DISASTER BEFORE D-DAY Unravelling the Tragedy at Slapton Sands

Because of the narrow interval between Operation Tiger and the D-Day landings, strict secrecy was imposed on all aspects of the tragedy. Even after the Normandy invasion, only limited information about the incident and its casualties was released. A further concern was the potential jeopardy to the entire Allied invasion plan: had the Germans realised the significance of the vessels they attacked, Operation Overlord might have been postponed indefinitely.
In late 1943, as part of preparations for the Normandy landings, the British government established a training area at Slapton Sands in Devon for American forces assigned to Utah Beach. Serious coordination and communication failures between British and American units led to fatal friendly-fire incidents during the exercise, compounding the disaster. The episode then faded from public memory until the early 1970s, when Devon resident Ken Small discovered artefacts from the operation washed ashore at Slapton Sands. In 1974 he purchased the rights to a submerged American tank located offshore, and in 1984 succeeded in raising it. The tank now stands as a memorial near the seafront