The Forgotten Dead: Why 946 American Servicemen Died Off the Coast of Devon in 1944 - And The Man Who DIscovered Their True Story

by Mark Rogerson, Ken Small

On April 28, 1944, a rehearsal for the D-Day landings off England's Devon coast went terribly wrong. A series of blunders allowed German E-boats to intercept the convoy of landing ships, and 946 Americans—many of them young and untrained—lost their lives. Yet until the publication of The Forgotten Dead, the true scale of this tragedy had never before come to light. This is the story of one man and his obsession to honor the memory of the 946 American soldiers who died needlessly that night. In the early 1970s, Ken Small, a hotelier, began beachcombing along Slapton Sands, near his hotel. He soon discovered unexpended bullets, U.S. dollars, and the personal possessions of U.S. servicemen. Gradually, he pieced together the events of that night and began the struggle to erect a memorial to honor the dead soldiers. This is the story of how he fought governments on both sides of the Atlantic to uncover the truth.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Historical

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Tim Corke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Ken Small's detailed pursuit of justice to commemorate the tragic loss of 749 servicemen at Slapton Sands. This covert mission was designed to prepare Allied troops for the D-Day and remained top secret for many years and it was only down to Small's persistence that official recognition was given by the highest authorities in the US.

What is equally tragic is the impact that this pursuit had on Small's own life. The dedication is admirable considering how the journey began and whilst the writing is amateurish the feeling and passion is of the highest calibre.

[Denise Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this whilst on holioday in the area. An incredibly sad story about the loss of hundreds of lives in WW2 due to beaurocratic cock ups. It also tells of one mans battle to get a memorial to the men. Ken Small did a remarkable thingg in getting recognition for Operation Tiger and those who died, but at tremendous personal cost. His mental health issues are obvious through the book. I found the whole story very moving.

[Rob Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely incredible story of a military tragedy that took place on 27th April 1944, an excercise where everything that could go wrong did, with the most appalling of consequences for all those taking part in Exercise tiger................only 45 years later was the full story revealed after a cover up.

Any readers who are interested in The second world war should put this on their must read list! and anyone with the opportunity should visit the site of the memorial at Slapton sands!

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself deserves 5 stars, but unfortunately it is not very well written. However, if you can forgive the repetition in places and remain not too critical of the writer's ability, then this is a story that is definitely worth reading.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting but an interesting read non the less.
The book covers the botched Exercise Tiger at the start of the Devon coast. It is about German E Boats that slip through and start attacking American craft as they practice for the upcoming D-Day assault.
It doesn’t hold back as it describes the pandemonium of problems during the attack. Lack of working lifeboats, panic and comms failures all lead to the loss of life.
The second part of the book is about Ken’s mission to raise a Sherman tank and create a lasting memorial for almost 800 servicemen that were killed on the exercise. It covers all the bureaucracy and red tape faced in trying to do this.
The only thing missing was more information on the exercise but as most has conveniently been forgotten and covered up this may never materialise.

[Kbord · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am grateful for the work the author did to memorialize the men who died in the botched Operation Tiger off the coast of Britain that was a practice for the D-Day invasion in World War II.

I found this book very difficult to read through at the beginning because the accounts sounded very dry, the way I imagine the military reports they are based on would sound.

I skipped to the middle and end. I enjoyed reading about how Ken Small cut through so much red tape to make a memorial out of a tank that had lain on the seabed for 40 years.

At the end is a list of the dead from Operation Tiger.

[Patrick Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unless you are a history scholar you have probably not heard of Exercise Tiger. It was a training exercise for D-Day and a series of SNAFU's left almost 1,000 young, mostly untrained, soldier's dead at the hands of the German's who had no idea what they had stumbled on.

This unfortunately did not come to light when it happened because of the secrecy surrounding the D-Day invasion, as you can imagine surprise for D-Day was of the utmost importance.

The book was both interesting and sad as it traced the events and causes of the massive and needless loss of young life. A book tat should be read by all who have an interest in WWII or the military in general.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of Exercise Tiger which happened off the coast of England in April 1944 and resulted in great loss of life among the men training for D-Day. It also chronicles the efforts of Ken Small to salvage a Sherman tank from the seabed and turn it into a memorial to those men. The portion of the book about the actual Exercise was very interesting, as was the portion about how Ken Small acquired the tank and raised it. I did not find the last portion of the book as interesting.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a strange book, parts of it are historical about the way an appalling event in the second world war was covered up but then it goes off into the life story of the author including the worse crime-writing about yourself in the third person

[Liz Fenwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fascinating insight into a terrible tragedy