Desperation leads to innovation in wartime. In 1942, the Allies were desperate because they were losing the war. Japan was winning in the Far East, the Afrika Korps was winning in North Africa, and the Wehrmacht had reached Stalingrad. U-boats were sinking supply ships in the North Atlantic.
In desperation, Britain and the U.S. decided to create a unique commando force, consisting of Canadian and U.S. soldiers. They gave it an innocuous sounding name, First Special Service Force (FSSF). Robert T. Frederick was appointed commander. He was a West Point graduate with a reputation for being opinionated, but having a flair for organization.
The Force trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana where it is still fondly remembered despite occasionally blowing out the windows in the town’s buildings during explosives training. In addition to explosives training, the Force trained as parachutists and mountain climbers. To weed out the unfit, they went on 100 mile marches wearing full kit (about 100 pounds).
In 1943, the Force was sent to Italy where it became a legend. The legend began at Monte La Difensa, the key to opening the way to Monte Cassino and then to Rome. On December 1, 1943, in freezing rain, 600 Force men climbed La Difensa and engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Some German defenders were so shocked at their arrival on the mountain top, they surrendered without a fight. Decades later, several climbers tried to follow their route up the mountain, got stuck and had to be rescued.
After their exploits at Monte La Difensa, the Force was sent to the Anzio beachhead. Anzio was an attempt to bypass the German defenses but it became a meat grinder. The Force specialized in nighttime raids. Squads of men with blackened faces infiltrated enemy positions with explosives, bazookas and Johnson machine guns. They swapped two tons of explosives for their 125 Johnnyguns. During raids they attached stickers with their arrowhead patch and the phrase “Das Dicke Ende Kommt Noch!” (The worst is yet to come!) to buildings and the bodies of enemy soldiers.
The Germans called them the Schwartzer Teufel or Black Devils. Gradually, the Germans and Italians pulled back to avoid the Force. Eventually the Force controlled a quarter of the Anzio perimeter although they were the smallest unit in the line and pushed the enemy over a mile clear of their position.
As the enemy retreated, the Force moved into no man’s land. They converted a building into Gusville, a nightclub selling contraband liquor to Allied soldiers. Gusville also published a newspaper about the Force’s activities. News of Gusville boosted morale in the entire beachhead and attracted bona fide reporters like Ernie Pyle and cartoonist Bill Mauldin.
Anzio was the apex of the Force’s legend. The hard fighting had taken a toll. During battles, Force men would often rush in to engage in hand-to-hand combat rather than waiting for artillery to soften up the enemy. The excessive casualties caused the Force to be disbanded about two years after it was formed.
On December 5, 1944, the Canadians were sent to Canadian units and most of the U.S. soldiers were transferred to the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. Major General Robert T. Frederick took command of the 45th Infantry Division, which later liberated Dachau concentration camp.
The First Special Service Force was ahead of its time, an experiment created in a time of desperation. But by the 1950’s, the rise of “non-state actors” like the Viet Minh in Vietnam lead to the creation of the U.S. Special Forces. In 1960, the FSSF campaign history and battle standard were officially attached to the new unit, making them the godfathers of today’s Green Berets.
This storied unit is the subject of many books. An early account is The Devil’s Brigade, by Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton (1969) and is the source for a movie of the same name. Other accounts are The Black Devil Brigade, by Joseph A. Springer (2001) and A Perfect Hell, by John Nadler (2006). See also, the alumni association’s website, http://www.firstspecialserviceforce.net/history.html.
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