A Perfect Hell: The True Story of the Black Devils, the Forefathers of the Special Forces-Fast Shipping

Description

It’s 1942 and Hitler’s armies stand astride Europe like a colossus. Germany is winningon every front. This is the story of how one of the world’s first commando units,put together for the invasion of Norway, helped turn the tide in Italy.

1942. Whenthe British generals recommend an audacious plan to parachute a small elite commandounit into Norway in a bid to put Nazi Germany on the defensive, Winston Churchillis intrigued. But Britain, fighting for its life, can’t spare the manpower to William Lyon MacKenzie King is contacted and asked to commit Canadian troops tothe bold plan. King, determined to join Roosevelt and Churchill as an equal leaderin the Allied war effort, agrees.

One of the world’s first commando units, the FirstSpecial Service Force, or FSSF, is assembled from hand-picked soldiers from Canadianand American regiments. Any troops sent into Norway will have to be rugged, self-sufficient,brave, and weather-hardened. Canada has such men in ample supply.

The all-volunteerFSSF comprises outdoorsmen — trappers, rangers, prospectors, miners, loggers. Assembledat an isolated base in Helena, Montana, and given only five months to train beforethe invasion, they are schooled in parachuting, mountain climbing, cross-countryskiing, and cold-weather survival. They are taught how to handle explosives, howto operate nearly every field weapon in the American and German arsenals, and howto kill with their bare hands.

After the Norway plan is scrapped, the FSSF is dispatchedto Italy and given its first test — to seize a key German mountain-top position whichhad repelled the brunt of the Allied armies for over a month. In a reprise of theaudacity and careful planning that won Vimy Ridge for the Canadians in WWI, the FSSFtakes the twin peaks Monte la Difensa and Monte la Remetanea by storming the supposedlyunscalable rock face at the rear of the German position, and opens the way throughthe mountains.

Later, the FSSF will hold one-quarter of the Anzio beachhead againsta vastly superior German force for ninety-nine days; a force of only 1,200 commandosdoes the work of a full division of over 17,000 troops. Though badly outnumbered,the FSSF takes the fight to the Germans, sending nighttime patrols behind enemy linesand taking prisoners. It is here that they come to be known among the dispiritedGermans as Schwartzer Teufel (“Black Devils”) for their black camouflage face-paintand their terrifying tactic of appearing out of the darkness.

John Nadler vividlycaptures the savagery of the Italian campaign, fought as it was at close quartersand with desperate resolve, and the deeply human experiences of the individual mencalled upon to fight it. Based on extensive archival research and interviews withveterans,
A Perfect Hell is an important contribution to Canadian military historyand an indispensable account of the lives and battlefield exploits of the men whoturned the tide of the Second World War.