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

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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".

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.

"A Perfect Hell" is a superbly written book detailing the creation of the First Special Service Force in World War II. As part of the lineage of modern day Special Forces, this unit is fascinating. The book begins with a detailed description of the creation of a hybrid U.S. and Canadian force specialized in arctic warfare during an especially bleak period of the war. It then details their brutal training and the period when the unit was caught in limbo.

The baptism by fire of the unit was in fierce fighting in Italy. Upper echelons still did not truly believe in capabilities of the unit, but the Germans did once they faced them in battle. The book then describes what happened to surviving members of the 1st SSF including the founder, Colonel Robert Frederick. Illustrated with maps and genuine photographs, "A Perfect Hell: The True Story of the Black Devils, the Forefathers of the Special Forces" is a must read for anyone who enjoys WW-II history or military history in general.