The First Special Service Force (FSSF) began as the idea of an eccentric inventor, Geoffrey Pyke, who wanted to contribute to anti-Nazi efforts in the Second World War. His idea revolved around snow vehicles and a raiding force that would be deployed into Norway, Romania and Italy. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his Chief of Combined Operations, Lord Louis Mountbatten having created the famed Commando units were intrigued and Britain needed help fighting the Germans.

The United States had the industrial might to build the snow vehicles, the M29 Weasel, and manpower to staff the unit. The Canadians were involved with the project from the beginning and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King saw the benefits and strengths of forming a nationally joint unit from North America.

In early 1942, a 35 year old American Colonel named Robert T. Frederick was chosen to establish, organize and train the First Special Service Force (FSSF) at Helena, Montana in the U.S. The force, which came to be known famously as the "Devil's Brigade," was a unique organization. It was made up of volunteer soldiers from Canada and the U.S., in all some 2,500 men and officers, of whom about 850 were Canadians.

They recruited candidates between the ages of 18 and 45 who displayed "youth, hardiness and physical fitness" and ideally possessed the qualities of a "mountaineer, north woodsman and skier." They needed to be physically and mentally tough and had to be willing and able to conduct parachute training. Both the officers and the other ranks would need to uphold the same standard.

Leaders would have to be, not only tough, but work well in small groups, display initiative, with little supervision and be flexible no matter what situation they encountered in the field. Once accepted into the FSSF, and having completed the training, each soldier would be promoted to the rank of Sergeant. In order to move onto the initial training phase, each soldier had to pass a medical and an interview. After the men had been selected they would travel to Fort Harrison, Helena Montana, the home base for the First Special Service Force.

The training of the FSSF brought a unique problem that had to be resolved. The unit was bi-national and the customs, equipment and practices of each military were distinct. They would have to be able to be blended for the sake of unity. Fort Harrison was chosen for it's proximity to mountain areas for training for winter warfare and the ability of the base to house the size of the unit. Colonel Frederick decided to solve the problem of mixing Americans and Canadians by not solving it and letting the men do it themselves. As they came in from all over the United States and Canada they were put into their regiments and companies and then bunked together to promote unit cohesion. Two Americans and two Canadians to a tent, and they would 'buddy up,' one American and one Canadian for the duration.

Colonel Frederick created an amalgamation of American and Canadian drill systems to create the FSSF Drill, a blend that Frederick personally cultivated to make effective. While the Canadians had to tolerate a heavy American influence on the unit's customs and dress, within a short period of time there was little to distinguish an American from a Canadian. Colonel Frederick managed the differences professionally and was pleased that the Canadians were able to make it work.

The uniform that was issued was controversial as the Canadians wanted one that was distinctive to the unit, not to either nationality. Logistics was not able to keep up with this intent and the Force devolved to using US Army uniforms. The shoulder flash, that would become iconic, was a symbol of the shared Native American culture of both Canada and the United States. It was a red Indian spearhead with USA at the top crossing CANADA down the middle, stitched in white thread. Eventually Canadian officers would wear Canada on their lapels, while American officers would wear US, while everyone wore the spearhead.

Canadian officers were authorized to wear their Canadian uniforms on special occasions, but would wear their American uniforms with American rank insignia most of the time. This was difficult for Canadians as the Canadian regimental system developed great pride of unit, but through Colonel Frederick and the unit cohesion that had been built, all submitted to the greater good. Colonel Frederick did a masterful job of bringing all the soldiers together and moulding a unit that was of one mind and one mission.

The tasks that the FSSF was expected to successfully complete were of an extreme nature. They were to be an elite assault and sabotage force, behind enemy lines in extreme weather conditions. Only the best would be successful, so the training had to be rigorous, authentic and precise. Under a tight timetable, Lt. Colonel Frederick devised an intense training regimen, that would maximize the skills of the Force and there would be no favoritism, officers and the other ranks would all follow the same training.

The first and foremost skillset was physical fitness. Colonel Frederick knew that a key component to mission success would be that each Force member had to be in top condition. Reveille was at 0445, physical training, inspection, breakfast and chores were followed by a 2.5 KM obstacle course at 0800. Interspersed with the continual physical training, the rest of the day would consist of training courses in various skills required to be elite soldiers including shooting, unarmed combat, demolitions, patrolling, land navigation, and communications. The First Special Service Force possessed superior physical fitness compared to all other units, on both sides of the Second World War.

