dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/operation-tiger-forgotten-wwii.html

Operation Tiger – Forgotten WWII Exercise That Turned Into A Catastrophe

Operation Overlord was the biggest offensive planned by the Western Allies against the Nazis, who had overrun most of Europe. Decisive action was necessary so Northern France was chosen as the location for carrying out an invasion against all of German-occupied Western Europe. Operation Overlord officially kicked off on 6th June 1944 by the commencement of Operation Neptune, popularly known as D-Day when more than 1200 airborne teams along with 5000 vessels swept their way onto the Normandy beaches.

However, before launching such a major operation, the Allies wanted to make sure that nothing goes wrong and each and every division followed a strictly laid out plan. Thus, large-scale plans for a training exercise were drawn up, codenamed Operation Tiger to increase coordination and communication among the Allies. Slapton Beach in Devon was selected for these rehearsals and the operation was carried out under strict secrecy. But not everything went according to plan and the training exercise soon turned into a confused & reckless friendly fire match.

The British Government set up training grounds for at Slapton Sands, Devon in 1943 due to its resemblance to the various sectors charted up by the High Command, i.e. Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, etc. Slapton Beach had an uncanny resemblance to Utah Beach so almost all of the 3000 residents were evacuated.

All aspects of Exercise Tiger were planned under strict surveillance and the date of commencement wasn’t decided or revealed until the very end. All parts of the invasion were to be rehearsed including the landing of infantry units, tank landing ships as well as live firing. All in all, the Operation was as close the Allies could get to Operation Overlord without actually sparring with the Germans.