WWII Slapton Sands disaster remembered (UK) - BBC News - 28th April 2019
75 years on, the disaster of Slapton Sands, which saw more than 700 U.S. serviceman training for D-Day were killed (many of them drowning), when fast German patrol boats caught them and errors by the Royal Navy meant the tragedy was larger than it should have been. The incident was hushed up at the time for morale issues, etc., as this was close to D-Day itself.
Slapton Sands Torcross And Slapton Ley South Hams Devon
Torcross is a village in the South Hams district of Devon in England. It stands at the southern end of Slapton Sands, a narrow strip of land and shingle beach which separates the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley from Start Bay and carries the A379 coastal road north to Dartmouth.
Slapton Sands, was in 1944 part of the site of the ill-fated Exercise Tiger. A Sherman tank that was sunk in this action has been recovered and now stands on the road behind the beach at nearby Torcross. Part of Exercise Fabius took place a week after Exercise Tiger on Slapton Sands. The beach itself is not sand, but consists of small smooth pebbles ranging in size from ¼ inch to several inches.
Behind Slapton Sands is Slapton Ley, a nature reserve and good example of serial or ecological succession — the process whereby open water becomes reed bed and eventually, as silt and leaf litter builds up, woodland. The beach itself is a good example of a bar: the material that makes up the beach was pushed up by the rising sea levels during the Flandrian transgression after the last glacial period (from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago). A similar process formed Chesil Beach. Beaches formed like this are reworked by coastal processes now but are not supplied by enough material to recreate them, should material be removed. This had terrible consequences nearby at Hallsands where most of the beach was removed as building material for Devonport dockyards, leaving the village exposed to storms. It was struck by a storm in 1917 and most of the village was washed away although no villagers were killed.
Further north, the beach is known as Strete Gate and at the northernmost end is Pilchard Cove. The southern end of the beach is known as Torcross Sands. A length of beach about 100 metres (110yd) south of Pilchard Cove is regularly used by naturists.
Intro Music:-
Cinematic (Sting) by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
Artist:
Training, Amphibious Maneuvers, Slapton Sands, England, 3/17/1944 (full)
Freely downloadable at the Internet Archive, where I first uploaded it. Extracted from United States Naval Photographic Center film #1631. National Archives description: 1) AVH-Pan LCTs & LSTs underway & on beach, trucks, LVTs & markers on beach-SV.2) AVO-Pan LCIs, LCs off shore & on beach-SV.3) AVO-Pan AKs, LSTs, LCTs, LCIs off shore.4) AVO LCs circle in rendezvous area, APs BG.5) AVO-Pan Wave of LCs underway, LCs on beach.6) AVO Camouflaged British cruiser underway.7) AVL LCs silhouetted in sunset.8) AVH-Pan LCPs underway, British cruiser. National Archives Identifier: 76109
slapton sands
Slapton Ley and Slapton Sands.
Slapton Ley is a lake on the south coast of Devon, England, separated from Start Bay by a shingle beach, known as Slapton Sands.
It is the largest natural freshwater lake in South West England.
It is 1.5 miles long and is made up of two parts (the Lower Ley and the Higher Ley).
The site is a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
In late 1943, as part of the build-up to D-day, the British Government set up a training ground at Slapton Sands, Devon, to be used by Force U, the American forces tasked with landing on Utah beach. Slapton Beach was selected for its similarity to Utah Beach: a gravel beach, followed by a strip of land and then a lake. Approximately 3,000 local residents in the area of Slapton, now South Hams District of Devon, were evacuated. Some had never left their villages before being evacuated.
Landing exercises started in December 1943. Exercise Tiger was one of the larger exercises that would take place in April and May 1944. The exercise was to last from 22 April until 30 April 1944, and covered all aspects of the invasion, culminating in a landing at the Slapton Sands beach. On board nine large tank landing ships (LSTs), the 30,000 troops prepared for their mock beach landing. The landing also included a live-firing exercise.
Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, was the code name for one in a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place on Slapton Sands or Slapton Beach in Devon. Coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths during the exercise, and an Allied convoy positioning itself for the landing was attacked by E-boats of the German Kriegsmarine, resulting in the deaths of 946 American servicemen. The incident was under the strictest secrecy at the time due to the impending invasion, and was only nominally reported afterward; as a result it has been called forgotten.
Filmed with a DJI Phantom Quadcopter , GoPro Hero3 Black Camera and a cheap no brand name brushless gimbal.
Filmed at 1080p , 60fps.
D-Day Preparations in England & Slapton Sands Rehearsal 220660-01 | Footage Farm
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[WWII - 1943 / 1944, France: West Wall, D-Day Preparations in England & Slapton Sands Rehearsal Ftge]
Titles.
06:00:40 General Eisenhower, other officers & his aides view wall map of Europe; MCU English Channel & the Normandy invasion area.
06:00:58 Slave labor digging, used to build German coastal fortifications / defenses aka West Wall. Pan big guns pointing across Channel under camouflage; troops lifting netting & raising barrels, view across Channel.
06:02:20 Allied tanks, guns, locomotives & other military equipment parked on English fields.
06:02:44 Fighter aircraft on airfield; supplies in warehouses. Railway locomotives specially built to run on continental railroad tracks parked; freight cars & tank cars.
06:03:19 Harbor w/ navy ships waiting side by side in ports for invasion. Assault boats launched from the transport ships that brought them. Many ships anchored. Landing craft practicing circling in harbor of southern England.
