Exercise Tiger
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Image:Slapton-Lyme-Bay.PNG Image:Sherman tank at memorial for those killed in Operation Tiger.JPG Image:Plaque commemorating those killed in Operation Tiger.JPG
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.
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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.
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.