Emil Eschenburg, 88; Brigadier General, ‘Devil’s Brigade’ Leader

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Emil Eschenburg, one of the few remaining members of an elite World War II force that inspired the 1968 film “The Devil’s Brigade,” died Friday in Helena, Mont., of an undisclosed illness. He was 88.

A farm boy from Michigan, Eschenburg was selected to join the U.S.-Canadian First Special Service Force when it was activated in 1942. The 1,800-man commando-style secret force is best known for capturing German forces in the mountains of Italy.

Called Black Devils by the Germans because its members blackened their faces with shoe polish before nightly raids, the force became legend with its capture of Monte la Difensa, a German-held mountaintop along a highway leading to Rome.

Robert H. Adleman wrote a novel about the exploits, and Andrew V. McLaglen turned it into the film starring William Holden and Cliff Robertson.

Eschenburg rose to the rank of brigadier general during his service with the Devil’s Brigade. He later served in Vietnam as assistant commander of the 101st Airborne Division and as a commanding general. Retiring in 1970, he held 115 military decorations, including the Purple Heart.