One such rehearsal took place in a small sleepy Devon village named Slapton.
American troops landing on Slapton Sands in England during rehearsals for the invasion of Normandy.
Slapton was located on the southwest coast of England where it meets the English Channel.
This particular beach was code named Utah.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, wanted Exercise Tiger to be as realistic as possible.
General Eisenhower wanted his men to experience the rough sea, he wanted his men to getaccustomed to seasickness.
The first phase of the exercise from 22 to 25 April, 1944, went without incident.
The landing was now to take place at 8:30 am instead of 7:30 am.
Unfortunately, this crucial information was not adequately relayed to all ships.
Cory counted 150 bodies before he fled.
What he saw that day tormented him until his death last year, wrotethe Guardian.
The mens uncharacteristic behavior was never fully explained.
Rehearsal landing in Slapston Sands
As many as 450 men may have been killed on the beach that day.
Yet there is not a single official mention of the incident in Army records.
The incident of the friendly fire on Slapton beach wasnt the only fiasco during Exercise Tiger.
The convoy was like sitting ducks.
Torpedoes tore into the vessels and blew them apart.
300 more American troops were dead, taking the toll to over 750.
Landing on Utah beach in June 1944.
Theres a surprising amount of confusion about the final death toll.
The lessons learned from that grim episode eventually helped lower casualties during the actual Normandy landings.
A Memorial plaque at Utah Beach.
This one was code named Exercise Fabius.
The 1st and 29th American Infantry Division returned to Slapton Sands to rehearse the landing on Omaha Beach.
No mention of the lost lives was made on the memorial plaque.
Photo credit:Barry Lewis/Flickr
The memorial presented by the US Army to Slapton.
Photo credit:Tom Bastin/Flickr
Slaptons beach today.
Photo credit:Dave Johnson/Flickr
