 The exercise involved travelling through Lyme Bay to Slapton Sands
 Sherman DD tank at the memorial
 A plaque at the memorial, commemorating those who perished Exercise Tiger (also called Operation Tiger) was the code name for an eight-day practice run for the Utah Beach landings of the D-Day invasion, which, through a combination of blunders, resulted in the deaths of 749 American servicemen. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 385 KB) Taken by FujiA202 on 30th July 2005 at Slapton Sands, Devon at the WWII memorial for Allied Soldiers killed during Operation Tiger. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 385 KB) Taken by FujiA202 on 30th July 2005 at Slapton Sands, Devon at the WWII memorial for Allied Soldiers killed during Operation Tiger. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 434 KB)Taken by FujiA202 on 30th July 2005 at Slapton Sands, Devon at the WWII memorial for Allied Soldiers killed during Operation Tiger. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 434 KB)Taken by FujiA202 on 30th July 2005 at Slapton Sands, Devon at the WWII memorial for Allied Soldiers killed during Operation Tiger. ...
American assault troops move onto Utah Beach, carrying full equipment. ...
Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ...
History The exercise was to last from 22 April until 30 April 1944, at the Slapton Sands beach in Slapton, South Devon, United Kingdom. On board large Tank landing ships, or LSTs, the 30,000 troops prepared for their mock beach landing. Unbeknownst to the LSTs, nine Cherbourg-based German E-boats on patrol spotted the ships in Lyme Bay and attacked, sinking two transports, and setting another on fire. The attack resulted in nearly 1000 casualties, compared to only about 200 in the actual Utah Beach invasion. 749 servicemen were killed, including 551 Army and 198 Navy personnel. April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ...
April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April. ...
1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...
Slapton is a village in Devon, England, between Kingsbridge and Dartmouth. ...
The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide Devon is a large county in South West England, bordering on Cornwall to the west, Dorset and Somerset to the east. ...
The tank landing ship (LST, for Landing Ship, Tank) was created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and troops directly onto an unimproved shore. ...
Cherbourg is a city of Normandy, in northwestern France, in the Manche département, of which it is a sous_préfecture. ...
E-boat is the British and American name for the German Schnellboot (S-boot), a small, fast torpedo boat a little larger than the American PT boat and the British MTB. Specification Length - 34. ...
Lyme Bay shown within Great Britain Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel situated in the southwest of England between Torbay in the west and Portland in the east. ...
US Army Seal The United States Army is the branch of the United States armed forces that has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...
The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations around the globe. ...
Aftermath Worried about 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 all ten victims were later found.
Several changes resulted from mistakes made in Exercise Tiger:
- Radio frequencies were standardised: the British escort vessels were late and out of position due to radio problems
- Better life vest training for landing troops
- New plans for small craft to pick up floating survivors on D-Day
Nearly forty years later, there was still very little documented in official histories about the tragedy. Some called it a cover-up, but the initial, critical secrecy about Tiger may have merely resulted in longer-term quietness. When a scandal breaks, the discovery of an attempt to cover up the evidence of wrongdoing is often regarded as even more scandalous than the original deeds. ...
See also Combatants Allied Powers Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B) Strength 326,000 (by June 11) Unknown Casualties 53,700 dead, 18,000 missing, 155,000 wounded About 200,000...
German Führer Adolf Hitler Preceding events (See also Events preceding World War II in Europe and Causes of World War II.) Germany was in debt after World War I, due to the Great Depression and the forced payments to the victors of World War I. Germans wanted a leader that...
Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II, also, The...
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