Hi all! I am wondering if someone here would be able to point me in the right direction for more information about Black Devil recruiting practices in Europe. My grandfather, not given to exaggerations and rarely spoke about is WW2 experiences, always said he was a "Black Devil", mentioneing black berets. Reading some books on the FSSF, he is not listed as a recruit who would have trained in Helena. We have his service records but again, no mention. Was there another platoon/group called the "black Devils" or wore black berets? Would his service records mention if he volunteered/was recruited to join the "Black Devils" as a replacement? Any info would help as there are numerous family members looking to resolve the difference between his own story and his service record. Many thanks.
Well, requesting you all to see the Project Plough which was an operation conducted by the US-Canadian 1st Service Force (an elite commando force) under Com Robert T Frederick . What I know, the project (Black Devils) was the brain child of Geoffrey Pyke, the Combind Operations Command (UK), who somehow convinced Churchill, Mountbatten and lately Eisenhower for a special commando operation against the Axis aggression in Europe. Black berets belonged to the armoured brigade. I heard that this elite force disbanded by the end of Dec'44.
Yep, that's the one...sorry, "Black Devils" is a slang name for the First Special Service Force, a collaborative Canadian-States unit. Does anyone know how replacements were sought? I think alot of the American ones came from Ranger units but I'm not sure where, if any Canadian replacements came from. If he had moved from the amoury brigade to the "FSSF" as a replacement, wouldn't that show on his service record? How about injuries? I know he was injured sometime before D-Day...were injuries recorded, time, place? Thanks for you help
FSSR (Black Devils) Canadian Archives: http://www.index.forces.gc.ca/Srch....ies=&TaxLocation=&TaxSizeRange=&TaxFileFormat=