Shooting was of prime importance and each Force member learned how to shoot everything they could and they would shoot constantly to hone their skills. They were to be armed with American weapons, the M1 Garand rifle (replacing the intended M1 Carbine), Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), M1911A1 .45 Pistol, Thompson Submachinegun, and the Johnson 1941 Light Machine Gun as well as the light and heavy Browning machine guns.

Additionally, Colonel Fredericks had the men learn how to operate enemy weapons including the MP38/40 Submachine gun and the Mauser K-98 rifle. There was no expense spared on this skill and ammunition was in plentiful supply, everyone was encouraged to shoot often and hone this most essential battlefield skill. The Canadians had some initial adjustments to make to the American weapons the Force had adopted, but quickly learned and were able to appreciate some of the advances over the issued weapons from the Canadian army.

There were several other specialized courses that were necessary for the men to have in order to serve in the First Special Service Force. They needed to be able to ski and to operate from the T15 Weasel and so training was conducted in the nearby mountains, in extreme temperatures in order to strengthen and prepare them for hardship in the field. Norwegian ski instructors trained men that had never skied before in short periods of time to Norwegian alpine troop levels. They learned winter survival skills and mountaineering. They had to learn to climb up the sides of sheer rock walls with ropes and climbing gear.

The Force learned unarmed combat from a legend in the martial arts community at the time. Colonel Frederick brought in Dermot "Pat" O'Neill, a former Shanghai Municipal Policeman and contemporary of William Fairbairn, to teach the Force to fight hand to hand. He was an expert in Judo and Jiu Jitsu and he created a training course that enabled the men to learn very quickly how to kill with their bare hands or edged weapons. He said, "I'm not here to teach you to hurt, I'm here to teach you to kill."

Colonel Frederick and his officers wanted a distinctive knife that the Force would make their own personal weapon. The result was based on the Fairbairn-Sykes Commando knife that Fredericks had seen when in England. It was called the V-42 Stiletto and the knife would be symbolic of the Force and remain a symbol for future special operations forces.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the training would be the airborne qualification. The Force was envisioned as a unit that would be inserted by air, behind enemy lines and this skill was essential. Like the other training, a compressed time schedule caused Colonel Frederick to create a course that was extremely short. The total airborne qualification time for the Force was ten days.

There were two jumps required in order to receive the coveted US Airborne wings, and if you failed to jump, you were removed from the unit. Proper equipment was acquired, including paratrooper boots, to prevent injuries but many were injured during the training and were sent home from the unit. While some felt that this training was too brief, Frederick felt that it was adequate given the time constraints, and he made a point to be the one to award the jump wings to every graduate.

Demolitions was another key factor for what the Force's intended mission was. Colonel Frederick brought in experts from the Army Corps of Engineers to teach the Force how to blow up anything. Unfortunately for the town of Helena and the surrounding area, the men were a little too eager and too good. They blew up everything including bridges, smoke stacks, railroad lines, culverts, concrete structures and anything else they could find. Colonel Frederick acknowledged that they had been a little too destructive to the area.

Colonel Fredericks made the training rugged and realistic in order to forge a group that could achieve their mission under difficult conditions. The training that he created instilled a sense of pride and it created an incredibly cohesive unit, that even detractors had to acknowledge that their morale and enthusiasm was high.

Fredericks instilled in his officers the 'lead from the front' attitude and would always train with the men doing the dangerous things alongside them. He was in the first group to parachute jump because he wanted the men to know that it was okay and that he was not going to sit back and have them do the heavy lifting. This forged a loyalty and respect that was ironclad. He was one of them.

The original purpose of the special force had been to simultaneously attack three targets; hydroelectric stations in Norway and Northern Italy and the Ploesti oil fields in Romania to deprive the Germans of these strategic assets. But the original plan for which the unit was created was cancelled as impractical when in June 1942, the Japanese occupied the Aleutian Islands of Attu, Adak and Kiska.

