 2, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 2, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.0 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 923 ratings

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David Smiley

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Valued Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Albaania
    Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The effort of a huge group of heroes was easily out doe by one man. We learn at the end of the book that years of resistance efforts were overturned by Kim Phil by during his spying for Russia.
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  • William L. Rowe
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good view of Albania in WW2 and a view into the Cold War
    Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2021
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    Balkan politics - good god. British officers from the right regiments in rough conditions. Getting a good map might have helped; I didn’t even try. The reader can see why Soviets and national communists were so distrusted.
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  • Kevin W
    3.0 out of 5 stars Balkan Follies
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2021
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    This is a first hand account of the British SOE’s (roughly equivalent to the US OSS) attempt to incite the Albanians to rise up and fight their German and Italian occupiers in World War 2.

    Smiley’s narrative is smooth and he comes across as a likeable guy, just doing “his bit”. He tells the reader of the three main factions of guerrillas in Albania (Partisans/Communist; Bali Kombetar/Nationalists; and Zogists/Royalists); his interactions with the leadership of all three; the eventual British decision to arm the Communists, and the outbreak of the Civil War. It’s all interesting stuff and ultimately has long term implications because the Communists armed with British Weapons eventually prevail in the 3 Way Civil War which breaks out in 1944, and Albania would remain communist for decades thereafter.

    Smiley admits the British were played by the Communists as their perquisite to providing arms and training to all three factions was that they must first demonstrate they would attack the Axis Forces. The Communists did just enough to warrant the aid, but once they receive it and had trained a full brigade, they ceased their attacks on the Axis and prepared for their offensives against the Royalists and Nationalists which they knew would soon be coming.

    That is the over arcing strategic narrative of the book which is informative, unfortunately Smiley skimps on the guerrilla actions he participated in, and he was apparently in a number of them. He constantly tells the reader of his assessment of some local who was attached to his team with terms like “he was a good man, cool under fire, and good in tight spots, and we were in quite a few of them”, but then he frustratingly never tells us of those tight spots.

    There are a half dozen notable exceptions where Captain Smiley tells us of blowing a couple of bridges (one of which blows while he’s on the wrong side of it), hitching a ride on a German truck full of soldiers dressed as an Albanian Gendarme, and a Drop Zone under attack by Italian aircraft. When Smiley relates these stories the book soars, but there are not enough of these tales, while descriptions of his meals, sleeping arrangements, and arguments with the locals abound.

    Another deficiency of the book is Smiley is constantly rattling off the names of tiny villages he and his team trek to or stay at, and the mountains they had to traverse. However, there is not a single map in the book, so the reader never understands the distances traveled, the difficulty of the terrain traversed, or even just how close he is, or is not, to the Germans.

    Finally, as a coda Smiley returns to the strategic side of things and discusses a post war operation by the British to do an about face and aid the noncommunist factions, but that quickly went sideways due to the betrayal of the secret operation by the double agent Kim Philby.

    In the end the book comes in at about 3 ½ stars for me. It was good enough to entertain me and informed me of the Big Picture in Albania, but it is not the kind of book I would hand to a fellow armchair historian and say, “You’ve got to read this!”.

    Pros: Esoteric & little explored theater of WWII; good strategic overview of the “Albanian Theater”; likable first person account.

    Cons: No Maps, little description of “the action”, no technical details on the aid & arms supplied, and how the training was provided.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • A. K. C.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding on Two Levels
    Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book tells two parallel and equally interesting histories: that of David Smiley working for MI-6's SOE in Albania and that of WWII Albania and the roots of what became the Envar Hoxa ruled post-war communist Albania.

    Smiley gives the reader a first hand account of the challenges and dangers of running special operations in enemy held territory. A job made more challenging for Smiley because he had to deal with three rival and ultimately warring resistance groups: Zogists, nationalists, and the Hoxa led partisans who were more interested in fighting the first two groups than fighting the occupying Italians and Germans.

    Smiley's account of how Hoxa's partisans were able to come out on top is an interesting side bar story of a communist sympathizer in Smiley's chain of command who successfully frustrated the efforts of Smiley and other operatives to get the true facts before the policy makers. As a result, Hoxa's partisans were able to obtain arms from the British which the partisans used to kill the Zogists and nationalists. Smiley's recounting of the little known and now all but forgotten effort by the British in the immediate post-war era to overthrow Hoxa by landing trained Albanian freedom fighters (many of whom had fought with the Zogists or nationalists during the war) in Albania is itself an interesting story made more so because of the operation's apparent betrayal by a mole in MI-6. That betrayal led to the tragic death of most of the freedom fighters shortly after their landing and allowed a brutal communist regime to consolidate its power and rule Albania until Hoxa's death in 1985.

    This is an outstanding book that is a must read for those interested in military/special operations history and those interested in the history of immediate post-war era.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Talk About Complicated!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2021
    This very readable book, clearly described what must have been one of the most complicated war theatres to be involved in- on the local scene civil war was pending as power & politics became ascendant, ignoring the World War on its' borders! Communists, loyalists, racial groups and democratic fighters were all in the mix. The Germans were invading, Italians were joining any group who would arm and feed them, Russian defaulters were innumerable, Greeks were escaping the Germans and the local peasants were confused and able to be bought. To try and work a war resistance group by a few British agents in the midst of this chaos, was some tall order!
    The story moves quickly, is at times harrowing and tense but at others is witty and even funny. However frustrations run high with traitors and spies and people motivated by greed and personal gain.
    Very readable and certainly informative!
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Top reviews from other countries

  • John R.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Action.
    Reviewed in Spain on August 3, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Another great read. Shows Albanians of the time for what they were. Some unbelievable acts.
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  • Sher
    3.0 out of 5 stars SOE
    Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Was very interested in reading this book, but as the story continue it was all over the place and did lose interest.
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  • Craig sif
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    A extremely interesting read, a pity that the SOS operative who had such Soviet/communist leanings wasn't brought to book.
    Even now as seen in the fall Afghanistan 2021,and the subsequent treatment of our own interpreters,locally sourced personnel again treated as expendable.
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  • Tim H
    5.0 out of 5 stars Albanian WW2 history
    Reviewed in Italy on August 15, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I knew nothing of SOE and Albania before I read this account. The author was present and describes the wish of the Communists to put their political interests above those of the immediate need to free their country from foreign invaders. In a sense it is depressing but this is the reality of what took place. Very well written by Colonel Smiley.
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  • davidreads
    5.0 out of 5 stars What happened it Albania during WW2? This book is enlightening.
    Reviewed in Australia on August 4, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I had no knowledge of the Albanian situation during WW2, so I found this tale very informative as it shows the background to Soviet action the was the final outcome.
    Well worth reading for information concerning that part of the world.
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