2-672-804 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

Operation Tiger, Slapton Sands, Devon, 27 April 1944. One of a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day landings, with LST landing craft both landed and approaching the beach. An unknown number of soldiers were killed and wounded when they came under friendly fire. On the following day the ill-fated exercise was attacked by German E-boats in Lyme Bay with the loss of the lives of 749 American servicemen. Fortunately lessons were learned in advance of D-Day.