Later, in March, American units were decimated time and again while trying to break through the critical mountain pass at Djebel Ank.

Darby, along with fellow commanders, was awarded the Silver Star for this victory and the battalion itself gained the nickname the 'Black Death' by the Italians. Fifty enemies were killed and an additional 10 were captured. It took the battalion only 20 minutes to achieve area control. Using the cloak of night, the Rangers slipped in 50 yards (46 M) of the Italian outpost and began their attack. On February 11, the Rangers took a 32-mile (51 Km) journey, 12 on foot, for their first raid on an Italian camp at Sened Station. Later, in Tunisia, in 1943, the 1-RB executed the first Ranger behind-the-lines night raid for the purpose of gaining information and terrorizing the enemy. This was accomplished by executing a surprise night landing, silencing two gun batteries, and opening the way for the capture of Oran. Attempting to prevent German occupation of seaports in North Africa, the 1-RB spearheaded an invasion at the Port of Arzew in Algeria. The first efforts to stop the German infiltration of Europe were by the 1-RB. Scaling the steep cliff, Loustalot was wounded three times and then was killed by enemy crossfire.

Loustalot took command and with his men attacked a clifftop machine-gun nest.

During the mission, the British Captain leading the assault was killed. The first American soldier killed in Europe in World War II was part of the Dieppe Raid, Lt E.V. Three Rangers were killed and several captured. Dispersed among the Canadians and the British commandos, these men were the first American ground soldiers to see action against the Germans in the disastrous Dieppe Raid, officially known as Operation Jubilee. The first American soldiers to see active combat in the European Theater of World War II were forty-four enlisted men and five officers from the 1-RB.

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