On June 6, most of the world will pause to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy landings.
What should not be forgotten is the terrible loss of life that occurred during a Normandy landing rehearsal.
This rehearsal took place on April 27-28, 1944, just weeks before D-Day on the beaches of Slapton Sands, South Devon, England. Officially it was code named Exercise Tiger.
Upon the approaches to Slapton Sands, German E-Boats attacked the convoy sinking the transport ships and escorts resulting in he loss of more than 1,000 Allied
servicemen, mostly American soldiers. This staggering loss of American servicemen 鈥� the official toll was 749 鈥� exceeded the American loss of life on Utah Beach on June 6. The catastrophe was hushed up at the time for obvious reasons.
I grew up in Brixham close to Slapton Sands. My chums and I watched the buildup of the invasion fleet from the cliffs above Brixham Harbour. We also had a squadron of 91原创 motor torpedo boats based in Brixham as well as Dartmouth.
William O. Guy
James Bay
