The Force

July 1, 2019
The story of an elite Canadian-American commando force and its assault on a critical German stronghold in World War II. David (Military History/Univ. of Buckingham; Operation Thunderbolt: Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History, 2015, etc.) brings together primary sources to create a vivid account of the First Special Service Force from its formation in July 1942. The author begins with a visit by President Franklin Roosevelt and his key advisers to Britain in 1942, where Gen. George Marshall heard a plan to invade Nazi-held Norway using armored snowmobiles. Because Britain lacked terrain and weather suitable to developing and testing the experimental vehicles, it would be necessary for the U.S. or Canada to adopt the program. Back in Washington, D.C., Marshall assigned the idea to 35-year-old Lt. Col. Robert Frederick, who was given carte blanche to create a force capable of putting the plan into action. Within a couple of months, American and Canadian soldiers began arriving at a camp near Helena, Montana. David follows a number of soldiers through the training regime, which dragged on past expectations as the idea for a Norway invasion took a back seat to more urgent operations--with a predictable effect on discipline. At last, the force was shipped to Italy, where the mountainous terrain seemed to fit its mission. Their first assignment was to secure a foothold on Monte la Difensa, a stronghold on the German Winter Line defending the approaches to Rome. The author follows the battle in close detail, with a focus on the memories of individual soldiers as well as the larger unit actions. David effectively captures the turmoil and chaos of the offensive as well as the incredible skill and determination of the force's assault on a target many more-experienced units had attacked unsuccessfully. The pace of the story in the early chapters is sometimes slow and overly detailed, but the payoff is a real page-turner. A solid account of a remarkable military unit whose story ought to be better known.

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July 8, 2019
In this action-packed tale, historian and broadcaster David recounts the WWII exploits of the Force, an unusual elite military unit. The Canadian and American militaries recruited “single men... whose occupation or hobby included lumberjack, forest ranger, hunter, trapper, north woodsman (guide), game warden, prospector and explorer” for special training and a mysterious mission. The servicemembers who volunteered (such as Capt. Bill Rothlin, “a no-nonsense former metalworker” from California, and Capt. Tom MacWilliam, a small but athletic New Brunswick schoolteacher) could scale mountains and survive extreme winter conditions. After intense training and much diplomatic red tape, they embarked on their top-secret “impossible” mission in 1943. The Allied forces had begun a slow march up through Southern Italy, only to be stymied at the German Winter Line, a fortified position blocking a passage between Mount Difensa and Mount Camino, en route to Rome. It was considered impassable by Allied leaders after several regiments tried and failed, at great human cost, to take it. So the job was given to the Force. David vividly recounts their scaling a 200-foot sheer cliff wall on a cold, blustery night; engaging in heavy battle with the German defenders; and, after sustaining many casualties, emerging triumphant, having opened the way to Rome. He works the soldiers’ individual stories into the narrative, adding heart to the derring-do. This thrilling history will captivate readers.

September 1, 2019

Early in World War II, Canada and the United States agreed to form a small combined unit, consisting of 2,200 soldiers, for mountain and snow assaults, what we would now call special ops. They gathered and trained near Helena, MT, for two years, focusing on physical fitness and specialized tactics. In December 1943, the unit, now named the First Special Service Force, entered combat in Italy, with the mission of climbing a sheer cliff at night and surprising a superior German redoubt, part of the German Winter Line. Half of this latest book from military historian and broadcaster David (The Indian Mutiny) is an extremely detailed narrative of the group's training in Montana, followed by an equally detailed telling of the climactic assault. The unit fought at two other places in Europe, which are only mentioned in passing. The author uses soldiers' voices to good effect, but more detail about the other combat sites would have been welcome. VERDICT While the story has been related before, this well-told account of a little-known special operations unit will appeal to readers interested in World War II and fans of military history.--Edwin Burgess, Kansas City, KS

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