up to the mountain passes to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The division found itself immediately engaged by Yugoslav partisans, with the Perugia undertaking large scale anti-partisan operations from February to April 1942 and the partisans striking relentlessly the Split-Šibenik railway and the key roads in the area. Montenegro In late July 1942 the Perugia moved to Cetinje in Montenegro and was responsible for the territory between Lake Skadar and the Bay of Kotor. The Perugia garrisoned the Gruda, Mrčine, Crkvice, Ledenice, Kotor and Grabovac. The division was instantly attacked by the local partisan forces with intense, incessant fighting occurring in the mountainous area around Grahovo and Vilusi. In May–June 1943 the division participated in the Battle of Sutjeska. Albania In August 1943 the division moved to Gjirokastër in southern Albania. The division garrisoned the cities of Gjirokastër and Delvinë with the 129th Infantry Regiment and the cities of Këlcyrë and Tepelenë with the 130th Infantry Regiment. After the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943 the Perugia was attacked by German forces and Albanian partisans. The Perugia's commander ordered his troops to move to the coast and embark to Italy. To achieve this the division split in two formations: one marching from Gjirokastër to Sarandë and the other from Tepelenë to Vlorë. Heavy German attacks prevent this maneuver and the division tried to concentrate on 14 September around Tepelenë, but on the way there both formations found themselves under constant attacks by German forces and heavily harassed by partisan formations, which tried to take possession of the Perugia's weapons and materiel. After the failure to unite its forces at Tepelenë the division returned to the original plan and both formations battled their way out of the Albanian mountains towards the coast. The survivors of the 130th Infantry Regiment reached Vlorë and set up a defensive perimeter, which managed to withstand the German attacks until 20 September 1943. The remnants of the 129th Infantry Regiment, together with the division's command, reached Sarandë, where the Germans besieged the Italians. Approximately 1,000 men could be shipped back to Italy with the vessels in the harbor. No help from Italy or the Allies arrived and so between 3–5 October the German 1st Mountain Division overran most of the Perugia's positions and immediately executed all captured officers and non-commissioned officers - 120 in total, including the division's commander Ernesto Chiminello. On 7 October the