CASE SIGHTING: Clayt Vecellio stopped by the other day with a
copy of the April edition of “America in WWII,” a magazine which
certainly looks like it came from the 1940s but indeed was
published just this month.

Inside, he showed us an article, “The Devil’s Brigade,” by Brian
John Murphy which described the organization that was developed in
March 1942 as the first commando unit ever.

Among its weaponry, a Case knife that looks sharp enough to cut
just by holding the photograph.

In fact, the photograph itself covers a two-page spread, and the
CASE is clearly visible on the hilt.

The story states: “Trained to ski, parachute, climb mountains,
stalk, and kill with knives, the First Special Service Force
commandos struck terror in German troops.”

And this First Special Service Force’s V-42 fighting knife
became a symbol of the unit, the story says. Its leader was Lt.
Col. Robert T. Frederick whose task was to assemble the unit and
prepare for Project Plough, an attack on Norway’s power plants.

“Designed by Frederick and made by Case Cutlery, the V-42 was
based on the renowned Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife. The
razor-sharp stiletto was perfect for hand-to-hand fighting. The men
tested its penetrating power on a helmeted cabbage; both helmet and
the cabbage were skewered. The knife had a hardened pommel ideal
for crushing skulls.”

We found the story itself interesting. This first “special
forces” was the brainchild of Geoffrey Pyle, a scientist, who
envisioned an elite unit of Canadians and Americans being trained
in winter combat and mountaineering and then airdropped deep into
the snow-covered mountains of Nazi-held Norway to raid and destroy
key hydro-electric power stations.”

“With that, the first Special Service Force was born,” the
article states. “But it would take rugged men, rigorous training,
the right officers and the test of combat to turn Pyke’s brainchild
into the feared Devil’s Brigade.”

The anticipated attack in Norway, incidentally, was scrapped.
This elite unit went on to fight in the Aleutians and later in
Italy and France before being deactivated on Nov. 23, 1944,
severely defeated by death and injury on the battlefield.

The author writes, “In spirit, the Devil’s Brigade returned to
the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2001, when JTF-2 operated with
distinction alongside Delta Force and the British Special Air
Service.”