Big Red Says:
Listen up Buttercup! There's a movie you need to watch....
So, TAKE FIVE!
No? - Then pull it up on your favorite electronic device and give it a watch!
Yes? - Then it's probably time to give it a watch again!!
For those of you who are not familiar with this movie Bill Holden plays Robert T. Frederick, the commander of the Devil's Brigade in this 1968 film titled “The Devil's Brigade”. The film is loosely based on the 1966 book of the same name.
The film recounts the formation, training, and first mission of the First Special Service Force, a joint American - Canadian commando unit, known as the Devil's Brigade. The film dramatizes the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the task of capturing what is considered an impregnable German mountain stronghold.
The First Special Service Force was conceived by Britain's Louis Mountbatten as a unit capable of destroying the Nazis' heavy water facilities in Norway. The unit was formed into three regiments that were assembled in Helena, Montana. The unit was given six months of intense training as elite fighters. Men were chosen for their physical fitness and intelligence, most were rugged outdoors men from cold weather locales. They were a tough assortment of farmers, loggers, miners and trappers not misfits or criminals as depicted in the movie.
This film came out at the same time the “Dirty Dozen” was released and inadvertently had a similar type story line. The film is more Hollywood than true to history but it is a fun movie and worth watching.
During the final mountain assault, be sure to point out the “Net, Helmet, with Band 1944” worn by the brigade to your friends!
Big Red Says!
FIVE'S OVER - MOVE OUT!
The movie by far is correct in the fact that the Devil’s Brigade did serve in Italy in 1943 and did assault Monte la Difensa. That did not take place in until October 1943. The units first mission took place Aug 1943 on Kiska Island during the operation to retake the Aleutians.
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