Exercise tiger
Slapton Sands was the location chosen by American forces to practice landings for the launch of Operation Overlord on 6th June 1944. Exercise Tiger was a code name for an operation that involved the army practising for the D-Day battle that was to be launched in Normandy.
In 1943, 3000 people were evacuated from Slapton and Torcross along with all their belongings including their animals. They were moved for about a year.
Operation Tiger involved 30,000 soliders, including troops from the infantry division. Landing crafts were used to deploy the soilders and their equipment onto the beaches. The convoy sailed into Start Bay, the western most corner of Lyme Bay. German E Boats found them and opened fire on a defenceless convoy, killing 749 soilders. This was the evening of 27th April 1944. German intelligence had listened to the American radio traffic and dispatched 9 E Boats from their home port.
It was "a story the government kept quiet ... hushed up for decades ... a dirty little secret of World War 2."
Did you know? The losses on the practice for D-Day, Exercise Tiger were more than those on the actual D-Day itself!
In 1943, 3000 people were evacuated from Slapton and Torcross along with all their belongings including their animals. They were moved for about a year.
Operation Tiger involved 30,000 soliders, including troops from the infantry division. Landing crafts were used to deploy the soilders and their equipment onto the beaches. The convoy sailed into Start Bay, the western most corner of Lyme Bay. German E Boats found them and opened fire on a defenceless convoy, killing 749 soilders. This was the evening of 27th April 1944. German intelligence had listened to the American radio traffic and dispatched 9 E Boats from their home port.
It was "a story the government kept quiet ... hushed up for decades ... a dirty little secret of World War 2."
Did you know? The losses on the practice for D-Day, Exercise Tiger were more than those on the actual D-Day itself!