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Ed Groves was among 40 Devil’s Brigade veterans to be honoured with the Congressional Gold Medal The Honourable Erin O'Toole, Minister of Veter- ans Affairs, represented the Government of Canada, attended an event in Washington D.C. in February. The event was held to honour Canadian and Ameri- can veterans of the 1st Special Service Force (FSSF), more famously known as the Devil's Brigade. The “Devil's Brigade,” a joint American-Canadian commando unit, was one of the most lethal squads that fought during World War II. Fourteen Canadian veterans were among 40 surviving members of the unit that attended the ceremony, which took place 71 years after the Devil's Brigade joined the Allied offensive in Anzio, Italy. Not attending the ceremony in Washing- ton, but a recipient of the medal was Edward Groves of Port Perry, who became a member of the elite combat group when he was only 19 years old. Mr. Groves was presented his gold medal by Honourable Erin O'Toole, Minister of Veterans Affairs (left), presented a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal to World War / |! veteran Ed Groves during a ceremony held at the Port Perry Legion, Branch 419. Pictured ith Mr. Groves, right, is Keith MacKay, First Special Service Force Association Member. Durham MP, and Minister of Veteran Affairs Erin O'Toole at the Port Perry Legion last month. Ina 2006 interview with Focus on Scugog, Mr. join the First Special Service Force in Vermont, USA, which consisted of a combined force of 900 Canadian and 900 US soldiers with special training, under the command of the American 5th Arm Groves recalled, after enlisting in the Canadian Army, he went through his basic training in Toronto and North Bay before joining the ‘battery’ in Cape He smiled when he recalled that shortly after arriving, he was loaded into a DC3 and told to jump. It was quite Breton. an experience for a young man who had never set foot in He said that by chance he had an opportunity to Hospital gift shop re-opens After a pause in operations to do some long-needed im- provements, the Auxiliary gift shop re-opened on March 30, with a bright updated space and some lovely new merchandise. gift shop, located in the lobby of the Port Perry hospital, is open to the public as well as patients, families and hospital staff. Operated exclusively by Auxiliary volun- teers, it stocks gift and other items at very rea- sonable prices and funds generated by the gift shop are used by the Auxiliary to support the needs of the Port Perry Hospital. The Auxiliary is currently working toward fulfill- ing its $350,000 pledge to help with the renovations of patient rooms at the hospital. an airplane before, and had been given no prior training in parachute jumping. After a couple of months in Vermont, the troops were shipped off to North Africa and then to Italy, where they spent more than a year fighting the German troops. Fighting in the rugged and mountainous terrain, Ed and his comrades were constantly under fire and took many casualties. The unit lost more than 400 men and many more were injured during the fighting. Following the successful battle of Anzio Beach to Rome, the troops took part in the inva- sion of southern France, fighting their way to near the border of Switzerland. After these battles, the outfit broke up, and in January 1945 Ed was among the troops which returned to England, where they would wait for almost a year before being shipped back to Cana By J. Peter Hvidsten Focus on Scugog FOCUS - APRIL 2015 7