D-Day

[CINDERS]

Western Morning News | Apr 26, 2014
Exercise Tiger proved to be the most deadly training incident in the whole of the Second World War.
The similarity between the Start Bay area and the Normandy coast prompted its use for several full-scale battle practices. Slapton Sands was thought to be a perfect place to simulate landings for Utah Beach in France as part of Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944.
In the early hours of April 28, 1944, eight landing ship tanks (LSTs) full of American servicemen and equipment converged in Lyme Bay and made their way towards Slapton Sands for a D-Day rehearsal. Four German E-Boats, alerted by heavy radio traffic, intercepted the three-mile convoy of vessels and the heavily laden, slow-moving LSTs proved easy targets for the torpedo boats.

A series of tragedies, including the absence of a British Navy destroyer assigned as an escort and an error in radio frequencies, led to three of the LSTs being hit by torpedoes. More loss of life was caused by life jackets being incorrectly worn and the extreme cold of the sea. A total of 749 American soldiers and sailors died.
The loss of life was greater than that later suffered by the assault troops during the initial attack on Utah Beach.
Allied commanders, fearing the news might make its way into German hands and reveal the intentions for the D-Day landings, immediately ordered a communication blackout. Approximately 12 weeks before the military exercises, many of the villages surrounding Slapton Sands had been evacuated. The soldiers and sailors who survived were ordered not to speak about the incident and many did not talk about it until 50 years later.
It remained a secret until Ken Small, then a Torcross hotelier, was told about a Sherman Duplex Drive tank that was resting on the sea bed three-quarters of a mile out from the shore.
After negotiations over several years, he bought it from the US Government for $50, finally recovering it from the sea in May 1984. Thanks to his efforts, the Sherman Tank Memorial was officially recognised by US Congress and acknowledged by the addition of a bronze plaque.

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