The 1st Special Service Detachment or 1st Special Service Force (1st Special Service Force in English, abbreviated to 1st SSF or FSSF for First Special Service Force), nicknamed the "Devil's Brigade" or "Devil's Brigade" in English was a unit American-Canadian special forces within the United States Army during the Second World War, specializing in mountain combat.
This unit created in July 1942 and dissolved in December 1944 was, with the units of the Office of Strategic Services, the Office of Strategic Services of the American government, at the origin of the Special Forces, the American Special Forces, created in the years 1950.
Genesis and organization
Parachute training in 1942 at Fort William Henry Harrison.
In June 1942, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick was ordered to put together a unit capable of operating in arctic conditions.
Its mission took the code name of "Project Plough" and was crowned with success and 1,600 volunteers were part of the unit at its creation
3 regiments, (6 assault battalions and 1 support battalion), comprising a total of 2,500 men which later became known as the first force of the special services, were raised.
Composed of American and Canadian volunteers, the latter with 47 officers and 650 other soldiers representing a quarter of the workforce, mainly "men of the woods", trappers or loggers, the FSSF was commonly referred to as "the Force".
At Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana, Frederick put his men through a training program that included climbing, skiing, using explosives, and parachuting.
However, the FSSF was reorganized for normal combat rather than sabotage raids.
Although the FSSF lacked both mortars and machine guns, it was better equipped with light support weapons than a conventional infantry unit.
Each section had, in addition to small arms, a Browning M2 machine gun and an M1941 Johnson submachine gun, a bazooka, a light mortar and a flamethrower.
History
In Anzio during Operation Shingle.
After an assault on Kiska Island during the Aleutian Islands Campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army in August 1943, the FSSF, at the express request of General Mark Clark, was transferred to Italy, where it was assigned to the US Fifth Army . She arrived in Naples on November 19, 1943 and took part in the Italian campaign.
After being instrumental in breaking the Bernhard line (Operation Impermeable) in a tough battle in extreme terrain conditions where she conquered Monte Difensa (hill 960) and Monte La Remetanea (hill 907) with heavy losses from December 2, 1943, the Force took part in the Anzio landings (Operation Shingle) in January/February 1944 and was the first Allied unit to enter Rome on June 4, 1944.
She then took part in the landing in Provence under Operation Dragoon in August 1944 then in combat in the Alps and the Vosges before its dissolution in December 1944.
In total, the 1st Special Service Force disabled 12,000 German soldiers, captured 7,000 prisoners and suffered an attrition rate of over 600%. In total, its losses in the various campaigns represent 130% of its workforce. This rate partly explains its dissolution.
Commanders
FSSF:Colonel Robert T. Frederick
1st Regiment:Colonel Alfred Marshall
2nd Regiment:Colonel D.D. Williamson
3rd Regiment:NC
Type Special Forces Brigade
Combat role in arctic and mountain area
Workforce 2,500
Nickname Devil's Brigade
Wars World War II
Commander Col. Robert T. Frederick