Between 11-30 May 1943, a force of American soldiers, with Canadian reconnaissance elements attacked and re-took the island of Attu, engaging in intense combat for twenty days culminating when Japanese forces launched a suicidal Banzai charge that resulted in the deaths of almost all of the Japanese.

During this time, the First Special Service Force had embarked from San Francisco on their way to the Aleutians. They were not told of their intended destination until underway, but they had been informed of the Japanese reputation for hard fighting and the Force was determined to prove their mettle. While on the ship, they battled bouts of seasickness and uncomfortable conditions on board the ships. They spent nearly two weeks at sea and then landed at Amchitka, 115 km southeast of Kiska.

Conditions on the island were very difficult. Moving inland to the camp and training area was a difficult slog. The ground had a hard crust, but every step was into a deep puddle of water underneath. There were mosquitos and windy, cold, wet conditions constantly. The slog through the 'gumbo' was made even more difficult as the men were not very active during their voyage to the island. They set up their bivouac over the next 48 hours and while they were working hard, supplies were slow in coming, they were exhausted and hungry.

Intelligence was coming in about the battle on Attu and this had an effect on the the troops. They knew that the Japanese were going to make it hard on them and that a tough fight was ahead. Colonel Frederick put in place a pre-invasion training schedule to prepare the men for the coming battle. Due to the terrain and conditions the training was difficult. Despite the hardship, the men adapted quickly to their environment and once good rations and winter clothing arrived the duty was easier. But they were still waiting to be tested.

Invasion Day was set for August 15th, 1943 and the men went ashore on Kiska. They encountered no resistance and in fact, unknown to them, the entire Japanese garrison had been evacuated to the last man by a destroyer squadron under cover of darkness. The men were relieved not to have to fight a bitter and entrenched enemy, but they were also very aware that they had not yet been tested.

The deployment and movement to the enemy locations received praise from the commanders of the operation, but there would be no combat. Still, this was not a wasted effort. The FSSF was about to find itself under conditions that would validate the hardships they suffered and test them to their limits.

After the dry hole of Kiska, the Force was not sure what would happen next. It was sent back to its base in Vermont, Fort Ethan Allen and from there they were sent to Italy and attached to 2 Corps, US 5th Army. Operation Raincoat would be their test. A string of fortifications, composed of natural and man-made obstacles, called the Winter Line needed to be destroyed before the Allies could advance to Rome.

Colonel Frederick was now Major General Frederick, and five of his combat battalions were commanded by Canadian officers, including Colonel D.D. Williamson, LCol John Bourne and LCol T.C. MacWilliam, all of whom, like MGen Frederick led their men "from the front."

The Force arrived at their base at Santa Maria on November 20, 1943. Major General Geoffrey Keyes issued the Force's orders to take part in a new offensive to open the path to Rome. There would be a two Corps attack against the mountains of Monte La Difensa and Monte Majo.

The Special Service Force was first assigned the task of assaulting and capturing two 3,000 foot peaks, Mount la Difensa and the adjacent Mount la Remetanea. Difensa was a difficult target as it was steep, rugged and crawling with Germans. The only accessible path was from the south and the Germans had that covered by their guns.

After sending scouts to the area, it was noticed that the north side of the mountain, a sheer wall of rock, was largely left unguarded due to its unlikeliness of being used. The Force were trained for mountain warfare and after Colonel Frederick surveilled the target from the air, a decision was made to assault from that side.

The Force moved to a staging area at the base of the mountain on December 1, 1943 where Frederick made his command post. The Second Regiment was tapped to conduct the assault and the First and Third Regiments would remain at the base for reserve and support. The weather was terrible, with rain, mud and ice fog, and in addition was done in the dark. The assault began at 2200 hours on December 2, 1943 following a bombardment by Allied artillery.

Scouts stealthily scaled the sheer cliff on the north side of Difensa careful not to give away their presence. They laid ropes to help the rest of 1st Battalion to climb after them. The scouts came back down and reported the situation and then led 1st Battalion up the cliff to assault the objective. The battalion crept up the hill and got all three companies extended along the top of the cliff, in the snow covered shale, and prepared to assault. Second Battalion scaled up the cliff after them with 50 KG loads on their backs to bring more weapons, ammunition and supplies to support the assault.

