The Forgotten Dead: Why 946 American Servicemen Died Off the Coast of Devon in 1944 - And The Man Who Discovered Their Story by Ken Small
In 1944, Exercise Tiger, a rehearsal for the D-Day landings, went disastrously wrong. A series of blunders allowed German E-boats to intercept the convoy of landing craft, and 946 Americans lost their lives. This account of the event unfolds the true scale of the tragedy. It is the story of one man and his obsession to honour the memory of the soldiers who died that night. In the early 1970s, hotelier Ken Small enjoyed beachcombing along Slapton Sands, near his hotel. He began finding unexpanded bullets, US dollars and the personal possessions of US servicemen. Gradually, he pieced together the events of that night and began the struggle to erect a monument to honour the dead soldiers.