EXERCISE TIGER COMMEMORATIVE SERVICE AT SEA
new film has been filmed off the South Devon coast which will commemorate one of the Sec- ond World War’s greatest tragedies, featuring specifically written music and a moving commemorative service.
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The beautiful coast of South Devon has many secrets and has witnessed many tragedies – none more so than the debacle of Exercise Tiger.
The ‘practice’ for the D-Day landings, which took place in April 1944, was a litany of disasters and mistakes which resulted in the deaths of 639 American servicemen. It could have resulted in the cancellation of the biggest invasion the world has ever known - but instead the debacle taught the Allies valuable lessons that al- lowed the landings to be more successful. This amazing, sad and dramatic tale was commemo- rated on October 18 on board the World War II launch Fairmile, run by the Greenway Ferry Company. Filmed for posterity by Paul Potgieter’s Heritage Media Com-
This tragic series of events took the lives of 639 servicemen, many of whom believed they were actu- ally on the real D-Day landings, so ‘real’ was the exercise made for them.
pany, the event was timed to allow the film to be ready for this year’s Armistice Day: 11-11-11. The relatively tranquil conditions and bright sunshine the service enjoyed was in sharp contrast to the harsh and deadly conditions on that night 67 years before. In April 1944 the ‘practice’ for D-Day was the sixth of seven exercises. A flotilla of Landing Craft – known as LSTs because they landed troops, cargo and tanks – were attacked by German E-Boats when sailing through Lyme Bay on a practice run for D-Day later that year. The mistakes that took place which resulted in the loss of life are many: a typing error meant the LSTs were
using the wrong radio frequency for communication and therefore could not communicate with the land; the fire-fighting equipment on board the boats was badly maintained and designed; the flotilla was supposed to have protection from two vessels, one of which, HMS Scimitar, was kept in port by boiler repairs – and the Americans were not informed.
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