The Germans realized they were not alone and began to attack the intruders. The Force assaulted the objective and the fighting was savage with all ranks involved. The officers led from the front and many were killed. Colonel Frederick was on the top during the fighting leading his men, which formed the basis of his reputation for courage and leadership.

Communications between the assaulting elements was sporadic at best and the Germans were basically unphased by Allied pre-assault bombardment. The Germans conducted dozens of counter attacks, but heavy fire by the Force repelled them from the top of Difensa.

At dawn on 3 December 1943, the assault battalion, led by LCol MacWilliam, took the summit from the Germans, while the remaining battalion pushed along the ridge and took Mount la Remetanea. The surprise attack cost the Special Service Force over 400 casualties, including 27 Canadians killed and 64 wounded. One of those killed was LCol MacWilliam, who led his men unselfishly to success.

The Force spent six days on the top of Monte La Difensa and fought against numerous German attempts to re-take the mountain as well as effective sniper fire. The resupply of the Force was a battle as well, as the conditions were extremely difficult and many men became casualties due to the cold and wet conditions.

In the end, the Force suffered 23 percent casualties with 9 officers and 71 other ranks Killed in Action and 11 officers and 339 other ranks wounded. It was a 'tough nut to crack' but the Force succeeded where others failed. The Force began to gain the respect they deserved as the commanding officers saw what they were capable of.

The FSSF were given 11 days to rest and recover from the battle for Difensa. The Germans still controlled mountains in the area that were preventing the Allied attempts to move on Cassino, the Liri Valley and ultimately, Rome. The Force was tasked with pushing the enemy off Monte Vischiatro and Monte Majo, and beginning with Hill 720. First Regiment, supported by the 1st Battalion 141 Infantry Regiment, attacked hill 720 on December 25, 1943. They took the objective in two hours in close hand to hand combat and with mounting casualties. The Force would then get three days of rest before the final push to clear the Germans from the high ground.

Before the assault on Mount Majo, the Force needed to clear the way to their objective. They fought hilltop to hilltop to reach the base of Majo. Second Regiment got the job and first took Hill 724 and the village of Radicosa, where Frederick set up his command post. On January 3rd in bitterly cold weather and a windstorm, the Force used stealth to get through deep snow and ascend the mountain for a surprise attack. The Force easily took the hill from the sheltering Germans, but would struggle to keep it when adjacent German forces would mortar them constantly. Over the next two days, the Force would weed out the last German resistance and control Radicosa.

Third Regiment had been assaulting and securing the path to Majo simultaneously with the assault on Hill 724 and Radicosa. They took Ridges 850, 950 and 1025 and did so with great effort. The cold weather was having an impact and casualties from this were growing. Hypothermia, trench foot and exposure was wearing down the Force. Because of the reduction to the strength of the force, the commanding General of 2nd Corps, Geoffrey Keyes, created Task Force 'B' base around the FSSF. There simply was not a fast way of replacing the lost personnel. Keyes reinforced them with the 133 Infantry Regiment and a company of engineers, and then ordered the attack on Mount Majo.

Colonel Frederick decided on a two-pronged assault. First Regiment would take Mount Vischiatro, while Third Regiment would take Majo. Third company, 3rd Regiment was the vanguard force that courageously cleared snipers and machinegun nests for the main body to advance to the summit of Majo. While the summit assault on Majo was conducted in the dark and as stealthily as possible, it ended up being a straight up tenacious fight. The Force used an unlikely avenue of attack, again on a steep side that the Germans did not expect an attack to come from. While a conventional unit would not have been likely to accomplish this, the Force had the grit to get it done.

First Regiment did not fare as well. The Germans stubbornly would not give up Mount Vischiatro. Despite fighting hard, they were not able to take the mountain on time. This made life very difficult for the 3rd Regiment on Majo, who received artillery and mortar fire and innumerable counterattacks. They were alone on the summit, in terrible weather conditions and could not be resupplied or have their wounded evacuated. Low on ammunition, the Force used captured enemy weapons to defend their position, yet another skill they had acquired in training. Third Regiment would tenaciously hang onto the summit and Frederick was able to move units over the next 2 days to consolidate the position and relieve the beleaguered 3rd Regiment.

