Snow Plow and the Jupiter Deception: The Story of the 1st Special Service Force and the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion, 1942-1945 (review)

Kenneth Joyce's Snow Plough and the Jupiter Deception is one of a small number of recently published books on the First Special Service Force (SSF), a combined Canada–United States special operations unit during the Second World War. Joyce recounts the history of the Canadian contingent of the Force, the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion (1CSSB). He also explains how the formation of the 1CSSB was intertwined with the development of a Canadian military parachute capability. How the SSF and its operations fit into larger Allied strategy during the Second World War is also demonstrated.

By early 1942 Sir Winston Churchill's planned invasion of Norway—Operation Jupiter—required that "a new breed of soldier-sailor-airman would have to be created" (p. 18), trained in parachuting, amphibious operations, and winter warfare. Churchill also sought the development of a winter troop transport vehicle called the Snow Plough. Under U.S. War Department direction, the SSF was rapidly created in June and July 1942. The Canadian government agreed to contribute troops; Joyce argues that this decision was purely political and without a strategic rationale. The SSF never saw action in Norway—Jupiter was part of Churchill's deception covering Allied preparations for the invasion of North Africa in fall 1942. Consequently, the Force became involved in operations for which it was not originally trained—Kiska in the Aleutians, mainland Italy, and southern France.

One of the book's strengths is its overall format. Joyce arranges chapters chronologically into periods ranging from two months to two years. Most chapters begin with a summary of Allied strategy at that point in the war; in certain sections Joyce reviews the larger operational picture, as in Italy and southern France. The SSF's activities are hence consistently placed within larger strategic and operational contexts. The illustrations are another positive aspect—eschewing a mass of photographs in the middle of the book, Joyce places photos at the end of each chapter, including many of the more obscure items discussed in the previous pages.

Another strength is the judicious use of official and private documentation. Excerpts from the private letters of Canadian SSF members enrich analytical detail. On balance, however, official sources predominate; the reader is thus left without a feel for how Canadian privates and noncommissioned officers perceived their American counterparts and how they interacted in the field. For example, Joyce broadly states that the low pay Canadian SSF troops received and the difficulty Canadian officers faced in securing British decorations for 1CSSB soldiers (under U.S. Army command) negatively affected Canadian morale. Canadian troops' personal accounts of these issues would have helped substantiate this argument and have made this book a truly comprehensive study.

The author does achieve all of his goals in this easily readable book, which should be an immediate reference for the Canadian SSF experience in the Second World War. Naturally, Canadian military historians should read Snow Plough. Moreover, this book is recommended for U.S. military historians who are interested in understanding the other side of one of the earliest cooperative military efforts between Canada and the United States.