Commando Magazine edition 3 2020

the Germans were defeated, it was argued, the sooner
this would become a reality.
The first officer picked to lead the unit, LTCOL
Howard R. Johnson, did not get along well with Pyke.
Johnson was transferred after arguing with Mount -
batten and Eisenhower about the feasibility of the plan.
(Johnson went on to form and command the 501 st
Parachute Infantry Regiment.) He was replaced by
Frederick, following a suggestion by Mountbatten,
which was approved by Eisenhower. Frederick was
given the task of creating a fighting unit for Project
Plough and was promoted to Colonel to command it.
By July 1942 Frederick had eased Pyke out of the
picture. The First Special Service Force (FSSF) was
activated on 9 July 1942 as a joint Canadian-US force
of three small Regiments and a
service battalion, directly answer -
able to the joint Chiefs of Staff,
US Army. 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. Frederick
enjoyed a very high priority in
obtaining equipment and train -
ing areas. Originally, due to its
winter warfare mission, it had
been in tended that the unit
should be equally made up of
American, Cana dian, and Nor -
The FSSF Shoulder
Patch worn during
WW2.
wegian troops. However, a lack of suitable Norwe gians
saw this changed to half American and half Canadian.
Canadian Recruits
In July 1942, the Canadian Minister of National
Defence, James Ralston, approved the assignment of
697 officers and enlisted men for Project Plough, under
the guise that they were forming Canada's first
airborne unit, the 1 st Canadian Parachute Battalion
(1CPB). Due to a decision to raise an actual Canadian
parachute battalion, the Canadian volunteers for
Project Plough were also sometimes known unofficially
as the "2 nd Canadian Parachute Battalion". (The
Canadians did not officially become a unit until April–
May 1943, under the designation, 1 st Canadian Special
Service Battalion.) While its members remained part of
the Canadian Army, subject to its code of discipline
and paid by the Canadian government, they were to
be supplied with uniforms, equipment, food, shelter
and travel expenses by the US Army. It was agreed that
a Canadian would serve as Second In Command (2IC)
of the force and that half of the officers and one-third
of the enlisted men would be Canadian. After LTCOL
McQueen, the senior Canadian member, broke his leg
during parachute training, the highest ranking
Canadian in the force was LTCOL Don Williamson, who
commanded the 2 nd Regiment.
Aleutian Islands, 1943
It was decided that the FSSF would be utilized
against Japanese forces occupying islands off Alaska.
The FSSF arrived at the San Francisco Port of
Embarkation on 4 July 1943. On 10 July the Devil's
Brigade sailed for the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. On
15 August 1943, 1 st SSF was part of the invasion force
of the island of Kiska, but after discovering the island
was recently evacuated by Japanese forces, it reembarked
and left ship at Camp Stoneman, California,
and returned to Fort Ethan Allen, arriving 9 September
1943.
Italy, 1943
In late 1943, the original Project Plough (with its
target as Norway) was abandoned, but in October
1943, the commander of the United States Fifth Army,
Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, brought the 1 st
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 US
36 th 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 Remetanea. These positions were controlled
by the 104 th Panzer Grenadier Regiment with the
Herman Goering Panzer Division in reserve (the former
an infantry formation, and the latter an armored
division). 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
Remetanea were the last entrenched line before the
Gustav and an allied push through the mountains
would enable them to advance closer to Rome. Stra -
tegically, 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. The paths
leading up La Difensa were heavily scouted by the
force prior to their attack and it was reported to LTCOL
T.C. MacWilliam (who would lead the 2 nd Regiment's
assault on Remetanea) that the best way to approach
the entrenched enemy was up an almost vertical
escarpment over the right of the hill mass. 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 Decem -
ber 2, while 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 1 st Company): At 16:30 hours on December 1, 2 nd
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). 1 st Regiment, coupled
with US 36 th Infantry Division would be the reserve units
52 COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 3 I 2020