Exercise Tiger, was the lead up to WW2, people had to get evacuated from their homes so that the Americans could practice their shooting and training. During the war they chose Slapton Sands, because it looked the same as they would use in D-Day, because it had the same features and was the same shape. The family's living in Slapton Sands at the time of the practice shooting had to move homes because then they would not get hurt. Over 3,000 people left the village so the soldiers could practice bombing, they had to take all of their belongings and animals and escape to the countryside, the americans would be practicing for 1 year. So for many of the family's, it was very unlikely that they would ever see there home again!
The Exercise Tiger involved 30,000 soldiers, the soldiers used landing craft which was used to move the soldiers, and their equipment, onto the beaches in which they would use to practice bombing. A convoy of ships set sail from local ports, including Dartmouth and Plymouth, to help to move the vast amounts of soldiers to their home base for the next year.
The first signs of anything going wrong was that HMS Scimitar rammed a hole into another vessel and was ordered to remain in port, though nobody thought to tell the commander.
The Exercise Tiger involved 30,000 soldiers, the soldiers used landing craft which was used to move the soldiers, and their equipment, onto the beaches in which they would use to practice bombing. A convoy of ships set sail from local ports, including Dartmouth and Plymouth, to help to move the vast amounts of soldiers to their home base for the next year.
The first signs of anything going wrong was that HMS Scimitar rammed a hole into another vessel and was ordered to remain in port, though nobody thought to tell the commander.
Below is a picture of a map in which they used to help them to navigate there way around Devon, they mainly used the south of England because it looked like the bombing landscape which they would use when they came to do it for real. The map also shows how close we were to France this could have been a bonus because then we could get food and supply's more quickly but then again they could attack us more quickly