Editing First Special Service Force (section)

==Assignments and battles==
===Aleutian Islands, 1943===
In February 1943,[[Norwegian heavy water sabotage| Norwegian SOE agents]] destroyed the heavy water and deuterium plants.<ref name="arsof-history.org">The First Special Service Force in the Italian Mountains. https://arsof-history.org/articles/v5n2_better_country_page_1.html</ref>

To prevent the FSSF from being disbanded, Frederick proposed using it against the Japanese in Alaska.<ref name="cmh">{{cite journal|journal=Canadian Military History |volume=12 |issue=4 |year=2003 |title="Matters Canadian" and the Problem with Being Special Robert T. Frederick on the First Special Service Force. |author=James Wood |page= 23 |url=https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1344&context=cmh}}</ref> It was decided that the FSSF would be used against [[Aleutian Islands Campaign|Japanese forces occupying islands off Alaska]]. The FSSF arrived at the [[Fort Mason|San Francisco Port of Embarkation]] on 4 July 1943.<ref name="autogenerated191">Stanton, Shelby (2006). ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939-1946''. Revised Edition. Stackpole Books. p. 191</ref>

On 10 July the Devil's Brigade sailed for the [[Aleutian Islands]] off Alaska. On 15 August 1943, the FSSF was part of the [[Operation Cottage|invasion of the island of Kiska]]. The Japanese had evacuated the island, so the FSSF re-embarked. They returned to [[Fort Ethan Allen]], arriving 9 September 1943.<ref name="autogenerated191"/>

===Italy deployment, 1943===
In October 1943, [[United States Army North|US Fifth Army]] commander Lieutenant General [[Mark W. Clark]] brought the FSSF to the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian front]]. There the FSSF demonstrated the value of its unique skills and training. The FSSF arrived at [[Naples]] on 17 November 1943, and immediately went into the line with the [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|US 36th Infantry Division]].

===Monte la Difensa, 1943===
The FSSF was tasked with taking two heavily fortified German positions on the Camino ridge in the Italian mountains: [[Battle of Monte la Difensa|Monte La Difensa]], overlooking the Volturno River, and Monte La Remetanea, 1,200 yards to the west. These positions were held by the [[15th Panzergrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|104th Panzer Grenadier Regiment]] (an infantry formation) with the [[1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring]] (an armored division) in reserve.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=16}}</ref> The German positions on La Difensa and La Remetanea were the last entrenched line before the [[Winter Line|Gustav Line]].<ref>{{cite book|last=McGeer|first=Eric|title=The Canadian Battlfields in Italy" Ortona & the Liri Valley|year=2007|publisher=Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies|location=Waterloo|isbn=978-0-9783441-0-8|page=63}}</ref> An Allied push through the mountains would advance closer to Rome.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nadler|first=John|title=A Perfect Hell|year=2005|publisher=Anchor Canada|location=Canada|page=16}}</ref> Strategically, the mountains provided a commanding view of the countryside and highway, giving German artillery on the mountain control of the surrounding area. The German artillery atop La Difensa were also using a new weapon - the [[Nebelwerfer]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Peppard|first=Herb|title=The Lighthearted Soldier|year=1994|publisher=Nimbus Publishing|location=Halifax|pages=82–87}}</ref> Previous large scale Allied attacks on the mountain had met the enemy head on and been repelled with disastrous casualties. The paths leading up La Difensa were heavily scouted by the FSSF before their attack. The scouts reported to Lt. Col. T. C. MacWilliam (who would lead the 2nd Regiment's assault on La Remetanea) that the best way to approach the entrenched enemy was up an almost vertical escarpment over the right of the hill mass.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=17}}</ref> By this approach, the FSSF hoped to catch the Germans off guard.

The assault was planned for 2 December. The men were trained in mountain climbing and fighting tactics at their temporary barracks at Santa Maria. The plan was as follows (all battalions were in the 2nd Regiment): At 16:30 hours on 1 December, 2nd Regiment would be trucked to within {{convert|6|mi}} of the base of La Difensa and march the rest of the way (6-hour march). 1st Regiment, coupled with US 36th Infantry Division would be the reserve units for the 2nd Regiment. 3rd Regiment would be split in two, half to support the 2nd Regiment following the initial assault, and half to be reserves with the 1st Regiment and 36th Infantry Division. All identification on FSSF soldiers was to be removed except their dog tags.