From the now secure Mount Majo, Task Force B, the Force with conventional infantry support, would attack Mt Vischiatro from Majo. After some skirmishing on the way to Vischiatro, the Force simply walked onto the summit. The Germans had withdrawn. Subsequently, General Keyes then used the task force to mop up the retreating Germans in the hills surrounding the areas. There were several tough fights to clear out the remaining enemy and the Germans had attempted to counterattack numerous times to regain lost territory. The Force was able to maintain control of their area and were finally sent back to Santa Maria on January 17,1944 after two hellish weeks of continuous action.

The toll of the mountain battles on the Force was significant. Their supply lines had been tight and there had been no change of clothes, socks or equipment and they had been short on everything including water. The cold and rain had caused many casualties, but the Force had fought on to their objectives and were victorious despite the extreme conditions. This was an inspiration to the rest of the 5th Army and the Force became legendary through these actions.

Of the 1800 combat troops that the Force began with, 1400 had been killed, wounded or injured by the cold, a 78% casualty rate. This created a crisis for the Canadian side of the equation. The Canadian contingent was badly eroded and due to the manpower shortage in Canada, they were not sending reinforcements to the FSSF. This created a lopsided condition in the unit, where Americans who had been sent in as reinforcements, were now dominating the bi-national unit. The crisis went to the highest levels in the Canadian government about whether or not to withdraw Canada from the Force. It would pursue them to their next mission at Anzio.

The American 5th Army now faced the "Gustav Line's" Western end, which was heavily defended by the Germans. The U.S. 6th Corps was held back by the Germans at Anzio. So the decision was made to hurl huge American, British, Polish and French formations at the Gustav Line between Monte Cassino and the Tyrrhenian Sea, a forty mile front. It was believed that this would force the Germans to move troops from Anzio to defend the Gustav Line.

On January 22, 1944, the 6th Corps consisting of 36,000 US and British troops attacked the beaches at Anzio, southeast of Rome and achieved early success as the Germans were unprepared for the attack and there was little resistance. Unfortunately, the 6th Corps Commander Major General John Lucas became overly cautious and the drive inland stopped. This allowed the Germans to funnel large numbers of troops to hem in the Allies and attempt to drive them into the sea. The First Special Service Force was tasked with holding the line on the right flank.

The Force arrived on the night of February 2, 1944 and had relieved the 39th Combat Engineer Regiment along the Mussolini Canal. The portion of the Canal that the Force was sent to cover was 11 Km long and the Force only had around 800 men to cover the entire line. The terrain was flat and wide open with very few features other than an occasional farmhouse. During daylight hours, the opposing Germans, about 1500m to the front, would be able to clearly see anyone walking around.

The Force created a strong defense with interlocking machine gun pits, mine fields and preregistered mortar and artillery zones. The soil was sandy and wet and would collapse or fill with water and caused problems for the defense. Upon arrival, Colonel Frederick wanted to push the Germans back, so he moved the Force line forward of the unit they had replaced, to better see any probes by the Germans and began aggressive patrolling to find and destroy the Germans. The Force was subject to artillery and air attack regularly at this time.

Colonel Frederick wanted to establish a no-mans land to keep the Germans away and he employed the continuous use of patrols to accomplish this. Every man on the Force became an expert at patrolling and participated in no less than 40 separate patrols and some as many as 75, in the 99 days they were on the line.

The Force used night patrols and in so doing created their lasting legend. Patrolling allowed them to gain intelligence on the German positions and kept them off balance. Stealth was key to survival on patrol they would travel light only carrying their weapons, ammunition and a light pack. They would wear their baggy uniform pants that had lots of pockets to carry their gear in and they would blacken their hands and faces to make them harder to see.

A German officer's diary contained the following notation; "The black devils are all around us every time we come into the line and we never hear them come." Captured German communications made reference to the Force as 'elite' and 'treacherous, unmerciful and clever.' They would leave death cards, made on Frederick's request, on the bodies of German soldiers they had killed stating: "The Worst Is Yet To Come!" The psychological impact on the Germans was significant and there were many stories of Germans that wanted to pull out to avoid meeting the black devils.

