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

By John Nadler

Book Overview

It's 1942 and Hitler's armies stand astride Europe like a colossus. Germany is winning on 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 . When the British generals recommend an audacious plan to parachute a small elite commando unit into Norway in a bid to put Nazi Germany on the defensive, Winston Churchill is intrigued. But Britain, fighting for its life, can't spare the manpower to participate. So William Lyon MacKenzie King is contacted and asked to commit Canadian troops to the bold plan. King, determined to join Roosevelt and Churchill as an equal leader in the Allied war effort, agrees. One of the world's first commando units, the First Special Service Force, or FSSF, is assembled from hand-picked soldiers from Canadian and 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-volunteer FSSF comprises outdoorsmen - trappers, rangers, prospectors, miners, loggers. Assembled at an isolated base in Helena, Montana, and given only five months to train before the invasion, they are schooled in parachuting, mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, and cold-weather survival. They are taught how to handle explosives, how to operate nearly every field weapon in the American and German arsenals, and how to kill with their bare hands. After the Norway plan is scrapped, the FSSF is dispatched to Italy and given its first test - to seize a key German mountain-top position which had repelled the brunt of the Allied armies for over a month. In a reprise of the audacity and careful planning that won Vimy Ridge for the Canadians in WWI, the FSSF takes the twin peaks Monte la Difensa and Monte la Remetanea by storming the supposedly unscalable rock face at the rear of the German position, and opens the way through the mountains. Later, the FSSF will hold one-quarter of the Anzio beachhead against a vastly superior German force for ninety-nine days; a force of only 1,200 commandos does 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 lines and taking prisoners. It is here that they come to be known among the dispirited Germans as Schwartzer Teufel ("Black Devils") for their black camouflage face-paint and their terrifying tactic of appearing out of the darkness. John Nadler vividly captures the savagery of the Italian campaign, fought as it was at close quarters and with desperate resolve, and the deeply human experiences of the individual men called upon to fight it. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with veterans, A Perfect Hell is an important contribution to Canadian military history and an indispensable account of the lives and battlefield exploits of the men who turned the tide of the Second World War.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891418679
• ISBN13: 9780891418672
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A special relative.

I have been very interested in all publications regarding the Special Forces, particularly as a cousin of mine, Bill Wiber from Ontario, was a member. I am very proud of him although I only met him once at a Special Forces reunion in Winnipeg and once at his home on the Manitoulin Island, Ontario. The book seems very true to the accounts that Bill has shared with me. I am sorry that the Forces anual reunion (alternating in Canada and the US) is no longer held. Too few are remaining now. It's too bad that their exploits were kept so secret during the war. Very few Canadians are aware of them and almost no Americans.

The Italian Campaign in all of its glory

This is an amazing story of heroism, tragedy, and family. The author John Nadler does an excellent job portraying the soldiers as they really were. "A Perfect Hell" tells the story of the First Special Services Force or FSSF. The FSSF is the forefather of our modern Special Forces teams; however, they are not accurately remembered this way. This is a paratrooper force that went through months of training in Helena, Montana before battle. The force was an idea of a British Colonel and British Scientist. The FSSF almost never found a way to the battlefield because the Armed Services fighting the War did not have a place for a small force that carried out "special missions". The tales of their battles are lifelike and excellently narrated by John Nadler. Nadler places the reader right in the midst of the battle for the mountain, the beach, and the city. This group never received as much recognition as other groups from WWII. The Black Devils fought through Italy into its capitol, Rome. Their battles were fought before the Germans knew of their impending defeat which caused the enemy fight with all its might. The Black Devils were dropped behind the lines in Italy before D-Day in Normandy. The friendships that were made throughout the training and war are nothing short of "Band of Brothers". One could argue that the FSSF was the first "Band of Brothers" because they trained and fought before the 82nd Airborne stormed Normandy. The FSSF was comprised of Canadian and American troops. There were Native Americans and Native Canadians that were in each group also. The brotherhood of the FSSF was shaken each time a casualty took place. Nadler brings the soldiers to life by his in-depth description of their life before training; he also continues to describe their growth as a unit throughout his book. The FSSF also contained the first Ranger group known as Darby's Rangers. The Rangers were mixed into the group after their demise at Cassino. The FSSF is one of the most important factors to winning WWII. Read this book so the Black Devils will begin to earn the credit that they so rightfully deserve. I enjoyed this book as much as I did "Band of Brothers". This book does the same thing that Ambrose did with his. The characters in the book are excellently detailed and portrayed. This book should be required reading to understand the Italian campaign in WWII. John Nadler does an excellent job discussing the battles without using four letter words. This is not to realistic, yet it is still nice to read a war story it without expletives in every other sentence. I would highly recommend this book if you want to know how special the "Fathers of the Special Forces". The only way to understand why they were so important to the outcome of WWII is to read "A Perfect Hell".