USA CANADA the Devil’s Brigade and The Black Devils WWII patch

USA CANADA the Devil’s Brigade and The Black Devils WWII patch, just under 4″ tall.

“The Devil’s Brigade” and “The Black Devils” are both nicknames for the elite, joint American-Canadian First Special Service Force (FSSF), a World War II commando unit known for its intense training and daring night raids. The “Devil’s Brigade” name was earned during their fierce fighting in Italy, particularly at the Anzio beachhead. The “Black Devils” nickname came from the Germans, who called them that because the soldiers blackened their faces for these night operations and left their red-spearhead insignia on fallen enemies, signaling “the worst is yet to come”.

The 1st Special Service Force (FSSF) was an elite joint American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, formed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick of the Operations Division of the U.S. General Staff. During the Italian campaign of World War II, it was commanded by Frederick and attached to the United States Fifth Army. In August 1944, the Force was attached to 1st Airborne Task Force (commanded by then Major General Frederick) for the campaign in southern France.

The unit was organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana, in the United States. The Force served in the Aleutian Islands, fought in Italy and southern France, and was disbanded in December 1944

Canadian recruitment
In July 1942, the Canadian Minister of National Defense, James Ralston, approved the assignment of 697 officers and enlisted men for Plough, under the guise that they were forming Canada’s first airborne unit, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (1CPB).

Due to a decision to raise an actual Canadian parachute battalion, the Canadian volunteers for Plough were also sometimes known unofficially as the “2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion”. (The Canadians did not officially become a unit until April–May 1943, under the designation, 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion.)

While its members remained part of the Canadian Army, subject to its code of discipline and paid by the Canadian government, they were to be supplied with uniforms, equipment, food, shelter and travel expenses by the US Army. It was agreed that a Canadian would serve as second in command of the force and that half of the officers and initially one-half of the enlisted men would be Canadian. This resulted in a total force of 1,800 men: 900 US soldiers and 900 Canadian soldiers. As casualties depleted the Force, restrictions on the availability of Canadian replacements reduced the proportion of the Canadian contingent to about one-third of the total. After Lieutenant Colonel McQueen, the senior Canadian member, broke his leg during parachute training, the highest ranking Canadian in the force was Lieutenant Colonel Don Williamson, who commanded the 2nd Regiment.

US recruitment
The US volunteers for the force consisted initially of officers from Forts Belvoir and Benning.

Letters of recruitment were posted to all US Army units in the Southwest and on the Pacific coast. The letters called for single men, aged 21–35 with three or more years of grammar school. Occupations preferred: Rangers, lumberjacks, north woodsmen, hunters, prospectors, explorers, and game wardens. Married men were not accepted for the Force. Inspection teams also scoured the western camps for ideal candidates. Those chosen, due to the secrecy of the mission, were often told that they had been selected to undergo training for a parachute unit. Indeed, the unit was so secretive, that many soldiers did not know where they were when they arrived in Helena for training, as the windows of the trains carrying the troops were painted black.

The combat force was to be made up of three regiments. Each regiment was led by a lieutenant colonel and 32 officers and had 385 men. The regiments were divided into two battalions with three companies in each battalion and three platoons in each company. Each platoon had two sections.

Following initial training period in Montana, the FSSF relocated to Camp Bradford, Virginia, on 15 April 1943, and to Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, on 23 May 1943.

Training and equipment
Because the unit needed to be trained quickly, the soldiers began parachuting within 48 hours of their arrival in Helena, Montana. The camp had no training towers and preliminary flights were not carried out, so for many this was their first experience at jumping. This training was completed before any other because it was believed that if all the soldiers earned their jumping badges simultaneously a sense of camaraderie would develop within the camp.

The men were on a strict and physically demanding three phase training schedule: 1) From August to October: parachuting, weapons, and demolitions usage, small unit tactics and physical training. 2) From October to November: unit tactics and problem solving. 3) From November to July: skiing, rock climbing, adaptation to cold climates and operation of the M29 Weasel.

The training schedule started with reveille at 04:30 from Monday to Saturday followed by breakfast at 06:30. The obstacle course was run by 08:00 four times a week, followed by the day’s training, which differed depending on the month. Soldiers were expected to march double time between training exercises to adhere to the strict schedule. Training lectures were given by veterans of overseas wars in the evenings from Monday to Friday. Soldiers were given Saturday evenings and Sundays off. Most of the men went into Helena to relax on their days off.

Marches were done on a 60-mile (97 km) course. The course record was set by the 1st Regiment of Colonel A. C. Marshall, which completed it in twenty hours. The FSSF trained with enemy weapons, taking them apart, reassembling and shooting them until they were as proficient with them as with their own.

The hand-to-hand combat instructor was Dermot (Pat) O’Neill, an ex-Shanghai International Police Officer, who was an expert at unarmed combat. O’Neill, who was well-versed in several forms of martial arts, taught the men to attack the eyes, throat, groin, and knees. He also taught knife fighting tactics and showed the men how to quick-draw their pistols. The men attacked one another with unsheathed bayonets as part of the training exercises and injuries were common.

Ski training, taught by Norwegian instructors, began in December. The men received lectures and demonstrations on skiing techniques and most had mastered the basics in two weeks. At this point the men were made to ski cross-country in formation from dawn until dusk with all of their equipment until they were up to Norwegian army standards.

As a light infantry unit destined for mountain warfare or winter warfare, the FSSF was issued various items of non-standard clothing, equipment and rations, including skis, parkas, haversacks and the mountain rations. From the outset, the FSSF was armed with a variety of non-standard or limited-issue weapons, such as the M1941 Johnson light machine gun.  The Johnson light machine gun in particular helped greatly increase the firepower of the FSSF and was highly regarded by those who used it in combat. The men were also trained meticulously in the assembly and operation of German weapons in the event that it became necessary to utilize captured German machine guns on the battlefield. This training would later prove to be of crucial importance at Monte Majo.

Frederick’s staff even considered arming the men with blow darts, but it was decided against on the grounds that it may have been considered a war crime. Frederick himself participated in the design of a fighting knife made exclusively for the FSSF called the V-42 combat knife, a derivative of the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife.