In 1942 the Allies had a serious problem.
Germany was believed to be moving full-steam ahead on its program to create a nuclear weapon,
and the Russian front was increasingly looking like a lost cause.
Something had to be done, and fast, or the war might soon be lost.
That something would be the creation of the US’s first special forces force.
Norway was of great strategic importance to Germany, as it gave them access to iron and
other minerals needed for the war effort, but also to heavy water facilities which were
used in their nuclear weapons program.
Further, their control of Norway prevented the Allies from having an easy year-round
route to Russia, which the United States was steadily feeding as many military supplies
and food as it could fit into cargo ships.
Without this aid, Russia would collapse under the Nazi onslaught.
If the Allies could take Norway, it would open up a direct route to Russia and severely
hamper the Nazi war effort- but Norway was easily fortified, and a major assault would
be disastrous.
Instead, an English intellectual proposed a bold idea: land a small, but highly trained
and well-equipped force onto the mountain glaciers of Norway, from which they could
conduct raids on vital German targets and retreat back into the safety of their mountain
bases.
The British high command thought highly of the idea, but ultimately realized it didn't
have the manpower or logistics to pull off such a daring feat.
So instead, they kicked the idea over to the Americans.
For the Americans, forcing the Nazis out of Norway could spell the end of the European
war, something they wanted very much as it would free up the allies to fight in the Pacific.
Plans to land an elite commando force behind enemy lines which would live off the mountains
were quickly adopted, and the First Special Service Force was born.
Recruitment for the FSSF was undertaken via posters at various military bases.
The advertisements asked for daring individuals in good physical shape and who had experience
as mountaineers, skiiers, hunters, game wardens, lumberjacks and the sort.
The US wouldn't undertake this effort alone though, and the unit would end up being made
up of half Americans and half Canadians.
The FSSF would consist of 3 regiments and one services battalion, with half of the officers
and one third of the enlisted men being Canadian.
While remaining members of the Canadian military, all expenses were paid for by the US Army
and the men would wear American uniforms.
An American officer was placed in charge of the unit, but a Canadian officer was made
second in command.
The FSSF's training was brutal, even by modern standards.
Within 48 hours of arrival at Helena, Montana- chosen for its difficult terrain and cold
weather- FSSF recruits would earn their parachutist wings.
The men spent nearly a full year in training, with August through October dedicated to parachuting,
weapons and demolitions usage, small unit tactics and physical training.
October to November was spent on unit tactics and problem solving.
November to July consisted of skiing, rock climbing, adaptation to cold climates, and
the operation of the specially constructed all-terrain vehicle the M29 Weasel
Training consisted of not just American and Canadian equipment and tactics, but also of
the use of German equipment, until the men were as proficient with German weapons as
they were with their own.
They were trained in hand-to-hand combat and bayonet fighting techniques, even sparring
against each other with unsheathed bayonets- leading to many injuries.
Once the snows fell, Norwegian ski instructors took over, and within two weeks the Americans
and Canadians had mastered the basics.
The training would continue until their Norwegian instructors were confident the men were up
to Norwegian army standards.
It was an irregular unit which would soon be fighting in highly irregular ways.
The FSSF's first combat deployment would be to the Aleutian Islands in 1943.
Their wintertime and mountain training made them perfect for the Alaskan environment,
but upon reaching their destination it was discovered the Japanese had already evacuated
the island.
The FSSF was then redeployed to Europe, where the possibility of an insertion into Norway
had come and gone.
Instead, the men would ship off to Italy, to join in the stab at Hitler's soft underbelly.
Here they would have their baptism by fire, trying to take an objective many Allied troops
had lost their lives trying to take.
Immediately upon arrival, the FSSF had their mountaineering skills put to the test.
The Allied push into Italy was being severely hampered by two strong German defensive positions,
one at Monte La Difensa, and another at Monte La Remetanea.
Previous assaults on these strongholds had yielded nothing but terrible losses for the
Allies.
The FSSF would have to prove they could succeed where everyone else had failed.
If they didn't, the Allied push to Rome would falter.
La Difensa would be the first target to be attacked.
On 2nd December, the 2nd Regiment was trucked to within 6 miles of the base of the mountain,
after which the men disembarked and moved on foot through the forest.
Ahead of them lay a six hour march, uphill, through difficult terrain, with a hornet's
nest full of Nazis waiting for them.
A force of 600 men reached the base of the mountain and took a rest, then under the cover
of dusk began their ascent of La Difensa.
The assault was covered by a brutal Allied bombardment, with one soldier remarking that
it looked as if they were marching into hell, as if the entire mountain was on fire.
The men managed to sneak all the way to the base of the final cliff they would have to
climb without the Germans ever realizing they were there- such was the intensity of the
incoming artillery.
But Mother Nature helped too, lashing out at all the combatants with freezing rain,
which helped cover the approaching soldiers as they climbed a 1,000 foot cliff- but it
also exhausted the men and threatened to blow them off their perilous holds and to a very
ugly death on the rocks below.
