The English Musketeer – the sworn enemy of communism in Albania

On a winter's evening, my knocks on the door of a house in London's posh Belgravia district were answered by a lady who appeared to be in her mid-30s. He had a long and thin body. Her face and two small, twinkling eyes behind John Lennon-style glasses were welcoming. "Dad is waiting for him," he said with a smile. It was unbelievable how much this lady resembled the actress who plays the role of Rocky Balboa's wife in the movie of the same name where Sylvester Stallone plays his (boxer) role. This was the daughter of Lord Amery or Julian Amery, as this important personality is better known to Albanians.

The houses of British aristocrats retain a special charm of the traditional, but in most cases, they are gloomy. Classic furnishings, including carpets and curtains, do not allow for the element of modernization. The English, when they receive guests, especially if they are journalists, show great care. They dress well and the tie is an essential part of the outfit. To my surprise, Lord Amery was not dressed in this usual fashion. On top of the green pajamas, there was a long gown that was used at home during the day and at night.

The Lord struggled to get up or pretended, as I thought, but could not. His attempt ended with a slight movement from the spot. We had talked several times about the interview and finally it was the turn of this job as well.

The personality of British colonialist, interventionist and imperialist policy, as some would call him, and the legend of the conception and execution of covert operations, lay before me. I took out the recorder and placed it on the table, near the bottle of whiskey from which Lord had consumed at least one glass (later I helped him with a glass or two).

The momentous unfolding of history in which he had participated began. Later I also took out the camera which I had filled with the best film (Kodak 400) so as not to fail and one of the pictures is what you see in this article.

Lord Amery was not feeling well. In his eyes you could see a tiredness mixed with a great annoyance. He was somewhere around 74 years old, but life, with its hectic dynamics, had defeated him. In fact, at the end of the conversation, I realized that he had honored me with an interview, despite the fact that he was ill and despite what I thought was a great outfit. Perhaps he had done this for himself, to say a few things to him before he left this world. We never met again and, after a year (September 1996), Lord Amery passed away.

The Amery family has been known and has a political tradition. Julian Amery's father, Leo, held several government offices and was among Churchill's closest friends. Continuing the aristocratic tradition, Julian was educated at the elite British schools - Eaton College and Oxford University. Julian, as a student, had become known to the British public because of his love affair with the writer Barbara Pym, who was significantly older than him.

During World War II, the Amery family is faced with a serious problem. Julian's brother John was a fascist who went to Germany to join Hitler's state apparatus where he carried out propaganda against Great Britain and the USA. He later helped Mussolini, until at the end of the war he was captured by British forces, brought to London and sentenced to death (hanging) for treason. This has been a difficult stain on the Amery family.

However, Great Britain is a democratic country where responsibility is personal and does not cross these boundaries. So, this did not prevent the Amery family, especially Julian, from exercising high state functions after the war. But, during the war, Julian Amery showed great patriotism and heroism. In addition to other actions, he has entered history for the role he played in Albania and later for Albania. In 1943, Julian Amery, David Smiley and Billy McLean were sent to Albania as liaison officers with groups fighting the occupier. Because of their common task, Africa and determination of engagement in Albania, these were called 'Three Musketeers'. First they went to the partisans of Enver Hoxha and later to the nationalist forces, which they preferred to the communist ones.

Read too The British colonel who was an intelligence officer in Albania

In 1944, London decided to support Enver Hoxha's partisan forces more, as did Tito's forces in Yugoslavia and the 'Three Musketeers' withdrew from Albania. This decision of London, namely of Churchill, which enabled the victory of the communists in Albania and Yugoslavia, has caused a debate that continues even today. This has created the basis for the spread of a conspiracy theory that says that in the British command in Cairo, and later in Bari, there were some communist officers who influenced this decision that brought the victory of Enver in Albania and Tito in Yugoslavia. But, this is not true. Churchill decided to support the partisans of Albania and Yugoslavia because these forces were more active in the war against the Italian and German occupiers.

