The Italians stumbled ashore at Albania’s largest port without any real opposition; had they met even a small group with light arms the invasion could have begun with a disaster. Even so, the invaders were hard-pressed when the Albanians counter-attacked them after their landing.

Just what happened at Durrës is unclear, but what’s not disputed is that by nightfall the Italians had firm control of the town and port. Just because someone wrote it down doesn’t make it fact, and it seems unlikely that the Bernd Fischer claims of large-scale fighting resulting in hundreds of Italian dead are anything more than a nationalist fantasy. But they do make for a better scenario.