A war diary is a record kept by military units, recording their activities during wartime. Classified "Secret" during the war, this is the war diary of the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion, initially known by the cover name 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion. They were an elite World War 2 commando unit, part of the First Special Service Force, a joint Canadian and American force that was trained to operate behind enemy lines. With most of their operations at night, they would paint their faces black for camouflage, and were called "Schwarzer Teufel" ("Black Devil") by Nazis soldiers. Their war diary, written day by day as the war progressed, was kept from August 1942 to January 1945, and contains details of their training, operations (including maps), records of prisoner interviews, and more. Volume 2 contains records for the months December 1943 to March 1944. This publication presents the original, unaltered documents of the war diary of the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion. No text, photos or illustrations have been changed.