What happened at Slapton Sands during World War II?

The tragedy of Slapton Sands, coined Operation Tiger, is where 400 US soldiers were killed by friendly fire in a bungled D-Day rehearsal. German E-Boats stumbled across the exercise in Devon and slaughtered another 749. More than 1,200 Allied soldiers were killed over two days off Slapton Sands in Devon, a disaster that was kept hidden by the authorities for decades.

Slapton Sands in Devon was used because it resembled Utah beach in Normandy which was going to be a D-Day target. Scores of bodies washed up on to the beach in harrowing scenes that would be replicated six weeks later on the shores of France.

On April 27, 1944, Operation Tiger, was a night mission as opposed to the Normandy invasion. Twenty-five thousand men were due to land on Slapton Sands. Three hundred and thirty-seven ships were involved, with the British Royal Navy providing an escort and protection from attack from any German crafts patrolling the channel. This one of the greatest tragedies and mishaps WWII history .