After reaching the base of the mountain and having had a single night's rest, 2nd Regiment (600 men total) began their ascent of La Difensa on 2 December at dusk under cover of a heavy artillery barrage. One soldier recalls the severity of the shelling: "It looked as if we were marching into Hell. The whole mountain was being shelled and the whole mountain seemed to be on fire."<ref name="autogenerated18">{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=18}}</ref>

The soldiers of the 2nd Regiment came within range of the German positions at midnight and began to climb the final cliff, which jutted steeply upwards for {{convert|1000|ft}}.<ref name="autogenerated18"/> The men climbed with ropes tied to one another in the freezing rain. Upon reaching the top, MacWilliam signaled his men to move forward into a depression in front of the German entrenchment. Initially, the soldiers were given the order to hold their fire until 6 AM, but the Germans noticed the Allied movent after some FSSF men tripped over loose gravel while moving along the mountaintop. Germans shot flares into the air and the battle began. Through gun and mortar fire, the men of the 2nd Regiment managed to set up machine guns and return fire, surprising and overwhelming the Germans. The 5th Army Staff had guessed that the battle would last between 4–5 days, but within two hours, the Germans on La Difensa had retreated to La Remetanea.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=19}}</ref>

When informed by General Eisenhower that the FSSF had taken Monte la Difensa, Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] exclaimed that Frederick was "the greatest fighting general of all time".<ref name="warfarehistorynetwork.com"> {{cite web |author=Michael D. Hull|title=What the Devil's Brigade Did in World War II |publisher=Warfare History Network |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/what-the-devils-brigade-did-in-world-war-ii |date=August 2019 }} </ref>

Previously, American and British forces had suffered many casualties in futile attempts to take the important Camino ridge. The 1st SSF took their initial objective of La Difensa, but the attack on Monte La Remetanea (Hill 907) was halted after the death of 1st Battalion CO Lt. Col. T. C. MacWilliam. While Frederick wanted the attack to continue, he ordered a halt in the advance on 907 to wait for reinforcements and supplies. The FSSF dug in at Difensa, anticipating a German counterattack.

However, massive Allied artillery barrages and the flooding of both the Rapido and Garigliano rivers prevented the Germans from reforming. While waiting for the orders to attack Remetanea, the 2nd Regiment were resupplied by the 1st and 3rd Regiments, who brought them whiskey and condoms (to keep the barrels of their guns dry in the rain). Once the British forces broke through the German lines at Monte Camino, the FSSF was ordered to attack their primary objective (Hill 907).<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|pages=20–21}}</ref> 

The successful assault on Difensa was the basis for the 1968 motion picture titled ''[[The Devil's Brigade (film)|The Devil's Brigade]]''.

During the Monte la Difensa campaign the 1st SSF units engaged suffered 77% casualties: 511 total, 91 dead, 9 missing, 313 wounded with 116 exhaustion cases. They were relieved by the 142nd Infantry.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=21}}</ref>

===Monte Majo, 1944===
The 1st SSF immediately continued its attack, assaulting Monte La Remetanea from 6 to 9 December. It captured Hill 720, starting from Monte Sammucro on 25 December, and after difficulties assaulted Monte Majo and Monte Vischiataro almost simultaneously on 8 January 1944.

The attack on Monte Majo would sustain the highest casualties of the Force in any battle. While the main German positions were located on the summit of Monte Majo, the heights of the mountain were guarded and surrounded by layers of German artillery and machine gun pits located on the approaching slopes. Lt. Col. Tom Gilday of 2nd Regiment planned a preliminary night action to clear an assault route through this defensive shield. [[Tommy Prince]]<ref name="arsof-history.org"/> was ordered to lead a scout patrol and accomplish this mission with complete silence during the night. Prince, an expert in stealth combat, proceeded to a point near the lower slopes where he left his men behind as a support group. He then single-handedly approached and entered the gun emplacements. Prince eliminated the enemy gun platoons in the bunkers blocking the projected assault route one after another, beginning with the gun pits on the lower slopes and then proceeding with the middle slopes, without arousing any defensive alarms from the German positions.<ref>A Perfect Hell, John Nadler. ASIN: 0891418679 Presidio Press (March 28, 2006), P. 151.</ref> Prince then returned with his patrol to the Force forward outposts to give his report to Capt. Radcliffe.

The main attack led by Capt. Mark Radcliffe immediately followed Prince's action. Radcliffe's men passed by the now silent machine gun bunkers and reached the summit without firing a single bullet, the Germans taken by total surprise.<ref name="arsof-history.org"/> The Monte Majo positions were secured by 05:30. 

However, following the loss of the summit to the Force, the Germans almost immediately launched large scale counter-attacks to attempt to recapture the summit which persisted throughout several days of fierce fighting. The Force made use of heavy machine guns left behind by the retreating Germans to help repel these counter-attacks.

