movie Pressure, The film, starring Brendan Fraser as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, opens with a bloody scene on the beach. But this is not D-Day, although at first glance it seems so.
This is Exercise Tiger, sometimes known as Operation Tiger, the dress rehearsal for the Normandy invasion that changed the history and fate of World War II. And, as the film shows in its opening scenes, it went horribly wrong. “What began as a top secret naval operation to prepare U.S. Army and Navy forces for the D-Day invasion of June 6 would end with one of the largest losses ever suffered by the U.S. Army and Navy in combat in World War II.” United States Exercise Tiger Foundation They say.
What was Operation (Exercise) Tiger? What happened in real life? Is it true that a mistake resulted in the death of soldiers in friendly fire? How many people died on the beach? “Official Defense Department records confirm 749 deaths, 551 US Army and 198 US Navy,” the foundation says.
Exercise Tiger was a ‘disastrous’ event that took place at Slapton Sands during World War II
according to wargaming.net, Exercise Tiger was “a training exercise intended to prepare American troops for the D-Day invasion of Normandy,” but it proved to be a “disastrous” moment in the war.
Naval Command Tells History and Heritage“Operation Tiger was a full-dress rehearsal for the Utah Beach landings and was scheduled for 22 to 30 April 1944. The first five days were allotted for loading and embarkation, with the landing of the first echelon (with assault troops) scheduled for 27 April and the landing of the second echelon (with support troops) scheduled for 28 April.”
(Photo by Finbarr Webster/Getty Images)
The training site was a gravel beach called Slapton Sands. “Slapton Sands was chosen because of its similarity to Utah Beach and the fact that it was considered a safe place to practice,” wargaming.net Explained. It is located in Devon in England.
According to Beaches of Normandy ToursSome died from friendly fire. “To make it as realistic as possible, Eisenhower ordered the troops to land under live fire overhead on April 27,” the site reported. “Due to the uncoordinated change of timing, a number of soldiers on the beach were killed by the naval bombardment that preceded the landing, thus becoming the first friendly fire casualty of the exercise.”
Some casualties caused by German torpedo boats during Operation Tiger
National Museum of the US Navy Explains that “For training practice normandy invasionAlso known as Exercise Tiger, December 15, 1943 in the Slapton Sounds area of England. Some of the casualties came from German torpedo boats.
The website says, “While training in Lyme Bay (part of the English Channel southwest of England) on April 28, 1944, German torpedo boats, which had escaped patrol off Cherbourg, France, attacked eight American tank-landing ships.” “USS LST-507 and uss LST-531 Sank in Portland Bill, England and USS LST-289 Was damaged. This brief action resulted in 198 Navy sailors and 551 Army soldiers killed or missing. The final rehearsal for the invasion was codenamed Fabius and was held between May 3–8, 1944.”
According to the United States Exercise Tiger Foundation, “Attacking in pitch black night, 9 German Navy ‘E’ boats (torpedoes) attacked rapidly and decisively. Without warning LST 507 was the first to be torpedoed. Explosions and flames continued to burn throughout the night. At 0217 LST 531 was torpedoed. It sank in six minutes. Aboard Of the 496 soldiers and sailors on board the ship, the State of Missouri would lose 201 of its men.”
How many American soldiers were killed by friendly fire during Exercise Tiger?
This is unclear. The Naval History and Heritage Command website says, “The first-echelon landings on 27 April were marked by significant confusion and delays. Allied ships bombarded the beach with live ammunition in conjunction with the landings to make the exercise as realistic as possible, but delays and communications problems resulted in some troops landing under live fire, resulting in deaths.”
“The number of deaths caused by ‘friendly fire’ remains uncertain today. Some accounts claim as many as 450 were killed. However, these numbers appear to be based on the later recollections of local civilians who were evacuated from the area at the time, and possibly mixed with deaths resulting from the disaster at sea that night.”
The site further states: “U.S. military records do not indicate deaths from the landings anywhere near those numbers, which naturally causes some authors to allege a ‘cover up.’ In one case, Rear Admiral Moon ordered an hour-long delay just five minutes before the execution, and not surprisingly many units were not informed of it.”
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