Robert T. Frederick

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Robert T. Frederick : biography

March 14, 1907 – November 29, 1970
1st Row Distinguished Service Cross w/ Oak Leaf Cluster Army Distinguished Service Medal w/ Oak Leaf Cluster Legion of Merit w/ Oak Leaf Cluster
2nd Row Silver Star Bronze Star Medal w/ Oak Leaf Cluster Air Medal Purple Heart w/ 7 Oak Leaf Clusters
3rd Row American Defense Service Medal w/ battle clasp American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ one service star and Arrowhead device European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal w/ three service stars
4th Row World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal National Defense Service Medal Distinguished Service Order (United Kingdom)
5th Row Officer of the Legion of Honour French Croix de guerre 1939–1945 w/ palm Grand Officer of the Order of St. Charles (Monaco) King Haakon VII Freedom Medal

Career

Robert T. Frederick was born on March 14, 1907 in San Francisco, California. He attended Staunton Military Academy from 1923 to 1924 and the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1924 to 1928. Upon graduation from West Point, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1939.

In 1942, as a staff officer serving in the War Department, then-Lieutenant Colonel Frederick was tasked with raising the joint U.S.-Canadian force which became the 1st Special Service Force. The unit, activated on July 9, 1942 at Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana, was originally intended for commando operations in Norway, and trained extensively in winter and mountain warfare, as well as hand-to-hand combat and other infantry skills. In April 1943, the unit moved to Vermont for training, first at Camp Bradford and then at Fort Ethan Allen. The Norway mission was cancelled, however, and the 1st Special Service Force was sent instead to the Aleutian Islands in July 1943. It returned to the continental United States in September, and then left in October for the European theater.

Frederick’s men arrived in Casablanca in French Morocco in November 1943 and quickly moved to the Italian front. Landing at Naples on November 19, 1943, the 1st Special Service Force went into the line. In December 1943 and January 1944, the 1st Special Service Force conducted a series of operations at Monte la Difensa, Monte la Remetanea, Monte Sammucro (Hill 720) and Monte Vischiataro. After the 1st Special Service Force (or Devil’s Brigade) attacked and captured the enemy forces at the impregnable Monte la Difensa, the victory prompted Winston Churchill to declare that Robert Frederick was "the greatest fighting general of all time" and "if we had had a dozen more like him we would have smashed Hitler in 1942".Adleman, p. 19

Frederick was promoted to brigadier general in January 1944. On February 2, 1944, Frederick’s men landed at Anzio and went into action along the Mussolini Canal. They were the first Allied troops to enter Rome on June 4, 1944. For valor with the 1st Special Service Force in Italy, Brigadier General Frederick was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, the United States Army’s second highest valor award. The first award was for actions on January 10–13, 1944 and the second for actions on June 4, 1944. While at Anzio he was wounded a number of times, including two separate wounds on a single day.

On June 23, 1944, Brigadier General Frederick announced he was leaving the unit. He was to be promoted to major general and given command of an ad hoc division-sized airborne formation, the 1st Airborne Task Force, for the invasion of Southern France (Operation Dragoon). The task force, formed that July, consisted of the British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade and the U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, 550th Glider Infantry Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion and 460th and 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalions, along with various support units.