Ask Military Canada - Question 13

[link]


The First Special Service Force was a multi-national Commando unit, composed of hand selected Canadian and American Soldiers. Amongst their number was Tommy Prince, Canada's most highly decorated First Nations soldier. The FSSF were trained in airborne and mountain warfare before being deployed to the Italian theater. Their first action was at Mount La Difensa, a supposedly impenetrable German Position at the top of a high mountain. Any Allied attack against this position was beaten back with high casualties. The FSSF, under the cover of darkness in the Italian Winter, climbed up the back of the mountain, up a sheer vertical cliff face and attacked the Germans from the Rear, taking the position. Afterwards, the FSSF was sent to the Anzio landing site, where they began aggressive combat patrols against the Germans. This is where the FSSF received it's nickname "The Black Devils" from the boot polish the men used to blacken their faces before a raid.

The FSSF were masters of psychological warfare, placing stickers on the bodies of killed German Sentrys, bearing the unit's patch and the words "Das dicke End Kommt Noch" or in english "The Worst is Yet to Come." The German army had bounties for any member of the Brigade who was captured. The aggressiveness of the Devils Brigade forced the Germans to pull back their lines by half a mile to avoid the patrols.

After fighting in the south of France, the Devils Brigade was disbanded, and its members sent to their nation's Airborne Regiments as replacements.

The Devils Brigade was one of the most effective Commando units in history, it never failed to take an objective, and it never retreated. It was a reputation made in blood, as the Devils Brigade suffered heavy casualties in its existence.

Today, the Devils Brigade legacy lives on through the American Green Berets, and the Canadian JTF-2.




(Admin: Sorry if this looks a little rushed, I've just had a lot of stuff to do for school.)