Commando Magazine edition 3 2020

dian-American Force. They are treacherous, unmerciful
and clever. You cannot afford to relax. The first soldier
or group of soldiers capturing one of these men will be
given a 10-day furlough”.
It was at Anzio that the Germans dubbed the 1 st
Special Service Force the "Black Devils." There is no
record of any German ever referring to the Force as
"The Devil's Brigade". That nickname was invented by
the author of the 1966 book which is of dubious history.
The 1968 film was based on the questionable book and
shared the same title, thus perpetuating the lie of that
nickname. They were referred to as "black" devils
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 1 st SSF fought for
99 days without relief. It was also at Anzio that the 1 st
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 colloquially to "The
worst is yet to come". Its literal translation is actually
"The thick end is coming soon", implying that a larger
force was on its way imminently, 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 U.S. Fifth Army's
breakout offensive began on 25 May 1944, the 1 st SSF
was sent against Monte Arrestino, and attacked Rocca
Massima on 27 May. The 1 st SSF was given the assign -
ment of capturing seven bridges in the city to prevent
their demolition by the withdrawing Wehrmacht.
During the night of 4 June, members of the 1 st SSF
entered Rome, one of the first Allied units to do so.
After they secured the bridges, they quickly moved
north in pursuit of the retreating Germans. In August
1944 1 st SSF came under the command of Colonel
Edwin A. Walker when Brigadier General Frederick,
who had commanded the force since its earliest days,
left on promotion to major general to command the 1 st
Airborne Task Force.
France 1944
In 14 August 1944, the 1 st SSF landed on the islands
of Port Cros and Île du Levant during Operation
Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. They fought
the small Battle of Port Cros in which they captured the
five forts on the islands from the German Army. Nine
men were killed in action or died of wounds received in
combat. On 22 August it was attached to the 1 st
Airborne Task Force, a provisional Seventh Army air -
borne division, and later made part of the Task Force.
On 7 September it moved with the 1 st Airborne Task
Force to defensive positions on the Franco-Italian
border. During the war the 1,800-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 1 st SSF was disbanded on 5 December 1944 in
a field near [Villeneuve-Loubet], on the extreme
southeast Mediterranean coast of France. 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 1 st SSF
had the hardest time capturing in southern France, on
26 August 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 Pass
in Review, eyes right, officers salute. After the unit's
break up, the Canadians were sent to other Canadian
units (most of them became replace ments for the 1 st
Canadian Parachute Battalion). Some American
members were sent to Airborne Divisions as
replacements, others to Ranger Battalions, and still
others formed the 474 th Infantry Regiment, which
served with the Third United States Army and per -
formed occupation duty in Norway. United States
Army Special Forces Groups (lineal descendants of 1 st
Special Service Force) celebrate Menton Day every
December 5 with their Canadian military comrades and
surviving members of the force. Usually there is a
combined parachute jump, a pass in review, and a
formal ball.
CSOR 2006
Recruiting for the new unit took place in early 2006,
and the first CSOR selection course took place with
approximately 175 candidates.
On 13 August 2006, an official stand-up ceremony
for the Canadian Special Operations Regiment took
place at the unit's home station, Canadian Forces Base
(CFB) Petawawa, with approximately 250 soldiers
participating. The ceremony included a skills demon -
stra tion including rappelling from helicopters, and both
static and freefall parachuting. It was also announced
that the second training serial of CSOR recruits would
take place in early 2007. The first Commanding
Officer and Regimental Sergeant-Major of CSOR were
Lieute nant Colonel (LTCOL) Jamie Hammond and
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Gerald Scheidl. Sub -
sequent command teams were LTCOL Greg Smith and
CWO Daniel Brissette, LTCOL John Vass and CWO
Daniel Brissette, LTCOL Hank Szelecz and CWO Tom
Verner and LTCOL Steven Hunter and CWO L. Mike
Gauley.
The regiment suffered its first casualty on 24 June
2011: Master-Corporal Francis Roy died in a noncombat
incident while deployed in Kandahar Province,
Afghanistan. In 2013, the unit competed in an
international Special Forces Competition held in
Jordan, coming in 3 rd place after Chinese Special Police
teams took 1 st and 2 nd place. In March 2015, Sgt
Andrew Joseph Doiron was killed by friendly fire while
serving on Operation Impact in Iraq.
54 COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 3 I 2020