In 1948, the 'Three Musketeers' were active again. Now the Cold War had begun and things were changing. Communist Albania was becoming a Russian military base when at the same time Yugoslavia was moving away from Russian influence. Greece was in a state of chaos. In response to the situation, at high levels, the British and the Americans had drawn up a plan: Albania would be taken out of the Soviet communist sphere. With this, if it happened, Greece would be stabilized and a complete anti-Russian line would be created that would create security for Western Europe.

Therefore, one day, the British secret service (MI6) contacted Julian Amery to ask him if he would accept an assignment that would print the political implementation of this plan. Unbeknownst to Amery, this service had also contacted the other 'Two Musketeers'. All three of them considered the mission in Albania as a personal matter, as they were saddened that their nationalist friends had lost the war and now it was time to correct this injustice. Therefore, they accepted the new task with great pleasure.

Read too 'Operation Valuable Fiend' or the Great Betrayal: The failure of the Anglo-American plan to overthrow Enver Hoxha

Julian Amery traveled to Rome to perform a 'Mission Impossible': to create political consensus among Albanians. But, it worked. There he met Vasil Andoni and Abas Ermenji, but two other prominent figures were missing: Mit'hat Frashëri and Abaz Kupi. Abaz Kupi was stuck in Greece and this country did not let him go out. But with the help of MI6, Abaz Kupi was brought to Rome and even traveled by plane from Athens. When Mit'hat Frashëri also came from Istanbul, Amery also met Ahmet Zogu and revealed to them the plan which roughly stated: a force of Albanian saboteurs would be sent to Albania, which would expand the activity to overthrow Enver Hoxha from power, and would overthrow communism in Albania; then, free elections would be organized and democracy would be established; Albania would enter the sphere of the West and would have the full economic and political help of the British Empire and the other superpower, America.

Despite the divisions and hesitations, these Albanian dignitaries could not reject this plan that seemed ideal. Soon the organization began and more volunteer recruits than needed were announced. In Malta, David Smiley began their training.

The plan required the support of Yugoslavia and Greece. Washington and London ordered their ambassadors to Belgrade to meet Tito and enlist his support. After Tito had moved away from Soviet influence and moved closer to the West, it was thought that he would support the Anglo-American intervention plan in Albania. But it didn't turn out that way. Tito, being a strategist, had dictated that this plan was dangerous for him as well. According to this plan, Albania would leave communism, be democratized, develop economically and come under Anglo-American auspices. Therefore, Tito, also advised by Kardeli, refused to help in any segment. After all, why would Tito help a foreign plan when he had his own plan with which he constantly kept Albania under influence and under pressure.

Julian Amery went to Greece to secure the help of this country so that the saboteurs would be helped in case they retreated from Albania to the territory of this country. This was also hard work, but he managed to get the promise from the Greek army and police. And, this is how the implementation of the plan began, which is known how and why it ended in debacle, while Albania remained at the mercy of savage communism.

However, Julian Amery remembered an interesting moment that had happened in his home, when he had brought to London the members of the Albanian Committee that was engaged in this plan. After lunch they had gone for a walk in the yard. Abaz Kupi had seen a snake in the garden, after which he had run and caught it. Being the peasant that he was, he was not afraid of the snake. But Mit'hat followed Frashëri with a snake around the yard, who, as an urban type, ran away in fear. Amery humorously said: "Abazi wanted to test if the snake was poisonous."

Julian Amery has considered himself a friend of the Albanians. However, there are facts that prove that at a lunch at the Embassy of Yugoslavia in London, when Albania was discussed, Amery suggested that the division of this country with Yugoslavia and Greece could be a good solution. Now, this is perhaps a careless statement, but very problematic for someone who called himself a friend of Albania. But it should be taken into account that British politicians had a great love for Yugoslavia, especially Tito's. That's how it was until 1997 when Tony Blair changed course.