Ihsan Bey Toptani

May I correct one inaccuracy in James Pettifer's otherwise excellent obituary of the Albanian patriot Ihsan Toptani [1 June]? writes Richard Houghton. Far from being evacuated to Italy after the Communist victory in Albania and the expulsion of German forces from the country in 1944, he had to make his own way there, succeeding in procuring a small boat which ran adrift for several days in the Adriatic. The British military mission, including "Billy" Maclean, Julian Amery and David Smiley, were expressly forbidden to bring any of their Albanian friends with them when they themselves withdrew from the country.