Lerryn History Society learns about Exercise Tiger

Monday 31st July 2017

On Monday 24 July, 19 members of Lerryn History Society set off in the LAMA bus + 1 car to learn a little about Exercise Tiger.  Our first stop was Dartmouth.

 

Here we visited the Museum (kindly opened early for us) and watched a video of the evacuation of villages in the Slapton Sands area in 1943 to make way for U.S. troops.    

This was one of the most traumatic episodes in the area’s history, involving the clearance of 30,000 acres and three thousand men, women and children who were evacuated, all within 6 weeks, at the end of 1943, taking their belongings, livestock, pets and in many cases, farm equipment with them.  They made way for 15,000 U.S. troops, who over the following months engaged in battle exercise, often involving live ammunition.

 

 

 

  After lunch in Dartmouth,  we travelled on to Torcross where we were met by Dean Small at the Sherman Tank Memorial .  Dean is son of the late Ken Small, the man responsible for raising the Sherman tank from the sea bed.  Ken Small’s determination to raise the tank created media interest; this led to American survivors and family members coming forward after 50 years of silence, to tell their stories of Exercise Tiger. Eventually, the memorial was recognized by the U.S. Government and remains today as a memorial to honour all those who perished during Exercise Tiger.

 

 

 

 

 

          To learn more about Exercise Tiger go to:

          http://www.exercisetigermemorial.co.uk/