AFP Newsletter - Summer 2020 ENGLISH

6 Armed Forces Pensioners’ / Annuitants’ Association of Canada Issue #35 • Summer 2020 and Americans together down to the platoon level. Many accepted with alacrity at the outset that their tasks were to be essentially suicide missions. The unit was originally intend- ed for clandestine attacks against hydro-electric facilities in Norway and the oil fields of Romania but is best known for its exploits in Italy during the hard-slogging winter and spring campaigns of 1943-44. Specializing in night fighting with surprise attacks behind enemy lines, the Force’s first assignment was an assault on a vital mountain peak — Mon- te la Difensa — the gateway to the Liri Valley and a direct ap- proach to Rome. After an attack in freezing rain against a highly skilled, fanatic German foe, the Force achieved in two hours what allied units 10 times their size had failed to do in a month of fierce fighting. (They improvised using condoms to keep gun barrels dry in the rain.) Their next task was a lightning assault over the snow-covered mountains to seize Monte Cassino. Once again, their tenacious train- ing, “derring-do” spirit and superb fitness brought victory. Then came the Anzio beach- head where the allied force had become bogged down in mud and confronted withering resistance from some of Germany’s best land forces. The Force was rushed in to prevent complete disaster. Reduced to barely a thousand men due to heavy casualties in the earlier battles, they held the line on the Mussolini Canal and the entire right flank of the allies’ beach- head. Heavily outnumbered, they launched offensive but silent night raids using primarily their daggers against the enemy and leaving their red spearhead shoulder insignia as a calling card carrying the ominous message in German — “The worst is yet to come.” The unit was unofficially first known as the Braves. The red spearhead shoulder patch was se- lected with that name in mind. Highly decorated U.S. soldier and military historian Col. David Hackworth described their tech- nique as “hitting the Germans where it hurt the most, in their own backyard, and essentially perfect- ing the same lightning hit-and-run techniques that became standard by Ranger, Raider and Special Forces units during the Korean and Viet- nam wars.” So effective were their tactics that they became known to Nazi Germans as “Schwarzer Teufel” — “Black Devils.” An order found on a German POW report- ed they “would be fighting an elite Canadian-American force. They are treacherous, unmerciful and clever. You cannot afford to relax.” The “black” label was no doubt inspired by the fact that they smeared their faces with shoe polish to facilitate night fighting. Built back to their original strength with new volunteers, the Black Devils then spearheaded the attack on Rome, where they became one of the first attacking armies to take that fabled city in 15 centuries. They were charged specifically with the task of captur- ing seven bridges to prevent dem- olition. The unique unit’s extraordinary exploits in Italy were quickly over- shadowed by the D-Day landings. After playing a complementary role with an amphibious attack on the Hyères Islands off Southern France, surprising and defeating the Ger- mans and then liberating towns and villages along the Franco Italian border, they gradually faded into the limelight. In December 1944, a combina- tion of politics and a new military strategy caused the Force to be disbanded. The Americans and Ca- nadians who had survived filled in as replacements in Allied Airborne Divisions. Because conscripted troops in Canada could not leave the country — a Mackenzie King compromise — Canada desperate- ly needed to replenish its fighting forces in Europe. By this time, commando units were considered less essential as the fast-moving, allied armoured troops drove head- long towards Berlin. The elite group was not spared from petty, bureaucratic hassles. Despite being fully integrated, the members were paid by nationali- ty. A Canadian sergeant was paid the same as an American private because, as one official explained, “a Canadian is a Canadian!” To partially offset this imbalance, the Devil’s... Continued from page 5 A Poster for the 1968 movie, The Devil’s Brigade, starring William Holden, Cliff Robertson and Vince Edwards, which was based on the exploits of the First Special Service Force. Postmedia News