12-257 Garand Picture of the Day-1st Special Service Force at Anzio

[Mark in Rochester]

The Devil's Brigade (also called The Black Devils and The Black Devils' Brigade and Freddie's Freighters,[1] officially the 1st Special Service Force), was an elite, joint World War II American-Canadian commando unit organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana in the United States. The brigade fought in the Aleutian Islands, Italy, and southern France before being disbanded in December 1944. The modern American and Canadian special operations forces trace their heritage to this unit.

Information

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[Sarge1998]

Interesting back-ground as always, my thanks to Mark and Snafu for encouraging these oft overlooked or forgotten histories.

History

[ABPOS]

There's a couple rifles in that first pic that intrigue me. I wish I had a blow up of that one. Guy way to the left, sitting, with his rifle vertical across his shoulder. A Johnson? Or that one LMG, I forget what it's called. And is that a Thompson or a Reising, sort of in the middle there, to the right a bit??

And 4 guys with pistols, one is a Buck Sgt, did everyone get a pistol? Hehhehehe

[Bill Hughes]

Great photos. I seem to remember that there was a movie made about this unit, Started with them training in Montana. Bill Hughes

[blazer91]

I agree, great photos, thanks much!
As for the movie, a bit heavy on the stereotypes or was it really like that? Looked like typical Hollywood for the time so I would really like to see a modern re-make done historically correct, (weapons, etc.). I'm sure that would make for a very entertaining action flick. Jim

[Tom in N.J.]

I see in the first photograph that the unit insignia has bee blackened out by a censor.

[Mark in Rochester]

Great photos. I seem to remember that there was a movie made about this unit, Started with them training in Montana. Bill Hughes

Move ended after the Monte La Difensa battle - but there is more to their story

The First Special Service Force was activated on 9 July 1942 as a joint Canadian-U.S. force of three small regiments and a service battalion. Fort William Henry Harrison in Helena, Montana was chosen as the primary training location, due to its flat terrain for airborne training and its close proximity to mountains for ski and winter training.[3] Following its 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. On 4 July 1943, it arrived at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation.[24]

[edit] Aleutian Islands, 1943On 10 July the Devil's Brigade sailed for the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. On 15 August 1943, 1st SSF was part of the invasion force of the island of Kiska, but after discovering the island was recently evacuated by Japanese forces, it re-embarked and left ship at Camp Stoneman, California, and returned to Fort Ethan Allen, arriving 9 September 1943.[24]

[edit] Italy, 1943The original operation codenamed "Project Plough," a mission to parachute into German-held Norway to knock out strategic targets such as hydroelectric power plants, was abandoned,[25][26] but in October 1943, the commander of the Fifth United States Army, Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, brought the 1st Special Service Force to Italy where its members demonstrated the value of their unique skills and training. The Devil's Brigade arrived in Casablanca in French Morocco in November 1943 and quickly moved to the Italian front arriving at Naples on 19 November 1943 and immediately going into the line with the U.S. 36th Infantry Division.

The Force was tasked with taking two heavily fortified German positions in the Italian mountains; one at Monte La Difensa and the other at Monte La Rometonea. These positions were controlled by the 104th Panzer Grenadier Division with the Herman Goering Paratroop Division in reserve (both of which were armored divisions).[27] The importance of these mountains lay in their position relative to Hitler's Gustav Line. That is, the German Winter line positioned on La Difensa and Rometonea were the last entrenched line before the Gustav[28] and an allied push through the mountains would enable them to advance closer to Rome.[29] 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 Defensa were also using a new weapon - the Nebelwerfer.[30] The paths leading up La Difensa were heavily scouted by the Force prior to their attack and it was reported to Lt. Col. T.C. MacWilliam (who would lead the 2nd regiment in their assault) that the best way to approach the entrenched enemy was up an almost vertical escarpment over the right of the hill mass.[31] In doing this, the Force hoped to catch the Germans off guard, as previous allied attacks on the mountain had met the enemy head on. The assault was planned for December 2, meanwhile the men were trained in mountain climbing and fighting tactics at their temporary barracks at Santa Maria. The plan was as follows (all regiments were in the 1st Company): At 16:30 hours on December 1, 2nd Regiment would be trucked to within 6 miles (9.7 km) of the base of the mountain and march the rest of the way to La Difensa (6 hour march). 1st Regiment, coupled with 36th Infantry Division would be the reserve units for the 2nd Regiment. 3rd Regiment would be split in two, half to supply the 2nd Regiment following the initial assault and the other half to be reserves with the 1st Regiment and 36th Infantry Division. All identification on Force 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 December 2 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".[32] The soldiers of the 2nd Regiment came within range of the German positions at midnight and began to climb the final cliff, which jutted upwards at an angle of 65 degrees for 1,000 feet (300 m).[32] 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 6am, but the Germans were made aware of the allied positions after members of the Force tripped over loose gravel while moving along the mountaintop. German flares shot 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.[33] Previously, American and British forces had suffered many casualties in futile attempts to take the important Camino Ridge. The 1st SSF was successful in taking their initial objective of La Defensa but were delayed in obtaining their actual objective of Monte La Remetanea (Hill 907). The attack on 907 was halted after the death of the 1st Battalion CO Lt. Col. T.C. MacWilliam. While he desired that the Force momentum continue, Frederick ordered a halt in the advance on 907 in order to wait for reinforcements and supplies. The Force dug in at Defensa, anticipating a German counter attack. However, massive allied artillery barrages and the flooding of both the Rapido and Garigliane 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 Force was ordered to attack their primary objective (Hill 907).[34] The successful assault on Defensa was the basis for the 1968 motion picture titled The Devil's Brigade.

The 1st SSF immediately continued its attack, assaulting Monte La Remetanea from 6 December 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. During the mountain campaign the 1st SSF suffered 77% casualties: 511 total, 91 dead, 9 missing, 313 wounded with 116 exhaustion cases. They were relieved by the 142nd Infantry.[3

[blazer91]

Canadian to receive Congressional medal | Canada | News | The Belleville Intelligencer

here's another relevant story dealing with this unit
Jim

[browningautorifle]

There's a couple rifles in that first pic that intrigue me. I wish I had a blow up of that one. Guy way to the left, sitting, with his rifle vertical across his shoulder. A Johnson? Or that one LMG, I forget what it's called. And is that a Thompson or a Reising, sort of in the middle there, to the right

There IS documentation that they used Johnson LMGs in the 1SSF. I think you have that one pegged. The Reising though I can't see and I enlarged to 400%...the rest look like rifles. The comment about pistols in the other photo is motivated by your own lust for a 1911A1...come on now, admit it...you just want one...

[Mark in Rochester]