“EXERCISE TIGER”


Slapton Sands, location of Exercise Tiger on 27th April 1944


Exercise Tiger on Slapton Sands, South Devon was a giant military exercise off the Devonshire coast conducted by 30,000 USA allied forces in preparation for D-Day. Some UK support ships were surprised by German E-boats because of a mix-up in Radio Frequencies with the loss of over 900 Americans. Extraordinary measures were taken to conceal the whole event.

Even live ammunition was fired at troops landing at Slapton Sands resulting in much casuality. But this was supposed to be “an exercise” – so what went wrong and why was it buried for 50 years?
  This amazing tragic story occurred on 27th April, 1944.

An obelisk remembering the event is located on Slapton Beach. Nearby at Torcross is a Sherman Tank which had been recovered from its 1944 watery sea grave after the tireless endeavours of the late Ken Small from Torcross.

David is researching a story based around the real events. Ken Small’s wonderful tribute book “The Forgotten Dead” recounts his interest in the story and his tireless efforts to get the “Forgotten Dead” recognised for losing their lives in WW2.

More to follow ...