A US Army lieutenant colonel is tasked with forming an elite commando-style unit from crack Canadian troops and the dregs of the US Army.
During World War II, a special fighting unit is formed that combines a crack Canadian Army unit and a conglomeration of U.S. Army misfits who had previously served time in military jails. After an initial period of conflict between the two groups, their enmity turns to respect and friendship, and the unit is sent Italy to attempt a dangerous mission that has heretofore been considered impossible to carry out.—Doug Sederberg <[email protected]>
A fictionalized account of the First Special Service Force, the joint Canadian-American World War II commando group under the command of Lt. Col. Robert T. Frederick. The Canadians are the best that the Canadian Army has to offer: spit and polish, multi-skilled, experienced soldiers. The Americans are the dregs of the U.S. Army: misfits and troublemakers lacking any kind of discipline. Over time, Frederick forges a unified, highly competent fighting force. Initially trained for a commando operation in Norway, Frederick has to move quickly to keep the unit together after the operation is canceled. They are sent to Italy where they distinguish themselves in battle.—garykmcd
1942. Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is tasked with forming and training, in a very short space of time, a commando-type unit for a special operation in Norway. This is the 1st Special Service Force. The unit will be a mixture of US and Canadian troops. The Canadian troops are elite hand-picked soldiers. Unfortunately, the US troops are from the polar opposite end of the spectrum: shirkers, criminals, and generally the individuals the US Army doesn't want. There is instant animosity between the Canadians and Americans. With time short and the two halves of his unit constantly at each other's throats, Colonel Frederick is facing an impossible task.—grantss
In the summer of 1942, American Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick, a War Department staff officer with no prior combat or command experience, is summoned to Britain where he is selected by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten to raise a commando force composed of both American and Canadian personnel for operations in German-occupied Norway.
Back in the U.S., Frederick arrives at the derelict Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana where he receives his American troops - all of whom are jailbirds, ne'er-do-wells, and misfits. When the hand-picked elite Canadian contingent arrives there is immediate friction with the Americans and chaos ensues. By the time Frederick manages to overcome the national differences and mold the First Special Service Force into a highly trained commando unit, he is informed that the Allied High Command have had a change of heart and offered the Norwegian missions to British troops. Left without a role, the brigade is ordered to be disbanded and its soldiers reassigned. Frederick remains undeterred and manages to persuade Lieutenant General Mark Clark to give his men a chance to prove themselves with a new mission in Italy.
Clark's skeptical deputy commander, Major General Maxwell Hunter, orders the 1st Special Service Force to reconnoiter a Wehrmacht garrison in an Italian town, but Frederick goes one better and captures the entire town. In the process, they earn the nickname "Die Teufelsbrigade" - The Devil's Brigade.
Convinced now of the ability of Frederick's men, Lieutenant General Clark promotes Frederick to full Colonel and gives them a task no other Allied troops have managed to accomplish - to capture Monte la Difensa. Facing severe obstacles, the Devil's Brigade attacks the undefended eastern side of the mountain by scaling a cliff the Germans believed could not be climbed. Reaching the top as a unit, they take the stronghold despite considerable losses, allowing the Allies to continue their advance north into Italy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Brigade_(film)