Following the intense defensive action at Monte Majo, the size of the Force had been reduced from the initial 1,800 men at the start of the mountain campaign to only 400 men still fit for combat.<ref name="warfarehistorynetwork.com"/><ref>Bravery in Arms FSSF Episode 4. https://theveteranschannel.com/bia-fssf-episode-4-bleeding-white-monte-majo/</ref> Frederick himself was wounded three times at Monte Majo.<ref name="warfarehistorynetwork.com"/>

At the conclusion of the Monte Majo operation, Frederick was promoted to Brigadier General. He was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for his actions and leadership at Monte Majo from 10-13 January, 1944.<ref>MAJOR GENERAL FREDERICK AWARD. https://www.sfa28.org/frederick-award</ref>

===Anzio, 1944===
[[File:1st Special Service Force members being briefed at Anzio 3396066.jpg|thumb|Personnel being briefed before setting out on a patrol at the Anzio beachhead]]

Following the [[Quebec Conference, 1943|Québec Conference]] in August 1943, General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] was moved to London to plan for the [[Normandy landings]]. Command of the [[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean Theater]] was given to British General [[Henry Maitland Wilson]]. General [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Sir Harold Alexander]], commanding the [[Allied Armies in Italy]], had formulated the plan to land Allied troops at [[Anzio]] in order to outflank German positions in the area. German Field Marshal [[Albert Kesselring]] commanded the four German divisions at Anzio, which included the [[Hermann Goering Division]] and the 35th Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the [[16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS]] Division. Combined German and Italian strength at Anzio was an estimated 70,000 men.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=27}}</ref>

The Special Force brigade was withdrawn from the mountains in January and, after bringing in new replacements for their previous losses, on 1 February was landed at the beachhead created by [[Operation Shingle]] at [[Anzio]], south of Rome. They replaced the [[1st Ranger Battalion (United States)|1st]] and [[3rd Ranger Battalion (United States)|3rd Ranger Battalions]], which had suffered heavy losses in the disastrous defeat at the [[Battle of Cisterna]]. Together with the remnants of the Ranger battalions, who were seconded to the Force, the numbers of FSSF now were about 1,200 men.<ref>A Perfect Hell, John Nadler. ASIN: 0891418679 Presidio Press (March 28, 2006), P. 209.</ref> However, there was insufficient time to train the new additions to the same high level of skill as the first generation of FSSF soldiers, and Frederick reported that the capabilities of the Brigade were no longer as finely prepared for special assignments.<ref name="cmh"/>

Their task was to hold and raid from the right-hand flank of the beachhead marked by the Mussolini Canal/[[Pontine Marshes]]. This length of perimeter defense was about eight miles, twice the length of a front to defend as assigned to the entire U.S. Third Division at Anzio.<ref name="warfarehistorynetwork.com"/> 1st Regiment was positioned on the force's right front, which comprised one-third of the entire line, while the 3rd Regiment guarded the remaining two-thirds of the line. 2nd Regiment, which had been reduced to three companies following the attacks on La Difensa, Sammucio, and Majo, were tasked with running night patrols into Axis territory.<ref name="autogenerated29">{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=29}}</ref> Shortly after the SSF took over the Mussolini Canal sector, German units pulled back up to {{convert|0.5|mi}} to avoid their aggressive patrols. The force's constant night raids forced Kesselring to fortify the German positions in their area with more men than he had originally planned. Reconnaissance missions performed by the Devils often went as deep as {{convert|1500|ft}} behind enemy lines.<ref name="autogenerated29"/>

Frederick was greatly admired by the soldiers of the First Special Service Force for his willingness to fight alongside the men in battle. On the beachhead in Anzio, for example, a nighttime Force patrol walked into a German minefield and was pinned down by machine gun fire. Colonel Frederick ran into battle and assisted the litter bearers in clearing the wounded Force members.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=33}}</ref>

German prisoners were often surprised at how few men the force actually contained. A captured German lieutenant admitted to being under the assumption that the force was a division. Indeed, General Frederick ordered several trucks to move around the forces area in order to give the enemy the impression that the force comprised more men than it actually did. An order was found on another prisoner that stated that the Germans in Anzio would be "fighting an elite Canadian-American Force. They are treacherous, unmerciful and clever. You cannot afford to relax. The first soldier or group of soldiers capturing one of these men will be given a 10-day furlough."<ref>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Ted|title=A Commemorative History: First Special Service Force|year=1995|publisher=Taylor Publishing|location=Dallas|page=32}}</ref>

It was at Anzio that the 1st Special Service Force inspired the "Black Devils" nickname, which appears to have been an invention of the Force's intelligence officers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Joyce|first=Ken|title=Project Plough and the Jupiter Deception|year=2006|publisher=Vanwell|location=Ontario|page=201}}</ref> There is no record of any German ever referring to the Force as "The Devil's Brigade". They were referred to as "black" devils because the brigade's members smeared their faces with black boot polish for their covert operations in the dark of the night. During Anzio, the 1st SSF fought for 99 days without relief. It was also at Anzio that the 1st SSF used their trademark stickers; during night patrols soldiers would carry stickers depicting the unit patch and a slogan written in German: "Das dicke Ende kommt noch," said to translate colloquially to "The worst is yet to come". Its literal translation is actually "The thick end is coming soon", implying that a larger force was on its way imminently, placing these stickers on German corpses and fortifications. Canadian and American members of the Special Force who lost their lives are buried near the beach in the Commonwealth [[Anzio War Cemetery]] and the [[Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial|American Cemetery]] in [[Nettuno]], just east of Anzio.

