feejer222
Well-known member
On Friday I attended the funeral of the wife of a close friend. They live in Exeter on our south coast, where they moved to from Manchester to retire. She died only 5 weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We stayed over a couple of days with Brian and he took us a drive around some of their favourite places.
By chance one of the small town's that we visited was Slapton sands. A very small village with a quiet stretch of beach which has it's own tragic tale to tell.
From the website:
"In the early hours of the 28th of April 1944 eight Landing Ship Tanks (LST's), full of American servicemen were in Lyme Bay, off the coast of Devon, England. Their purpose to take part in Exercise Tiger, the realistic rehearsals for the D-Day landings in Normandy. The night turned into tragedy as a group of patrolling German e-boats discovered and attacked them. At the end of Exercise Tiger 946 American serviceman had lost their lives."
LINK to site
My dad was in a Sherman tank in the 8th army. They traveled through Africa fighting Romel, then into Italy and were involved in the battle of Monte Casino. I have to say guys he was not enamered to the Sherman, he said they were slow and out-gunned by just about everything. However he survived the war in one...several actually and died a few years ago.
The wooden cross was placed by someone else in one of the tank's tracks. On an emotionally charged weekend, this brought a tear to my eye.
By chance one of the small town's that we visited was Slapton sands. A very small village with a quiet stretch of beach which has it's own tragic tale to tell.
From the website:
"In the early hours of the 28th of April 1944 eight Landing Ship Tanks (LST's), full of American servicemen were in Lyme Bay, off the coast of Devon, England. Their purpose to take part in Exercise Tiger, the realistic rehearsals for the D-Day landings in Normandy. The night turned into tragedy as a group of patrolling German e-boats discovered and attacked them. At the end of Exercise Tiger 946 American serviceman had lost their lives."
LINK to site
My dad was in a Sherman tank in the 8th army. They traveled through Africa fighting Romel, then into Italy and were involved in the battle of Monte Casino. I have to say guys he was not enamered to the Sherman, he said they were slow and out-gunned by just about everything. However he survived the war in one...several actually and died a few years ago.
The wooden cross was placed by someone else in one of the tank's tracks. On an emotionally charged weekend, this brought a tear to my eye.
Last edited by a moderator:
