The First Special Service Force is remembered and honoured at The Military Museums

The force’s 1st Regiment suffered a 40‑per‑cent casualty rate on their first day, “thus delaying their advance to the top to…relieve 2nd Regiment,” said John Geoffrey Hart, co‑chair of the reunion and son of FSSF Geoffrey Hart, 1 Company 2 Regiment. (1 Coy 2 Regt)

The third of three regiments on Monte La Difensa, 3rd Regiment, was tasked with bringing supplies on the way up and wounded on the way down, said reunion speaker Don Shelton, whose father was Sergeant Les Shelton, 3 Coy 3 Regt. The dead were buried temporarily at the site, until such time as the FSSF had control.

The FSSF is the forerunner of the Canadian Airborne Regiment and today’s Canadian Special Operations Regiment. In the U.S. it preceded their special forces such as the Green Berets, the Delta Force and the Airborne.

“The original plan [for the FSSF] was to have British soldiers in the planned role [of special forces] which was originally planned by [British Prime Minister] Winston Churchill. They didn’t have the manpower, so it was designated to the U.S., who recruited soldiers from Canada and the U.S.,” Hart said.

At the time, the FSSF was needed to do covert work in German‑occupied Norway.

“The FSSF was created to…work behind enemy lines in German‑occupied Norway as the Germans had access to heavy water for the creation of nuclear bombs,” he said. “The plan fell through and [the members of the FSSF] became a highly trained outfit for mountain, amphibious and winter warfare.”

One FSSF member, Sgt Tommy Prince, 2 Coy 3 Regt, a Canadian Indigenous man born in Manitoba, was the most decorated Indigenous soldier in the Second World War. He was awarded the Military Medal as well as the American Silver Star, with ribbon. He was a highly skilled sniper—as many were in the FSSF—and a daring and resourceful reconnaissance soldier. Members of the Prince family were in attendance at the museum on Aug. 20.

At the event, a list of the 44 members who had died since 2019 was read. Hart believes there are now only four Canadian and 17 American surviving FSSF veterans.

The battle honours of the FSSF are extensive. In the Mediterranean theatre of operations, they included Monte La Difensa, Monte Majo, Hill 720, Monte Rementana, Radicosa, the Anzio beachhead, Artena, Colleferro and Rome. In southern France, they comprised Ile d’Hyères, Grasse, Villeneuve‑Loubet, Menton, La Turbie and the Franco‑Italian border. They were also active in the Aleutian Campaign in the Pacific theatre. These battle honours are recognized by both the United States and Canada, Hart said.

On Feb. 3, 2015, the FSSF as a unit was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal “after two years of lobbying and educating the government on [the Force’s] amazing contribution,” Hart explained. Forty‑two veterans were in attendance at the Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. for the award.

The FSSF was stood up at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Mont. on July 19, 1942, and disbanded at Villeneuve‑Loubet in France on Dec. 5, 1944. At formation, there were 1,800 in the combat regiments, said Hart, and 2,400 in total with the Service Company, Maintenance, officers and medics.

Today, Fort Harrison continues to train U.S. special forces. Also located there is Chapter 28 of the Special Forces Association, in service and support of special force veterans.

Members of the American 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) were in attendance at The Military Museums. Padre Ken Nettleton gave the invocation. Speakers included Les D. Owen, from Washington, D.C.; and Shelton, who hails from Kitchener, Ont. Chair of the event was Tabetha Boot, granddaughter of Bud Boot of Headquarters 1st Regiment.

Before the advent of COVID‑19, this reunion, the 74th, had been planned for 2020. The 75th reunion had been scheduled for Burlington, Vt., and the 76th for Regina, Sask. There was a Zoom reunion in 2021, which was attended by members in the U.S., Canada and Italy.