06:04:26 Troops practice loading operations; board ships. Tanks & artillery loaded onto ships, into landing craft. Landing craft tested in the English Channel.
06:05:17 Boarding ships up rope ladders; aerial of fleet at sea in Channel. Men into landing craft & circling. Aerials of ships & landing fleet.
06:06:32 Animated map showing Caen (brief). Transport aircraft overhead; paratroopers jumping, parachutes opening; landing w/ smoke screen beyond.
06:07:37 Montage: landing craft / barges heading for shore - artillery & rocket guns fired, explosions. Landing craft onto beaches - explosions; smoke screen laid; troops running, flame-throwers, etc.
06:09:29 The End.
1944; WW2;
NOTE: End montage of scenes from Operation Tiger in 1943-1944 aka Slapton Sands in Devon
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Day 3 - 6 Slapton Sands to Salcome Regis - StevenFlett.co.uk
Day 3 monday
01548
A379 Dartmouth,
ferry to Kingswear ( choice of upper or lower)
A379 Hillhead, towards Brixham but turn left onto
A3022
right A379 Paignton, Torquay, Teignmouth, Dawlish, starcross ferry to Exmouth 48
B3178 budleigh salterton, east budleigh
white roads otterton, sidmouth white road Salcombe regis
The Wreck of the Charles Jose at Slapton Sands, Devon
The Wreck of the Belgian steam coaster Charles Jose ashore on Slapton Sands on 17 December 1933, refloated 2 January 1934 and lost off the Netherlands on 4 October 1934 when she capsized 4 nautical miles to the west of the Haaks lightvessel. The Charles Jose was originally the SS Paris, built in 1899.
Torcross Tuesday Night Floods, Gales, Storm Force Winds, Blocked Road at Slapton Sands South Devon
Torcross Tuesday Night Floods, Gales, Storm Force Winds, Blocked Road at Slapton,
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Torcross Beach & Slapton Sands South Hams Devon England UK
2.11.14
Slapton Sands and Torcross
A drone,s eye view of Slapton sands
Slapton Ley - Secret Nature
A documentary made about the wildlife at Slapton Ley NNR, the largest natural body of freshwater in SW England.
Coast, Slapton Sands and Hallsands
Coast Slapton Sands Hallsands
Operation Tiger Slapton Sands 1944
©Twenty Two 2017 -Art work and video created by Twenty Two - Ben Suermondt
twenty2-2two.com
(Very Rare footage in this video)
Music from bensound.com
Slapton Ley, Devon, UK
Slapton Ley, Devon, UK
Slapton Sands, Devon. 2018.
In March 2018, high tides created by storm Emma destroyed sections of the A379 road along Slapton Sands in Devon.
Slapton Sands
On top of being an extremely picturesque and popular beach, Slapton Sands is also very popular to those who enjoy preserving nature with the nature reserve. Slapton Sands is a 3 mile long pebble beach with plenty of space and is worth visiting for the wonderful scenery.
The beach is great for kayaking, paddle boarding as well as bathing in South Devon's Mediterranean summer climate. The beach is easy to access from the car park and has all the essentials you need at one end.
The Fairmile sailing from Dartmouth UK to Slapton Sands, Torcross and Blackpool Sands.
With boat trips, ferry services, sightseeing cruises and excursions departing from Torquay, Brixham, Dartmouth, Dittisham and Totnes - Taking to the water is a must when visiting South Devon's beautiful bay home to the towns of Torquay and Brixham, or the South Hams picturesque port of Dartmouth or the medieval town of Totnes - so why not do it in style aboard the largest ship sailing in the area WW2 Heritage Ship 'Fairmile' or one of our other twelve vessels. Whether taking the ferry between Torquay or Brixham, jumping aboard the family friendly wildlife Seafari Cruise in search of dolphins, seals and natures wild little friends or of course visiting the home of the late Dame Agatha Christie at Greenway on a hill towering over the beautiful and serene River Dart by 1940's ship or vintage bus - services to Greenway House are available from Totnes, Dittisham and Dartmouth as frequent as every hour, Torquay and Brixham one service per day. If that wasn't enough why not have a go at fishing aboard one of our lucky catch boats. Finally a visit to the English Riviera wouldn't be the same without a cruise to Dartmouth our South Hams neighbour, the famous ancient naval riverside town - and what better way than by ship, landing you there for a few hours prior to returning. Our Dartmouth Ferry departs from Dartmouth at 2pm - History buffs will delight in taking part aboard the WW2 Grand Heritage Voyage or Premier Gold Cruise launched by HRH The Princess Royal which in addition to landing in Dartmouth (for those whom have joined from Torquay and Brixham) extends your trip for an afternoon sail to Slapton Sands, Torcross and Blackpool Sands where Exercise Tiger took place - the full scale rehearsal for the D'Day landings. Greenway Ferry and Pleasure Cruises offer a wide range of family boat trips which start in the English Riviera ports of Torquay (Princess Pier) and Brixham or the South Hams ports of Dartmouth, Totnes, Dittisham and Greenway. With thirteen vessels to choose from and being a Visit England award winning Quality Visitor Attraction and a member of Devon and the English Riviera Top Attractions you can relax in the knowledge that you will have a truly memorable experience for all the right reasons. So sit back, relax and enjoy a trip! You can even hire one of our boats, just for you! Music by Rick Clarke.
BBC Coast - Exercise Tiger Disaster
Slapton Ley 2013 Official Film