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Auction: 23113 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 847

The United States Bronze Star awarded to Private First Class D. W. Van Nover, a member of the famous and historically-fascinating 1st Special Service Force - otherwise known as the 'Devil's Brigade' or 'The Black Devils' - who made up an elite joint American-Canadian commando unit during the Second World War

United States of America, Bronze Star (David W. Van Nober), note spelling of surname, engraved naming, good very fine

David William Van Nover, of Joplin Missouri, was born on 3 January 1918 and was noted as working on the 'Ballard Ranch' in McDermitt, Oregon, upon his joining the United States Army in 1940. At some stage in 1942, he appears to have transferred to the famous 1st Special Service Force, an elite American-Canadian commando unit nicknamed "The Devil's Brigade" - the subject of a famous 1968 motion picture of the same name. Volunteers for this unit were especially sought from certain 'preferred' occupations, and these included rangers, lumberjacks, north woodsmen, hunters, prospectors, explorers and game wardens - working on a ranch in rutal Oregon, Van Nover likely had experience in at least several of these fields. Training at Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana, the unit totalled three regiments, with each regiment comprising two battalions: Van Nover was assigned to the 2nd Regiment, 4th Company.

Initially selected for 'Project Plough' (a raid and guerrilla war against German troops in Occupied Norway), after this was cancelled the unit were ordered to the Aleutian Islands to expel the Japanese forces in occupation - however, upon arrival their enemy had already withdrawn. In October 1943, the 1st Special Service Force were deployed to Italy, arguably their finest hour and indeed the subject of the aforementioned motion picture.
Tasked with taking two heavily-fortified and tactically significant German positions in the Italian mountains - Monte La Difensa and Monte La Remetanea respectively - it was Van Nover's own 2nd Regiment specifically selected for the operation. Advancing up an almost vertical slope at dusk on 2 December under cover of an intense artillery barrage, one soldier of the unit later remarked: "It looked as if we were marching into Hell. The whole mountain was being shelled and the whole mountain seemed to be on fire." The resulting attack achieved an excellent element of surprise on the entrenched German forces - though the campaign as a whole had caused the 1st Special Service Force an astonishing 77% casualties.

Withdrawn from the mountains in January 1944, the brigade was redeployed to the Anzio beachhead, being given the task of holding and raiding around the right-hand flank; after this they were further redeployed to Operation Dragoon - the invasion of southern France. On 5 December 1944, on the extreme Mediterranean coast of that country, they were disbanded - their original special status having been too far diluted by sustaining, over the course of the war, a terrible attrition rate of some 600%. Van Nover, however, survived to marry Dorothy Marie Headrick on 16 October 1949, and died in the town of Pratt, Kansas, on 17 February 1966 at the young age of 47.

Sold with copied research including photographs, Registration Card and details on the 1st Special Service Force.

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Sold for
£320

Starting price
£20