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A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM JOHN HART AND THE FSSF ASSOCIATION.
FOUNDING
TRAINING
KISKA
THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
MONTE MAJO
BLACK DEVELS IN ANZIO
THE PUSH TO ROME
THE FORCE IN FRANCE
DISBANDMENT
After the fall of Rome, Frederick was promoted to Major General, and he and his executive officer Col. Kenneth Wickham were transferred to the First Airborne Task Force of the Seventh Army. Colonel Edwin Walker, who had been commanding Third Regiment, took the helm of the FSSF. The invasion of southern France by the Seventh Army was organized in late June of 1944, and D-Day for Operation Dragoon was set for August 15. The FSSF became part of the invasion force, but the Force was assigned a strictly infantry role because many of the FSSF replacements were not paratroopers. From July 3 to August 8, rigorous amphibious training was undertaken by all Force members at Santa Maria di Castellabate south of Salerno in preparation for the invasion.
While the other Seventh Army units were making their August 15 airborne and amphibious assaults on the French coast and interior, the Force landed on the shores of Ile de Levant and Ile de Port Cros of the Hyeres islands and successfully secured the German emplacements on those French islands. A dozen Forcemen were lost in the operation, the majority from First Regiment on Ile de Port Cros.
The First Airborne Task Force had parachuted into the interior and secured its designated zone around Le Muy. The FSSF was transported to the port of San Raphael on the Riviera and attached to the First Airborne Task Force. To protect the right flank of the advance, Frederick ordered the Force to clear the mountainous region north to Les Veyans (20 km) and then continue fighting northeast to the Var River (30 km) and Menton (25 km). From August 22 to September 8, the FSSF moved through these areas methodically pushing the retreating Germans and preventing them from forming defensive lines. The Force had effective support from naval and field artillery, but there were no specialized missions or spectacular battles, just hard infantry action with mounting casualties. The Force remained in a defensive position at the French-Italian border until the end of November. On November 28, the Force was finally relieved, and they moved to a bivouac at Villeneuve-Loubet. The French campaign had taken the lives of 56 Forcemen and hundreds had been wounded or disabled from illness.
