Canada's Silent Assassins

by Barry Artiste | August 11, 2007 at 06:22 am | 496 views | add comment

In 1942 Canada and US formed a shock troop called the Devil's Brigade who would silently enter Nazi camps and enemy lines knife in hand during the night and silently assassinate Nazi troops with their stealth and bravery leaving their unique calling card on the bodies of dead Nazi's, letters siezed from captured Nazi Officers confirmed the Devil Brigades actions which terrorized Nazi troops who aptly gave the Canadians and Americans "Black Devils". The Devil's Brigade was disbanded at the end of World War ll and the development of special forces such as the US Navy Seals and the British SAS soon followed. Canada has now carried on the legacy of the Devil's Brigade by forming the Special Ops Forces Regiment to compliment the JTF-2 who perform in domestic and international terrorism. This new specialty unit of Black Devils will most likely to be deployed soon to Afghanistan by which may begin their own reign of terror on the Taliban.

PETAWAWA -- The Devil's Brigade is back.

Veterans of the storied World War Two special forces unit were here yesterday to watch 27 young soldiers graduate into the year-old elite military unit they inspired.

Soldiers parachuted, rappelled and coordinated a mock bombing of an enemy convoy to mark the end of 20 weeks of gruelling training to become members of the elite Canadian Special Operations Regiment.

The octogenarian American and Canadian veterans of the First Special Service Force, holding a reunion in Ottawa, were on hand to watch.

"It's the same qualities and the same training from 1942 to the people that you see today," commanding officer Lieut.-Col. Jamie Hammond said. "For special operations forces, humans are more important than hardware. There is nothing we're prouder of than our people."

'SHOCK TROOPS'

William Magee of Oshawa fought with the tough force of "shock troops" whose exploits included scaling a 200-foot cliff to crack a previously impregnable German supply line and holding a beachhead against an enemy who outnumbered them 10 to one.

"We're honoured that someone is following in our footsteps," Magee said.

Continuing that legacy is what led 26-year-old Eric -- whose last name was concealed for security reasons -- to leave the Air Force.

"You have way more opportunity to get out there and do your share," he said. "It's almost a guaranteed trip to Afghanistan. I joined the forces to serve my country. Afghanistan is something my country is involved with."

Their families watched as members of the regiment showed off the skills that allow them to go wherever and whenever they're needed.

They leapt two dozen at a time from a Hercules aircraft at 1,000 feet, their parachutes snapping open in a precise line against the bright blue sky.

Another group jumped from 10,000 feet, demonstrating how troops can stealthily and accurately land in a war zone.

SNIPER

A sniper startled the crowd by leaping from bushes where he'd been hiding, his shapeless suit of dried leaves blending him into the grass.

Dozens more soldiers rappelled from hovering helicopters, whose churning wake nearly carried away spectators' hats.

Soldiers in unarmoured vehicles showed how they'd track an enemy convoy. A pair of CF-18 Hornets roared in to help, dropping a pair of bombs then making a strafing run.

The new regiment is one of four partners in the year-old Canadian Special Operations Forces Command -- which includes the elite, Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 -- aimed at targeting terrorism at home and abroad.