The Germans were also patrolling and laying barb wire and mines in answer to the Force's patrolling efforts. This caused night patrols to be highly stressful for the soldiers as well, because they would often run into mines that would kill someone and give away their position. By day the no mans land was peaceful and by night it was a deadly game of chess. On February 16, 1944 the Germans attempted to push the Allies into the sea with an all-out effort using infantry and armour at Anzio. The Allies used artillery to good use and were able to hang on and the German offensive petered out.

Eventually the time for a breakout from the Anzio bridgehead came. The Force had been on the line for 99 days without relief and had to operate on very restricted supplies due to their diversion for the upcoming invasion of France. By the time they were relieved on May 9th, 1944 prior to their involvement in the breakout and push to Rome, they had suffered 114 KIA, 702 WIA, 65 missing and had captured 605 POWs.

Less than two weeks after the Force were relieved from their positions on the Anzio beachhead, they were part of the breakout effort. In the early hours of May 23, 1944 the breakout of Anzio and the push to capture Rome began. The FSSF, supported by artillery, mortars, tanks and tank destroyers began to advance and walked into stiff enemy resistance. Despite the heavy enemy fire, the Force was able to advance relatively swiftly. They were going in a northerly direction and fighting their way toward Highway 6, the road that would lead them to Rome.

German counterattacks using infantry and armour were intense and involved heavy fighting. After having endured expert enemy mortar fire, 1st Regiment had its flank exposed after a force from the 3rd Division had failed to arrive to protect it. The Germans moved to exploit the error and they brought heavy tanks and self-propelled guns to bear. The tanks and tank destroyers that had been supporting the Force were knocked out quickly. Stories of 75mm shells bouncing off the German Tiger tank’s hull were common and the 88mm guns of the Tigers were lethal to everything they put their sights on. The Force solved the problem by calling in 155mm artillery onto their own position to defeat the Germans.

The Force continued through the largely undefended mountain passes toward Highway 6. The enemy had chosen to not put resistance there and instead consolidated what they had on the Adolf Hitler line. The FSSF moved quickly until they got to the area around Valmontone. German resistance on this key access line to Highway 6 was difficult. Infantry and armoured units poured withering fire into the 1st and 3rd Regiments and they sustained heavy casualties. Despite this, they fought on and repulsed counter attacks before digging in at Artena, south of Valmontone.

The Force next took Colle Ferro with light resistance, but they did not remain in the town long. They were next ordered to hook up with an armoured task force led by Colonel Hamilton Howze and were to move down Highway 6 to Rome with the task force attacking during the day and the Force operating at night. By June 4th, 1944 they were on the threshold of Rome. They were ordered to secure seven bridges over the Tiber River and began to move on the city. They encountered heavy resistance from the German rearguard even while celebratory Italians came out to meet them in the streets.

In coordination with the armoured task force, the Force was able to attack the enemy from their rear and began to turn the tide. Despite the German efforts it was only a matter of time before Rome fell. The Force was pulled out from the front lines on the night of June 7th, 1944 and sent to rest and recuperate. The fighting for Rome cost the Devil's Brigade heavily. Canadian losses alone were 37 killed, 135 wounded and 13 taken prisoner.

While the toll on men and equipment had been high, they would lose their heart and soul after Rome. Colonel Robert Frederick was promoted to Brigadier General and would be transferred to command the 1st Airborne Task Force in France. The Force would be headed there next, but with a new commander, Colonel Edwin Walker.

Following the capture of Rome, the Force was shipped off to Europe where it participated in the invasion of Southern France. The Canadian and American officers and men of the Devil's Brigade remained and fought together until the First Special Service Force was disbanded on 5 December 1944. The legend of the Force lives on today and many stories about this most unique commando style military unit are still being told.

One such story is that of Sergeant Tommy Prince who, disguised as an Italian peasant, flagrantly carried out a reconnaissance near German lines at Anzio while he repaired telephone lines near German positions. During his foray, he calmly pinpointed the positions of two German Tiger tanks that were subsequently destroyed by allied gunners. Sgt. Prince was the great-grandson of Manitoba's Saulteaux Indian Chief Peguis. Prince became the most decorated non-commissioned officer during the Second World War. A bronze statue of Sgt. Prince in Winnipeg commemorates his exploits.