saw this, thought it might be of interest

[She-Wolf]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27312953

[sublynx]

Thanks. Interesting story. That one tragedy with 800 casualties compares with the actual Utah beach landing where 4th Infantry Division and the engineers lost about a similar number of soldiers.

[RConch]

Thank you-very interesting. I wish I had 5million and one pound. Would I love to run it on Lake Anna.

[U-15]

Originally Posted by She-Wolf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27312953

Hello She-Wolf,

Yes it is a very interesting and very tragic story.
A few counties down the road from you in Devon is Slapton Sands, where the Americans were carrying out those training exercises (Exercise Tiger) in preparation for the Normandy landings.

I have visited the site many years ago, and the Sherman tank memorial is a stark reminder of the tragedy.
The local community still commemorate the event as per this link:

http://www.exercisetigerslapton.org/...tiger/history/

Once again thanks for the post.

[Sailor Steve]

Hey, She-Wolf! Good to see you posting again.

What an amazing tale, and one I probably would have missed if not for you. Thanks for sharing that.

[She-Wolf]

Hi again folks. I had not known of this event either ( thank you for the welcome back Sailor Steve) and agree U-15, sad day. The article you linked to is interesting - I had heard of Slapton Sands but it hadn't sunk in about what had happened there. Anyway, glad you found it interesting folks

[Aktungbby]

I have known about Slapton Sands and the alleged cover-up of 946 deaths..."was never covered up; it was 'conveniently forgotten'". One of the big worries: was as a result of official embarrassment and concerns over possible leaks just prior to the real invasion, all survivors were sworn to secrecy by their superiors. Ten missing officers involved in the exercise had BIGOT-level clearance for D-Day, meaning that they knew the invasion plans and could have compromised the invasion should they have been captured alive. As a result, the invasion was nearly called off until the bodies of all ten victims were found. In war the learning curve is very stiff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Tiger.plaque on German bunker at Normandy..

[blackswan40]

Hi Sailor Steve She-Wolf I found this on youtube about exercise tiger on Slapton Sands the disaster was hushed up in the war.
The topbrass were very worried the some of the missing officers so called overlorders that knew part/all of the overall D-day plan had been picked up by the attacking e-boats but as the hours past after the disaster all the missing overlorder bodies were found none were captured.

check this out

[Jimbuna]

Not an overly well known story for obvious reasons but one I recall my father telling me many years ago.

There were other assets not too far away but couldn't give assistance due to the lack of prior knowledge of the exercise as well as the risk their charges might have faced should they have left them.

Below sums up the need for the cover-up at the time IMHO.

As a result of official embarrassment and concerns over possible leaks just prior to the real invasion, all survivors were sworn to secrecy by their superiors. Ten missing officers involved in the exercise had BIGOT-level clearance for D-Day, meaning that they knew the invasion plans and could have compromised the invasion should they have been captured alive. As a result, the invasion was nearly called off until the bodies of all ten victims were found.

[U-15]

http://www.exercisetigermemorial.co.uk/

Another interesting site, with some good video footage, and quite moving accounts of the whole tragedy.

Hope you find it enlightening.
Regards
U-15

[She-Wolf]

yes, some moving accounts, I read them all. Horrible, sad, but, thanks to people like Ken Small, not forgotten. I was about two years old then. The fact that they did not have any protection should have been addressed, I wonder if it ever was - and Admiral Moore (sp?) committed suicide, I wonder if that was because of what happened that day. It reminds me of something else I heard about in respect of the landing craft going toward the beach (Utah?) on D-Day, and the fully manned tanks being released into the water before they got close enough, with the consequent loss of all their crews due to drowning. Was that really so? Another tragedy that should not have happened - but in the chaos of war I suppose such things will surely happen.

[U-15]

Hello She-Wolf,

I remember reading some time ago, that some of the tanks aiming for Omaha beach were launched too far away from the shore, beyond the 5,000 yards initially intended.

The significant factor however is the weather.
The skirted Duplex-Drive tanks were designed and tested to traverse 1 foot waves, however on D-Day, the waves were upto 6 ft and many tanks were swamped.

There's a stack of interesting reading out there just on this subject of the Sherman DD tank alone.

[She-Wolf]

ah, the devil is in the detail then. I did not know that - just felt dreadfully sad for the poor chaps stuck inside... thank you Sir. Ah Omaha, not Utah...