"THE BLACK DEVILS"
By: Storm
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The First Special Service Force (FSSF) or Black Devils was formed of US Army and Canadian troops but was a division of the US Army. Formed in the Summer of 1942 at Fort William
Henry Harrison in Helena Montana under the command of Colonel, later General, Robert E. Frederick and executive officer Colonel Robert Moore. The original 1800 Recruits were trained
in Airborne (got their wings after 2 jumps) Ski Instruction as well as mountaineering , demolition, amphibious landing and fighting with enemy's weapons.
They fought in many campaigns including the Aleutian islands, Naples, Foggia, Anzio, Arno, Southern France and were the First Allied troops to enter Rome on June 4th 1944. A trademark after a night raid was to leave a sticker on a dead German soldier reading " DAS DICKIE ENDE KOMMT NOCH! " or "The worst is yet to come". Escaping FSSF prisoners overheard their German captors referring to them as "The Black Devils" the name stuck and they became one of the most elite units in modern military history. They were officially disbanded on December 5th 1944 but left a legacy of all Modern US and Canadian Special forces being their direct descendants. |
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