Canadian members of a World War II special operations unit, the “Devil’s Brigade,” are now eligible to receive the U.S. Bronze Star Medal for Service.

The coalition unit, the First Special Services Force, was comprised of U.S. forces and the Canadian Special Operations Group, and was a forerunner of today’s special operating forces, according to information provided by Human Resources Command.

From 1942 to 1944, about 2,500 members of the force operated under the command and control of the U.S. Army. American and Canadian members of the unit were assigned interchangeably from the squad level and down.

“The award of the Bronze Star Medal for Service is a conversion award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, which was authorized for almost 1,500 Canadian FSSF veterans in 2005,” according to Shari Lawrence of Human Resources Command. Under Army policy, only the Combat Infantryman Badge and Combat Medical Badge awarded during World War II may be converted to the Bronze Star Medal for Service.

While the medal is approved for the unit as a whole, Lawrence said about 120 eligible Canadian veterans must apply for the award. Verification documents showing complete name, rank, service number and dates of service should be sent to: U.S. Army Human Resources Command, 200 Stovall St., Attn: AHRC-PDO-PA, Alexandria, Va. 22332-4000.

Announcement of the award was timed to coincide with the final reunion of the First Special Services Force Association in Helena, Mont., from Aug. 16 to Aug. 19. The unit trained in Helena before deploying to a war that would take it to the Pacific, Mediterranean and European theaters.

During combat in Italy in 1944, Germans dubbed the unit’s soldiers “Die Schwartze Teufeln,” or “The Black Devils,” because of their night-fighting abilities. A 1968 movie, “The Devil’s Brigade,” starring William Holden and Cliff Robertson, was based on the unit’s history.