When the [[United States Army North|U.S. Fifth Army]]'s [[Operation Diadem|breakout offensive]] began on 25 May 1944, the 1st SSF was sent against Monte Arrestino, and attacked [[Rocca Massima]] on 27 May. The 1st SSF was given the assignment of capturing seven bridges in the city to prevent their demolition by the withdrawing [[Wehrmacht]]. During the night of 4 June, members of the 1st SSF entered Rome, through Porta San Paolo,   one of the first Allied units to do so. After they secured the bridges, they quickly moved north in pursuit of the retreating Germans. Their command was placed in the American embassy in via Veneto.

In August 1944 1st SSF came under the command of Colonel [[Edwin Walker]]<ref>{{cite book| last=Fredricksen| first=John C.| year=2012| title=Fighting Elites: A History of U. S. Special Forces| location=Santa Barbara, Calif.| publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-1-59884-810-6 | page=70}}</ref> when Brigadier General Frederick, who had commanded the force since its earliest days, left on promotion to major general to command the [[1st Airborne Task Force (Allied)|1st Airborne Task Force]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Fredricksen| first=John C.| year=1999| title=American military leaders: from colonial times to the present, Volume 2.| location=Santa Barbara, Calif.| publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-1-57607-001-7| page=270}}</ref> Frederick became the youngest major general in the U.S. Army.

===France, 1944===
On 14 August 1944, the 1st SSF, now restored by recruitment to a 2,000-man unit, landed on the islands of [[Port-Cros National Park|Port Cros]] and [[Île du Levant]] during [[Operation Dragoon]], the invasion of southern France. They fought the small [[Battle of Port Cros]] in which they captured the five forts on the islands from the German Army. Nine men were killed in action or died of wounds received in combat.

On 22 August the Force was attached to Frederick's [[1st Airborne Task Force]], a provisional [[Seventh United States Army|Seventh Army]] airborne division, and later made part of the Task Force.

In the first week of September the Force advanced through the French Riviera sector and on 5 September attacked and either killed or captured an entire German battalion of about 1,000 men near [[L'Escarène]].<ref>Battles of the First Special Service Force. https://fssflhg.tripod.com/id18.htm</ref><ref name=forgot>{{cite web|url=http://firstnationsdrum.com/2002/09/thomas-prince-canadas-forgotten-aboriginal-war-hero-2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203014434/http://firstnationsdrum.com/2002/09/thomas-prince-canadas-forgotten-aboriginal-war-hero-2/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=3 December 2010|title=Thomas Prince: Canada's Forgotten Aboriginal War Hero|date=9 September 2002 |publisher=|access-date=21 July 2016}}</ref> On 7 September it moved with the 1st Airborne Task Force to defensive positions on the Franco-Italian border.

During the war the 1,800-man unit accounted for some 12,000 German casualties, captured some 7,000 prisoners, and sustained an attrition rate of over 600%.

===Disbandment, 1944===
The 1st SSF was disbanded 5 December 1944 in a field near [[Villeneuve-Loubet]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burhans |first1=Robert |title=The First Special Service Force : a war history of the North Americans, 1942-1944 |date=November 1996 |publisher=Battery Press |isbn=0898392616}}</ref> on the extreme southeast Mediterranean coast of France. Villeneuve-Loubet holds a special place in the history of the force, not only because the unit was broken up there, but also because it is one of the villages that the 1st SSF had the hardest time capturing in southern France, on 26 August 1944.

Frederick had come to believe that the Force was now reliant upon assisting units of artillery and tanks, due to the type of assignments they were now being given, and were no longer utilizing special operations skills. This was partly a result of the large numbers of recent recruits who were not trained to the same high standards of special operations as the initial Force members.<ref name="cmh"/>

The day the unit was disbanded, the American commander held a parade honouring the unit. To end the ceremony, the Canadian elements were dismissed by being honoured by the American troops with a Pass in Review, eyes right, officers salute. After the unit's break up, the Canadians were sent to other Canadian units (most of them became replacements for the [[1st Canadian Parachute Battalion]]). Some American members were sent to airborne divisions as replacements, others to Ranger Battalions, and still others formed the [[474th Infantry Regiment (United States)|474th Infantry Regiment]], which served with the Third United States Army and performed occupation duty in Norway. United States Army Special Forces Groups (lineal descendants of 1st Special Service Force) celebrate Menton Day every 5 December with their Canadian military comrades and surviving members of the force. Usually there is a combined parachute jump, a pass in review, and a formal ball.