Incredibly, the men climbed to the top of the cliff and then moved into position in
a shallow depression just across from the enemy's lines.
They were supposed to hold their fire until dawn, when the assault would begin, but the
loose gravel giving way under the feet of the soldiers gave their positions away to
the Germans.
Flares shot into the air, revealing to the utter shock of the defending Germans the 600
Americans and Canadians that had scaled a cliff to reach them.
The FSSF put up a fierce battle, and despite Allied commanders expecting that the fighting
would last for up to a week, the Germans retreated to their second defensive position in only
two hours.
Such was the ferocity of the Devil's Brigade attack, through terrain so treacherous no
regular infantry unit could have managed the feat.
The follow on attack on Monte La Remetanea had to be briefly halted due to the death
of 1st Battalion CO Lt. Colonel T.C.
MacWilliam.
Instead, the men were ordered to wait for resupply and dug in, expecting a German counter-attack
at any time.
The Germans however would be unable to mount a counter-attack due to the fierce pounding
they received from Allied artillery.
The flooding of two nearby rivers also prevented them from regrouping during their retreat,
leaving the Nazis off-balance and allowing British forces to break through German lines
at Monte Camino.
With the British breakthrough, the FSSF continued its attack on La Remetanea, taking three days
to seize their objective.
The next month, the FSSF would continue showcasing its mountain fighting expertise by taking
several more Nazi positions.
They would be pulled out of the mountains to join a new allied beachhead at Anzio which
sought to flank the German line, but they paid dearly for their time in the Italian
mountains, with a whopping 77% casualty rate.
91 men lay dead, 9 were missing in action, 313 were wounded, and 116 had to be hospitalized
for exhaustion.
After a brief recovery and replenishment period, the FSSF replaced the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions
at Anzio, which had suffered heavy casualties as well.
Their job was to hold the line while also launching raids into enemy territory in order
to keep the Germans off-balance.
This is where the FSSF would earn their nickname of the Black Devils, for their propensity
to launch daring night raids with completely blacked out faces.
The night raids undertaken by the FSSF were so aggressive in fact, that the Germans were
forced to retreat a full half-mile from their original positions in order to avoid their
patrols.
But the very presence of the FSSF in the area led the Germans to reinforce their positions
with more men than were necessary, tying down German forces desperately needed to counter
Allied attacks elsewhere.
The Black Devils had earned a reputation amongst the Germans, who believed they were facing
a full on division rather than three under-strength regiments.
One note found on a German prisoner warned that they would be “fighting an elite Canadian-American
Force.
They are treacherous, unmerciful, and clever.
You cannot afford to relax.
The first soldier or groups of soldiers capturing one of these men will be given a 10-day furlough.”
With their raids penetrating deep behind enemy lines, the Germans grew increasingly fearful
of these Canadian and American night devils.
To further wreak havoc on German morale, the FSSF began to leave a unique calling card
on the corpses of Germans killed and equipment destroyed in the middle of the night- a sticker
with the unit's patch which read in German, “The worst is yet to come.”
That summer, the FSSF would have the honor of being one of the first Allied units to
enter an enemy capital, as they rushed into Rome under the cover of night in order to
ensure that the retreating Germans didn't blow up key bridges.
With Italy falling to the Allies, the FSSF would be shipped to the sunny southern coast
of France- but they weren't there for a vacation.
With the successful Allied landings at Normandy, the FSSF would help envelop German forces
in France in a pincer movement, but first the Axis had to be kicked out of the Mediterranean
for good.
This would require the taking of several key islands along the southern French coast, eliminating
German airfields and naval facilities.
Here, the FSSF would prove they could not just fight in mountains or invade from the
sea, but bring victory from the sky as well as they were air-dropped onto the island of
Port-Cros.
The Nazis had fortified the strategically important island with five forts, but their
naval support was quickly eliminated by a single American destroyer as it surprised
two German ships defending the island.
After sinking both, the USS Somers turned its attention to providing fire support for
the airborne assault on the island's forts.
In just one single day of fighting, the FSSF captured three of the five forts, with the
other two surrendering without resistance.
They suffered only nine dead for their efforts.
Soon, the FSSF was joining in the invasion of southern Italy, where it fought several
tough-won skirmishes against the German occupiers.
As the war swung against Germany, the FSSF was moved for a well-earned rest along the
French and German border to act as a blocking force and deterrent against a German breakout
as the Allies pushed into Germany itself.
On the 5th of December, 1944, the FSSF was officially disbanded.
There was no more need for its specific expertise, and both the Canadian and American military
would be better served by having the men moved to other units within their respective militaries.
On the day of disbandment, the American troops honored their Canadian brethren with a Pass
in Review, eyes right, officers salute.
The FSSF would be the direct descendant of the US Army Special Forces, and laid the groundwork
for training, doctrine, and tactics employed by American special forces to this day.
Every 5th December, American and Canadian special forces still celebrate December 5th,
along with surviving members of the FSSF.
Now go watch Hitler's Secret Weapon- Germany's Most Dangerous Black Ops Soldier, or click
this other link instead.