Dress Rehearsal Fiasco
Even though D-Day was only two months away, the Allied forces conducted a dress rehearsal. The invasion rehearsal for Normandy took place on Slapton Sands, an English beach that had been evacuated. While participating in “Exercise Tiger,” German E-boats caught a glimpse of the fictitious invasion and destroyed the American tank landing ships. 749 members of the United States military were killed.
Dress Rehearsal Fiasco
Before Dawn
The invasion of Normandy began early in the morning on June 6th. thousands of paratroopers landed on Utah and Sword beaches, attempting to destroy bridges and cut off supply routes in order to slow Nazi reinforcements’ arrival on the beaches. Unfortunately, the American Paratroopers were responsible for a disproportionately high number of deaths on the Utah beach. Some were crushed under the weight of heavy machinery, while others were shot from the air by Nazi snipers. The British and Canadian paratroopers had a much easier time of it and were able to take out two important bridges with little difficulty.
Before Dawn
