First Special Service Force

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First Special Service Force
Image:DevilsBrigadePatchSmall.png
Tag: [FSSF]
Campaign: ViE#16
Affiliation: Allies
Country: USA/Canada
Type: Special Forces
Allies: None
Opponent(s): DCV
Rank System used: US Infantry ranks
Squads: 2:NA, EU
Commander: General Cobra
Record: 10-2

Contents

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History

The 1st Special Service Force was activated on July 9, 1942 as a joint Canadian-U.S. force of three small regiments and a service battalion. Fort William Henry Harrison at 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. Following its initial training period in Montana, the 1st SSF relocated to Camp Bradford, Vermont, on April 15, 1943, and to Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, on May 23, 1943. On July 4, 1943, it arrived at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation.

Aleutian Islands, 1943

On July 10, the Devil's Brigade sailed for the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. On August 15, 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 returned to Fort Ethan Allen, arriving September 9. Italy, 1943

The 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, but in October of 1943, the commander of the U.S. Fifth 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 November 19, 1943 and immediately going into the line with the U.S. 36th Infantry Division.

At Monte la Difensa, near which was located the ancient town of Rocca d'Evandro (about 10 miles south east of Cassino) and was part of the Bernhardt Line Defences on the Camino hill mass, between December 3 and December 6, 1943, they immediately earned a reputation for being able to take impenetrable objectives when no one else could. Here, in the dead of winter, the 1st Special Service Force wiped out a strategic enemy defensive position that sat high atop a mountain surrounded by steep cliffs. They climbed the cliffs using ropes only in the dead of night, and caught the Germans by surprise. Previously, American and British forces had suffered many casualties in futile attempts to take the important target. The 1st SSF was successful, and this incident 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 December 6 to December 9. It captured Monte Sambúcaro on December 25, and assaulted Monte Vischiataro on January 8, 1944. During the mountain campaign the 1st SSF suffered 77% casualties.

Anzio, 1944

Personnel being briefed before setting out on a patrol at the Anzio beachhead

The Special Force brigade was withdrawn from the mountains in January and on February 1 was landed at the beachhead created by Operation Shingle at Anzio, south of Rome, replacing the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions which had been decimated at Cisterna. Their task was to hold and raid from the right-hand flank of the beachhead marked by the Mussolini Canal/Pontine Marshes. Shortly after the SSF took over the Mussolini Canal sector, German units pulled back up to a half-mile to avoid their aggressive patrols.

It was at Anzio that the Germans dubbed the 1st Special Service Force the "Devil's Brigade." The diary of a dead German soldier contained a passage that said, "The black devils (Die schwarzen Teufel) are all around us every time we come into the line."[citation needed] The soldier was referring to them as "black" 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 to "The Worst is yet to Come", 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 American Cemetery in Nettuno, just east of Anzio.

When the 5th Army breakout offensive began on May 25, 1944, the 1st SSF was sent against Monte Arrestino, and attacked Rocca Massima on May 27. 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 June 4, members of the 1st SSF entered Rome. They are among the Allied units who claim to be the first to enter Rome. After they secured the bridges, they quickly moved north in pursuit of the retreating Germans.

France, 1944

On August 14, 1944, the 1st SSF landed at Îles d'Hyères during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. On August 22, it was attached to the 1st Airborne Task Force, a provisional Seventh Army airborne division, and later made part of the Task Force. On September 7, it moved with the 1st Airborne Task Force to defensive positions on the Franco-Italian border. During the war the 1800-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 December 5, 1944 in a field near Villeneuve-Loubet. 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 August 26th, 1944. 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 marchpast, eyes right, officers saluting. After the unit's break up, the Canadians would return to other Canadian units (most of them became replacements for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion), some American members were sent to the Airborne Divisions as replacements, and others formed the 474th Infantry Regiment, which served with the Third Army and performed occupation duty in Norway.

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Commanding Officers

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Structure

The First Special Service Force had 2 squads: The North American squad, commanded by Rampage, and the European squad, Commanded by Death


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The North American Squad (Night-Stalkers)

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Commanding Officer:

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Executive Officer:

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Non-Commissioned Officers:

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Soldiers:



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The European Squad (The Dawgs)

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Commanding Officer:

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Executive Officer:

  • None
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Non-Commissioned Officers:


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Soldiers:






Divisions of ViE
Campaign: ViE#1 ViE#2 ViE#3 ViE#4 ViE#5 ViE#6 ViE#7 ViE#8 ViE#9 ViE#10 ViE#11ViE#12 ViE#13 ViE#14 ViE#15ViE#16
Axis Division: 1-GJ 2-KF 3-RB 4-FJ 5-PzJ AZUL KK-A KK-N BFC RONA DCA Ax90 4TCDTRDTRAx369.11.NordDCV
Allied Division: US1ID US2AD US3ID SAS A10MD US6AD 3.SA. 8.GA A28 A9 4AF PPCLI 8AAF3DSK2AIF617SqnRGRFSSF
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