[ckzero]

Heh... thanks for the info. Like I said before I've got the textual information already, but more is always welcomed. The big thing I'm looking for is photos or film footage from the time. Which I guess is a much harder thing to obtain. I'll keep looking. Thanks for all the help everyone.

[Tweed-inator]

CKZero,

History Television did a documentary called Daring to Die, it was entirely on the Devil's Brigade and they profiled the selection, training and operations of the unit in WW2 from a Canadian perspective. It aired for the first time in January and will probably be re-run at somepoint, you may want to contact History Television for a copy of the program. It was filmed in 2003.

Cheers!

[ckzero]

Thanks for the heads head Tweed, I'll see if it'll play again soon on History. Cheers.

[Roande]

You may also want to contact the Petawawa Military Museum or go to the Directorate of History and Heritage which may be able to direct you on the photo front.
Another possible resource is naturally the Canadian War Museum which may be able to direct your search for photos, which may come from the National Archives which is also online.
Good luck with the hunt!

A member of the former Special Service Force in Petawawa (we traced our roots to the 1st SSF of the Second World War)

[Roande]

You may also want to contact the Petawawa Military Museum or go to the Directorate of History and Heritage which may be able to direct you on the photo front.
Another possible resource is naturally the Canadian War Museum which may be able to direct your search for photos, which may come from the National Archives which is also online.
Good luck with the hunt!

A member of the former Special Service Force in Petawawa (we traced our roots to the 1st SSF of the Second World War)

[BartSimpson]

[quote="ckzero Usually the most successful ops are the ones nobody ever hears about.[/quote]

And there is the truth. One of the lesser known strategems of US Central Intelligence is to make itself look stupid and impotent. It makes one's enemies lower their guard when they underestimate you.

And the very best special operations groups in the world are those you'll never hear about whether they win or lose.

[dgthe3]

How can we actually compare how good special forces are? They are not always comandos, while groups may focus more attention to that aspect, that is not always the main aspect of the mission. In order to compare the various special ops forces from around the wrold, we need to know more about each of them, such as what they have done, and what they failed to do. But the very nature of the black operations that these wariors are asigned to makes getting accurated information impossible. With that being said, why don't we say that hte Canadians are the best, we have no way of knowing if it is true, but there is also no knowing if it isn't true either.

[Gunbunny]

The "Devils Brigade was the first Special Forces unit Canadians belonged to. To find books and things to quote from look at the your public Library. Some of the better ones that I've read are "The Black Devil Brigade: The True Story of the First Special Service Force in the World War II" and "The Devil's Brigade" and last but not least "The First Special Service Force: A War History of the North Americans, 1942-1944". The Museum of the Regtements is also a good source, ask them and they should know where to look as well. I recently have done a great deal of reading on them as well, this is after I found out that my Great Uncle just happened to be Lt. Gen. Stanley Charles Waters and as a Lt. he served with 1SSF. So I dived right in to the subject.

Ubique

[Uboat]

Ok I personally have not read the Tom Clancy book, but the complete title is "Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces." So why exactly would there be mention of other SF from around the world. Of course it's going to be a "circle jerk" for US SF. You guys just don't like to give the US credit for anything. Not saying they are the absolute best in the world, but damn it seems like you guys never miss a beat to shit on the US. If I picked up a book about Canadian SF I wouldn't expect to hear too much about Green Berets or Navy SEALS in it.

On that note. The airborne units of WWII were never considered SF. They did have a status of being elite, but they were not considered commandos. US Army Special Forces traces its lineage back to the 1st Special Service Force, and even adopted the crossed arrows as it's insignia. If you notice the uniforms and guidons from the 1st SSF the crossed arrows were used to differentiate the force from regular infantry and to pay homage to the unconventional training that they received. The insignia was also used by the Indian Scouts in the 1800s. The shoulder patch was an arrow head with USA/CANADA. Modern day "Green Berets" were not formed until 1952, and were commaded by Col. Aaron Bank. Col. Bank was a member of the OSS during WWII so there in some lineage there also. Anyway if you look at modern Green Beret insignia there are many references to the 1st SSF. The crossed arrows as the branch insignia. The shoulder patch is still the arrow head, but it now features the dagger that was issued to the 1st SSF. The creast that is worn on the beret also features the crossed arrows, and dagger of the 1st SSF, and the guidon of the Army SF is still the crossed arrows. Anyway, just wanted to let you Canucks know that the lineage of the 1st SSF lives on and the US hasn't forgotten about ya.

[dgthe3]

Tom Clancy actually has two books about special forces, Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces as well as the Guided Tour one you mentioned Uboat. I own both, only read one of them so far, i can't remember which.

[PENATRATOR]

Get the book by Herb Peppard called the "The Lighthearted Soldier" he is from Truro NS, and was an original member of that unit, it is an outstanding book.
http://www.bookscanada.ca/bcan/books/mh ... 090678.htm


The main gate at CFB Petawawa is called Frederick Gate, named after the American officer that commanded the Devils Brigade in WW2, it has the crest of the old unit at the gate and everything.

[PENATRATOR]

but damn it seems like you guys never miss a beat to shit on the US. If I picked up a book about Canadian SF I wouldn't expect to hear too much about Green Berets or Navy SEALS in it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Don't bet on it pal, see my above post, being stationed in Petawawa you see the USA/Canada patch at the gate evertime you drive through it, now if naming a gate after another countries officer is not showing respect or credit, I am unsure as to what is?? Do tell

[CanadianLynx]

local news

[Uboat]

Insignia for 1st SSF and current US Army SF.


Example of 1st SSF shoulder patch. (Shoulder patch did not include crossed arrows)


US Army Special Forces shoulder patch.


There you go pal.

[PENATRATOR]

Just like at the gate in CANADA pal, good research