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The force : the legendary special ops unit and WWII's mission impossible / Saul David.

by David, Saul, 1966- author.

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New York : Hachette Books, 2019.

Allied Forces. Special Service Force, 1st.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Commando operations -- Italy.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Regimental histories -- United States.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Regimental histories -- Canada.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Italy.

9780316414531 (hardcover) :

0316414530 (hardcover) :

vi, 360 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Forcemen -- "Where you from, soldier?" -- "Germany first" -- The plough project -- "Push ahead with all possible speed" -- "Frederick, you are now in charge" -- 1-2 company -- "Everybody fought somebody" -- Waling and glass -- "Suspend effort on present line" -- "They blew up bridges, culverts, and everything" -- "A very special force" -- "The battle of the slabs" -- "Their chance will come" -- "We had a crazy bunch of guys" -- "The objective now was perfection" -- "We want to take as many prisoners as possible" -- Kiska -- "Picked men of first-class physique" -- "We had a swell 3 decker cake" -- "This excellent and specially trained force" -- The empress of scotland -- "There was utter destruction" -- The winter line -- "Met at every turn by rifle and machine-gun fire" -- A "herculean" task -- "Difensa or bust" -- The defenders -- "A wet and forbidding mountain" -- The climb -- "All hell broke loose" -- "Medic! medic!" -- "Five yards! five yards!" -- "I don't know how we did it" -- "Kia, return to sender" -- "The best god-damned fighters in the world" -- "They were best friends for the rest of their lives".

In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained U.S. and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America's most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth. Brought together by the promise to take part in the military's most elite missions, they formed a unique brotherhood tested first by the crucible of state-of-the-art training-including skiing, rock climbing, and parachuting-and then tragically by the vicious fighting they would face. The early battle in the Italian theatre for the strategic fort cost the heroic U.S.-Canadian commando unit-their first special forces unit ever assembled-enormous casualties. Yet the victory put them in position to continue their drive into Italy, setting the stage for the Allies' resurgence toward victory in WWII. The unit, with its vast range of capabilities and mission-specific exercises, became a model for the "Green Berets" and other special forces groups that would go on to accomplish America's most challenging undertakings behind enemy lines. Knitting first-hand accounts seamlessly into the narrative-drawing on interviews with surviving members and their families; the memoirs, letters, and diaries of Forcemen; and declassified documents in the American, Canadian, British, and German archives -- The Force tells a story that is as deeply personal as it is inspiring.

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