The 1st Special Service Force was a special joint United States and Canadian commando unit formed in 1942. Its troops underwent intensive training to prepare for combat in the worst of weather conditions, including skiing, rock climbing, parachuting, demolitions and close-quarter combat.
The Island of Kiska
On Aug. 15, 1943, the 1st Special Service Force became part of the force sent to invade the island of Kiska in the Aleutian Island chain. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the Japanese forces had evacuated the island. Their next assignment took them to Italy, where they earned their reputation as an elite fighting unit.
German Retreat
In late 1943, the 1st Special Service Force was tasked with taking two heavily fortified German positions in the Italian mountains. On the first of these, “Monte La Difensa,” the Germans had the 104th Panzer Grenadier Division with the Hermann Goering paratroop division in reserve (both of which were armored divisions), defending the mountain. The force planned a surprise attack on German positions by scaling the mountain while the Germans were shelled by an intense artillery barrage. The force did the impossible and caught the Germans by surprise and overwhelmed them. The 5th Army general staff had estimated that the battle would last four to five days, but within two hours, the Germans had retreated from their positions on La Defensa. The unit later captured other key German mountain positions in the area. During the mountain campaign, the unit suffered 77 percent casualties.
‘Devil’s Brigade’
The 1st Special Service Force was later assigned to the Anzio beachhead, where they guarded the right flank of the beachhead and raided German positions at will. They specialized in night attacks and killed Germans troops with no mercy. They even had a special calling card sticker made up that said in German, “The Worst is Yet to Come.” They would leave these stickers on the bodies of dead enemy soldiers in order to demoralize the enemy troops even further. It was at Anzio that the Germans dubbed the force as the “Black Devils” or “Devil’s Brigade.”
12,000 Casualties
Throughout 1944, the 1st Special Service Force battled German units. The force later fought in France in August 1944 and captured five forts during the Battle of Port Cros. The unit was disbanded on Dec. 5, 1944, in France, and the troops were dispersed to other units in the U.S. and Canadian armies. During World War II, this elite 1,800-man unit accounted for 12,000 German casualties, captured some 7,000 prisoners, and sustained an attrition rate of over 600 percent.
Our Collection
The Michigan Traveling Military Museum is have and display one of the best 1st Special Service Force collections in existence – a fitting tribute to the veterans of this unique and elite World War II allied combat unit.
